Some Luton Town fans feel their club will lose out as a result of the £10 tickets on offer for the FA Cup fourth round tie at Carrow Road later this month.

David McNally defends Norwich City pricing for FA Cup tie with Luton Town

Michael Bailey Thursday, January 10, 2013
12:22 PM

David McNally has defended Norwich City’s cup ticket pricing – over the bizarre allegation of seats being too cheap.

Norwich City chief executive David McNally at the Canaries' FA Cup clash with Peterborough. Picture by Paul Chesterton/Focus Images

The visit of high flying Blue Square Conference outfit Luton Town to Carrow Road in the FA Cup fourth round later this month will cost adults £10 and those under 16 £1 for the privilege.

And some Hatters fans believe those prices will deprive their club of the bumper pay day that facing Premier League opposition should bring.

Gate receipts from FA Cup ties are divided equally between the two clubs and while both sides discuss proposed prices, it is the hosts that have the final say.

Luton were making no official comment on Wednesday but it is clear they had been pushing for higher ticket prices for the tie, which takes place on January 26. They have been given the 15pc allocation of 4,000 tickets they are entitled to under FA Cup rules.

“I’m really surprised anybody is frustrated when clubs are offering tremendous value for money to supporters of both clubs for an FA Cup tie,” said McNally.

“We thought long and hard about what the pricing policy should be. The prices have gone down really well with our supporters and I’m sure they have gone down really well with the majority of Luton Town supporters.

“We look at the competition, the round and our opponents – who are doing very well but are non-league opponents. We also take into account past experience and we’ve had plenty of cup ties at Carrow Road this year – some we priced effectively, others we perhaps made a mistake on.

“We had a good run in the Capital One Cup and now we’ve got another home tie in another competition, and we also need to take into account economic conditions. It’s not easy out there, cash is really hard to come by and this game will be played prior to the first monthly payroll after Christmas. So we don’t think most people have lots of spare cash.

“But ultimately we price every game with a desire to fill Carrow Road.”

The Canaries have admitted getting their pricing wrong previously this season, when £30 adult tickets for Tottenham’s League Cup fourth round visit in October were roundly criticised by City fans. The game was played in front of less than half Carrow Road’s home supporter capacity.

But McNally did not feel criticism was due of City’s policy this time around and that Luton will benefit from a packed stadium.

“I know how to make money and I know how the money works, and I can assure you that our pricing policy in selling out Carrow Road will be much better for Luton Town and for Norwich City than it would be if we got the prices wrong as with Tottenham,” added McNally.

“We believe a full Carrow Road will produce as high a return as possible for Luton Town compared to the place being half empty with tickets at £20 and lots of disgruntled supporters saying that Norwich City have got the prices wrong again.”

The Hatters, who are pushing for promotion back to the Football League this season after a three-year absence, have made significant progress since the financial crisis that saw them sink from top-flight hopefuls into non-league action – a point backed by last week’s signing of York City’s Jonathan Smith for £50,000.

Following the ticket price announcement, Luton confirmed some fans had criticised how cheap they were – “We have received feedback from supporters indicating they believe the club is losing money with Norwich’s pricing policy,” said Luton’s statement – and moved to help them make up for any perceived shortfall.

In response the club has devised a system for fans to make an additional £5 donation to Luton’s youth development programme along with their ticket.

The Canaries have experienced their own financial issues over recent seasons, but it is a moot point how far English football’s elite clubs have a duty to help out those below.

“We are very mindful of the football family and we are conscious of trying to help as many clubs as he can within the region,” added McNally.

“We are conscious of the importance of looking after them and let’s not forget three years ago we were not in the best financial health ourselves, so where we can we will help. But we think we have got it right here.”

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47 comments

How about selling a listings magazine outside the ground?

