Irony...Forest Fans strike action on Barnsley...show some solidarity!!

"Calling all Forest fans to boycott Barnsley food & drink once inside Oakwell"

Nottingham Forest are set to take 3500 fans to Barnsley to back their side in the crucial relegation six pointer next Saturday. However a war of words has broken out between the clubs after Barnsley refused to extend their £5 ticket admission offer to away fans. We urge all Forest fans to snap up their tickets to support Billy's men but not to put another penny in the Oakwell coffers once inside the ground.


The hierarchy at Barnsley have come up with a bizarre and embarrassing statement in response to Forest's disappointment at our fans being paid £19 when their own are only paying £5. This comes after earlier in the season when Forest charged an offer price of £10 to ALL fans when Forest met Barnsley at The City Ground.

Barnsley are charging their own fans £5 a ticket when they face Forest on April 4th but are still charging the visiting support £19 a ticket! This comes despite Forest charging Barnsley fans only £10 in November when all home tickets were reduced to that price.

The 1300 or so that travelled to Burnley when Forest lost 5-0 have received a gesture from Forest in that the club have offered to pay half the ticket price should any of those fans wish to travel to Barnsley. Therefore they will pay £9.50 and Forest will pay the other half. Barnsley will still receive the entire £19. This only extends to those fans who travelled to Burnley.

Forest released this statement on the matter after challenging Barnsley and speaking to the Football League about the matter:

"We just wanted to do the best by our supporters. We were happy to make a gesture to Barnsley fans earlier in the season and it is extremely disappointing that is has not been reciprocated.

"But we have been informed by the Football League that it is the clubs themselves who determine the regulations and there is nothing we can do about the issue. We will, however, learn from the experience."

Now you might think Barnsley FC would relent on the matter, but no instead they've released their own ridiculous, and frankly quite embarrassing statement:

"This unilateral action meant that most of Nottingham Forest FC's travelling contingent would be paying £9.50 for admission to the game at Oakwell, while Barnsley FC's match-day ticket fans would be paying twice that amount.

"In response to this statement, Barnsley FC decided that if it reduced its prices for match-day tickets for all fans to £9.50, it would be in the absurd situation of compensating most of Nottingham Forest FC's visiting fans for the 'level of performance' its team had shown against Burnley.

"In other words, Barnsley FC would be in the position of funding a promise made by Nottingham Forest FC to its fans. Instead Barnsley FC decided to focus its funds on its own fans to the maximum financial extent it could afford which means a £5 admission across the board providing tickets are purchased before 7pm on Friday, April 3, following which normal match-day prices will apply.

"In this way, Nottingham Forest FC can deliver on the promise it made to its fans on March 16 and Barnsley FC can also offer a concession to its own fans in these financially difficult times."

Despite trying to waffle their way out of the situation, Barnsley are guilty of charging travelling fans nearly four times the amount they're charging their own fans. Forest choosing to subsidise up to 1300 fans of the likely 3500 that will travel (not "most" the contingent as Barnsley claim) has absolutely nothing to do with it. Forest made this decision when they were unaware of the £5 offer to home fans. If Barnsley had extended the £5 offer to the Forest support then NFFC would quite simply have compensated the 1300 Burnley travellers for a different away match. Barnsley claiming they would be funding the Forest fans compensation after the Burnley match is illogical.

We urge all Forest fans going to Oakwell not to spend a penny once inside the ground. Get your food and drink outside the ground and let the Barnsley FC pies go cold. Spread the word!

 

Wont make a jot of difference to BFC

just the catering contractor

 

So if a Forest fan buys a pie he's a scab

oh hang on, here we go again! (doh)

 

Didnt Leicester do the same to us last season?

(blagger)

 

yup nt

 

I still think we could drop the cost to a tenner for them, as they did us.

I can see why they're pissed off; I would be.

Just have to be careful that they don't end up buying tickets in our end(s) instead.

 

Wonder what we'd have charged if Forest didn't come out and say they'd compensate there fans?? n/t n

 

I stand by my original comment

Barnsley Pathetic stance, and even worse trying some ******** cover-up.

Reduce the Forest fans to £10 now, all of them.

Or look tw@ts, which really you are, so it might not bother you.

come on.

 

I think Nottingham Forest have a valid point, the excuse by Barnsley is a joke but it was fun to read it and the scabs will be scabs forever so on a very rare occasion i hope you win.

Bet on a 0-0 draw.

 

seems quite clear to me

From the clubs statement that it was going to be full price for barnsley fans until forest offered it at a tenner

 

I think they have a point BUT...

where is that taken from because they have been selective in taking parts of the Barnsley statement. It is not fair to do that.

 

RE: seems quite clear to me

Thats what I thought - as soon as Nottm For came out with the discount is seemed that the club thought they could get full price for the tickets, while only charging the away fans less than a tenner (£9.50) for the ticket, with Forest making up the difference.

Fair play to them I say, until Forest withdrew the offer.

 

So, essentially we are "guilty" of charging our home fans less than the away fans

As per every team in the football league.

Its a business, they really do not have any argument and should stop moaning.

 

Personally I think that £5 for home fans and £10 for away fans, would have saved a lot of problems (and prevented us from being taken advantage of in the future, every time we go to Forest).



There is a new poll about this here: BFC Poll - Forest for a Fiver Saga

 

Bugger

Does that mean I'll have to but summat in the ground cause normally I don't, but if I don't people might think I'm supporting the Nottingham fans!

Seriously though - we'd be as pissed off as they are if the situations were reversed.

 

You could go on and on with this. QPR charged us £32 this season, we didn't charge them the same for their trip to Oakwell. Maybe a flat rate should be agreed with each club after the fixtures have come out

 

RE: Leaving aside the fact that its Forest that colours the view a bit

My view on ticket pricing is that in nearly all cases away supporters should be charged equivalent to the home supporters for equivalent standards of accomodation. However in this case I support fully Barnsley FC's stand.

The facts are clear.
Barnsley advised Forest of the ticket prices, with no community or local offer available,
Forest decided unilaterally to offer a reduction of £10 per ticket to their fans who had ticket stubs for Burnley. This left the crazy situation of Forest pay on the day supporters paying less than Barnsley supporters for the game. What would have been the uproar on here if Barnsley FC had allowed this.!!!!
Barnsley then offer home fans for £5.00 under a local scheme. Something we have encountered this season and in the past few seasons, where home fans have paid less than us. Suddenly Forest complain because they see an opportunity to not have to fund the difference between the two ticket prices, eg £10 per ticket.

Since when have clubs offered re-funds for playing poorly away from home, Crickey, we would be getting refunds most seasons, but then do we pay more when we win. It is part of the game unfortunately. Surely ther fair way if Forest had wanted to repay their fans would have been to offer a £10 refund on production of a burnley stub, rather than linking it to another game. Perhaps then both clubs could have discussed a community day.

Sorry Forest started this sorry saga, its backfired,

As it is now lets pack oakwell with Barnsley fans and back the team and stop the constant carping at them