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DocOhNo

Saturday, January 12, 2013
Oh dear Jimmy, you are taking a pasting... I can understand that Ipswich are your second team as you follow a non league outfit,. I suggest if it's the money your after then get to Carrow Road early and get a collection organsed outside the turnstiles.... Maybe a jumble sale, or get the missus to bake a few cakes and hand them out too, works for the WI apparently... Best of luck old chap.

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The Yellow Yachtie

Saturday, January 12, 2013
It`s the "Self Pity City Syndrome". P`raps Jimmy`s from Liverpool?

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Mad Brewer

Friday, January 11, 2013
Hear hear Brewer. There is a certain type of person who isn't happy unless he feels aggrieved. If an insult or slight doesn't exist he'll invent one (see previous comment re Rangers). I have a feeling that this bloke's heading down that road. Correspondence closed for me!

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DocOhNo

Friday, January 11, 2013
Isn`t it strange that a Luton fan feels so aggrieved at the low ticket price and generous allocation, that he has to insult our CEO? Look, Jimmy, we are quite capable of insulting our own CEO - when he deserves it! I tend to agree with DJ_FRAMBOISE on the ticket price, but hey, it`s happened. Enjoy a cheap(er) day out! Spend the saving on a pie & a plastic bottle of lager. OTBC.

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Mad Brewer

Friday, January 11, 2013
Forest Green Rovers. Had to look them up. Never heard of them. They are above you in the Blue Square. Say no more.

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B Inners

Friday, January 11, 2013
Look at it this way, 3,000 seats @ £10 pays for one of those £30,000 a week salaries that people are talking about. Go figure.

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Swiss Canary

Thursday, January 10, 2013
Anyone can get a big crowd for one off games.

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DocOhNo

Thursday, January 10, 2013
FCR do you mean FGR - forest green rovers ?! General sale on 17th from what I understand - got to remember we took 28,000 to Wembley in May and over 40,000 to Johnstone paint final - Hence the well known song 'Wembley's too small for us' Have you forgiven us for the semi final defeat in 59?!!

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Jimmy

Thursday, January 10, 2013
At £10 for adults and £1 for a child ticket and as the game is on Saturday afternoon, I'm sure that there will be demand from season ticket holders. It's all very well having relatives in Norwich but as I said, they would have to be either Super Members or Members to even get a sniff of a ticket. You obviously have no idea of how much in demand tickets at FCR are. And before you say it, yes I realise this weekend's game isn't a sell out but the cheapest ticket is £45.00 or £55.00 in the stand where the Luton supporters will be housed. Fancy paying those sort of prices?

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Yellow Blood

Thursday, January 10, 2013
Doc - I see your fans are quite capable of making names up for your CE - he's obviously not to be trusted judging by his story telling ability. Watch your back - don't say I didn't tell you. No real football fan thinks we were treated anywhere near to fairly - research the facts if you need to - football fans should be sticking together when 'done' to by the authorities. Lets hope nothing bad ever happens to Norwich in the future then shall we?!! If you think selling players for over 12 million in 18 months then going into admin isn't a little bit unusual then I may need to give you a maths lesson as well as old McMutly

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Jimmy

Thursday, January 10, 2013
We are be very inventive when it comes to finding tickets - know a few relatives local to Norwich will get a call and I very much doubt that 20,000 season ticket holders will buy tickets for this match.

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Jimmy

Thursday, January 10, 2013
Jimmy, Jimmy, Jimmy, a word in your shell like. If you're coming cap in hand begging favours it's not the best idea to start making up stupid names for our Chief Executive. You may think it a low blow but if you'd had him in charge a few years age you probably wouldn't be where you are today. You aren't bt any chance a Rangers fan too? They complained bitterly about being singled out for special treatment after disgraceful financial mismanagement too, the rest of the football public just thought they were pathetic whingers.

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DocOhNo

Thursday, January 10, 2013
Sellyano there is no need start insulting me - this really shows your inability to have any kind of conversationdebate and simply reflects your personality - luckily you don't represent the average Norwich fan. Please refrain from further comments unless you have something worthwhile to say.

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Jimmy

Thursday, January 10, 2013
We don't owe Luton anything Jimmy, it's closer to London than Norwich. Hassle Tottenham or Arsenal for money instead, although I think they'd be more likely to make sure you see little profit or be as willingly transparent in an interview regarding prices. Consider yourself lucky to be playing us after a club as poor as Wolves.

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vintage633

Thursday, January 10, 2013
Mcnasty is one of the best things that has happened to my football club in many a year. Where would we be now if he hadn't been appointed? As shrewd as they come!

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baguio

Thursday, January 10, 2013
Thanks for your concern Jimmy but the majority of ncfcfans aare grateful for mr mcnally work on behalf of the club especially when we got relegated to league 1 and were close to administration. Our season tickets are generally well priced otherwise we wouldn't have over 20k plus a waiting list of over 1500. The pay monthly option also is an excellent idea. I think this was pre-dave. Perhaps old nick owen should get in touch when he comes up here at the end of the month?

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Yellow Blood

Thursday, January 10, 2013
Is that all Jimmy? We sold 5050 in hours v posh. Goof luck in trying to get tickets in the home areas. We have over 20000 season ticket holders which would leave around 3500 tickets for super members, members and then those already on the clubs database. Unless they are getting ncfc friends to buy for them in those groups then they have no chance.

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Yellow Blood

Thursday, January 10, 2013
Think we can all see through NcNobody - could be honest and say he's maximising revenue for NCFC as opposed to this little story pretending to be the fans champion - beware what he does to your season ticket prices!!

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Jimmy

Thursday, January 10, 2013
Perhaps worryingly I understand some Luton fans will attempt to get tickets in the home stands due to the small ticket allocation we've been given. We've sold over 2,000 in a day so demand will outstrip supply.

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Jimmy

Thursday, January 10, 2013
Mcnasty is no fool. If we charged another £5 NCFC would only see £2 of it. Make £5 in pies and beer from all 10,000 extra fans and £50,000 goes to NCFC alone! He hasn't got to where he is without being a bit savy has he?

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baguio

Thursday, January 10, 2013
Think you may find 1 or 2 of our players in the prem at some point in the future - viva Leon Barnett!

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Jimmy

Thursday, January 10, 2013
Got to be honest and say always thought of Ipswich as my second team - sorry and all that - but you've still some way to go to match their achievements in terms of Trophies! - always had a soft spot for Norwich as well which probably doesn't make any sense to you! Although that Gerry Harrison did his best to annoy every football fan in Anglia with the exception of Norwich fans of course!! We don't think of ourselves as conference you see especially when you see the attendances in div 1 and 2 - would be interesting to see how many Norwich would attract in the blue square premier?!

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Jimmy

Thursday, January 10, 2013
Nothing to do with poverty Jimmy. It's about value for money. Although you may be a feeder club for Premiership clubs, none actually play for you. As such anything in excess of £10 doesn't represent value for money when watching a Conference side. Harsh but fair I believe. Anyway, stokes the tie up nicely doesn't it? Look on the bright side... you don't owe what our impoverished neighbours do!

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B Inners

Thursday, January 10, 2013
So Jimmy, you've chosen to give YOUR club more money, good for you. I don't want to so I'm happy with £10. Of course if you get a replay you can charge what you like.

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DocOhNo

Thursday, January 10, 2013
I've chosen to pay more than the £10 cost - Luton are running a scheme whereby fans can donate additional monies to our youth set up that doesn't get any funding from the national bodies despite us producing a number of premiership stars - reference the recent survey where we are 18th in the country. £1 for under 16 is obviously a good way to encourage the youth to attend but I think £5 would have still attracted them. There's plenty of big houses and money in Norwich - I don't think you are as poor as you make out - still money in farming!!

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Jimmy

Thursday, January 10, 2013
I've chosen to pay more than the £10 cost - Luton are running a scheme whereby fans can donate additional monies to our youth set up that doesn't get any funding from the national bodies despite us producing a number of premiership stars - reference the recent survey where we are 18th in the country. £1 for under 16 is obviously a good way to encourage the youth to attend but I think £5 would have still attracted them. There's plenty of big houses and money in Norwich - I don't think you are as poor as you make out - still money in farming!!

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Jimmy

Thursday, January 10, 2013
£12.50.

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Huge Hairy Canary

Thursday, January 10, 2013
If McNally is happy with 10 quid a ticket then we should be too. Personally I would not have complained at 20 (and was there for the Spurs league cup game). 4th round FA Cup is a bigger deal than that and would have sold out at 20 I think. COYY

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DJ_FRAMBOISE

Thursday, January 10, 2013
If McNally is happy with 10 quid a ticket then we should be too. Personally I would not have complained at 20 (and was there for the Spurs league cup game). 4th round FA Cup is a bigger deal than that and would have sold out at 20 I think. COYY

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DJ_FRAMBOISE

Thursday, January 10, 2013
Jimmy, I fully accept the former hierachy got your club into the mess it was left in. But now the current hierachy are seemingly trying to get as much revenue as they can - which is understandable, but it cannot be at a cost to our home fans. McNally's logic is right. As Gavin has said you will get a % of the overall ticket sales and the ground will be fuller rather than emptier because of the £10 pricing. McNally got it wrong for the second string Spurs game in the cup and Carrow Road was nowhere near capacity. I'm delighted to see that the club has learnt a lesson. As Northern Hatter says, most Luton fans will be delighted by the cheaper prices. If Luton so choose I imagine they could decide to charge their fans more. And as for a higher allocation than 4000 - sorry, but tough luck. This is a home game and a cup game, not a friendly, and I hope we want to win it. It's a perfectly reasonable % of our overall capacity.

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DT

Thursday, January 10, 2013
I am a Luton supporter and have been for over 40 years, it was the directors etc, financial greed that got us in this mess in the first place. I applaud the cheaper tickets as it is always the fan that suffers and would imagine 99% of Hatters fans do also. It is better to have a full stadium than a half empty one as greed will only bring down football clubs, when you add the cost of food travelling and so on it can work out as a very expensive day out. Thanks again Norwich for the cheap tickets and let's hope we have not scored an own goal here.

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Northern Hatter

Thursday, January 10, 2013
I am a Luton supporter and have been for over 40 years, it was the directors etc, financial greed that got us in this mess in the first place. I applaud the cheaper tickets as it is always the fan that suffers and would imagine 99% of Hatters fans do also. It is better to have a full stadium than a half empty one as greed will only bring down football clubs, when you add the cost of food travelling and so on it can work out as a very expensive day out. Thanks again Norwich for the cheap tickets and let's hope we have not scored an own goal here.

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Northern Hatter

Thursday, January 10, 2013
Didnt realise we were Luton Towns charity, I remember us sending a couple of our players there on loan, Chris Martin being one scoring quite a few goals for them too. Why should Norwich fans have to pay extra to raise money for Luton? Its already an expensive month with away trips to West Ham & Liverpool plus the extra trip to Peterborough last week and now another cup game. Get real Luton, if you want more money raise it from your own pockets, we're happy to help out at times, we dont want to see your club go under, but there is a limit to our generosity.

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Piranha24

Thursday, January 10, 2013
Jimmy - I think the away side would get a cut of the revenue generated by the crowd as a whole anyway actually. But come on, NCFC aren't a charity, and I doubt very much when the luton team turns up it will expect to be treated like a charity case on the pitch. Any revenue Luton get from this game they should see as a massive bonus because they surely can't have budgeted for their impressive but surprising win against Wolves and thus the 4th round fixture.

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Gavin

Thursday, January 10, 2013
Could have sold double Jimmy? Your average crowd is 6,000 so that would raise the question where are the extra 2,000 week in week out? Perhaps you need to look closer to home for funding instead of moaning about what falls off our table.

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B Inners

Thursday, January 10, 2013
Perhaps Luton should do a beam back to their own ground and then they get to keep all that money?

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Yellow Blood

Thursday, January 10, 2013
With in excess of 20K Season Ticket holders Jimmy, you would have no chance of getting a bigger allocation. In fact, Leicester got less last year!

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Yellow Blood

Thursday, January 10, 2013
What absolute rubbish - if Luton fans feel that £10 is too cheap then I suggest instead of moaning about it they get their cheque books out if they are that desperate to finance thier club. If all 4,000 forked out whatever extra they feel this game is worth £5, £10, £15 I'm sure Luton Town FC would be delighted. Somehow can't see that happening though. From a city perspective it is a perfectly reasonable price to pay to watch a cup game against a non league side.

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Gavin

Thursday, January 10, 2013
Tickets too cheap - I think I've heard it all now!! It will ensure a full house and a great atmostphere and I suspect will become much more of a common occurence for cup games in the future for alot of Prem and Championship clubs.

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Cap Canary

Thursday, January 10, 2013
Come on DT that's a very cheap shot - you know very well the football authorities made an example of Luton in a way that will never happen again together with the fact that they (fa) sanctioned the owners as fit and proper and they have long since gone after large amounts of cash went missing. £10 is too cheap, the average price of a Luton home game being £18- McNolly has clearly forgotten when Norwich were the worse team in Anglia. Would be a decent gesture if Norwich offered a share of their gate receipts now they have premiership riches - don't suppose that will happen. And another thing 4000 tickets - very generous we could have sold double. Come on country cousins play the game.

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Jimmy

Thursday, January 10, 2013
if luton are unhappy with the £10-00 ticket,charge their supporters £15-00.i am quite happy with my £10-00 ticket.otbc.

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bluelight

Thursday, January 10, 2013
Come on DT that's a very cheap shot - you know very well the football authorities made an example of Luton in a way that will never happen again together with the fact that they (fa) sanctioned the owners as fit and proper and they have long since gone after large amounts of cash went missing. £10 is too cheap, the average price of a Luton home game being £18- McNolly has clearly forgotten when Norwich were the worse team in Anglia. Would be a decent gesture if Norwich offered a share of their gate receipts now they have premiership riches - don't suppose that will happen. And another thing 4000 tickets - very generous we could have sold double. Come on country cousins play the game.

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Jimmy

Thursday, January 10, 2013
McNasty has spoken. Anyone who disagrees meet him in the squash courts at three!

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B Inners

Thursday, January 10, 2013
The fact that ANYONE can criticise the clubs for making the tickets too cheap is beyond me. We as football fans moan that going to the football is too expensive nowadays, then when clubs finally listen to us, some complain that the club is missing out. Luton would never have expected to get this far in the cup and so any revenue generated by this tie is surely an unexpected bonus for them. Furthermore, as a non league club, Luton will receive a larger percentage of revenue (50%) than City (40%) will. You just can't please 'em all I guess!

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Canarylem

Thursday, January 10, 2013
Maybe £10 quid is a bit low, but apparently, the visiting club has a say in the pricing. Or is that not the case at all? I wonder what NCFC fans would have found acceptable? £15 - £20? Poor old McGnarly can`t win! At least this way the loyal travelling Luton fans get a more affordable day out. Your fans do matter, don`t they, LTFC? I wonder who the "some fans" were?

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Mad Brewer

Thursday, January 10, 2013
It wasn't too long ago that Luton Town were docked a massive amount of points for a number of financial misgivings. Management of the books clearly hasn't been that club's strong point, so they should be grateful for whatever revenue is coming their way. Good on McNally. We would never sell out the ground at £20 or £30 a ticket.

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DT

Thursday, January 10, 2013

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