Man City fans show club what North Stand ‘Blue Wall’ can look like after latest ticket protest

Manchester City fans protested the club’s ticket policies against Wolves despite the club announcing more details of their 2025/26 season tickets on the eve of the Premier League fixture.

It was an odd situation that Manchester City fans found themselves in on Friday.

Having planned a protest looking to build on the frustrations over recent weeks around season tickets, City late on Thursday then announced more changes and improvements to season ticket policies.

A few weeks ago that would have been well received. After a scheduled meeting with elected fan board City Matters, City announced a promise of a new release of season tickets in the North Stand next season.

The controversial Flexi-Gold fee – a £150 charge before any matches are purchased – will now be repaid in increments depending on how many games a ticket holder attends. If they use the ticket enough, the £150 fee will be repaid in full and they will pay the same as a traditional season ticket (albeit without as many perks or transfer abilities).

There are always details to be scrutinised and ironed out, some affecting some fans more than others, but the announcements around season tickets next season have addressed some of the more pressing issues laid out by fans and credit must go to City Matters and the club for engaging.

But, and there is always a but, fans are still not happy.

Friday’s protest was originally planned on the back of a similar protest last month against Leicester. This one asked supporters to stay in their seats for six minutes to represent six years of no new season tickets – there were 1,200 released in 2021 and some Flexi-Gold members can upgrade for next season, but many insist these are not ‘new’ and are instead reissues.

And the new rules over how many times a season ticket holder must attend in person have gone down extremely badly with loyal supporters, as have restrictions over how they can transfer that ticket to. So the protest went ahead and for those fan groups organising it – it went well.

Travel disruption in Manchester on Friday meant the Etihad wasn’t full even once the protesting fans took their seats. Yet the difference between kick-off and ten minutes in was stark.

Fans made themselves heard even in the concourses and took their seats singing – ‘We’re not really here’, and other empty-seat related tunes. Naturally the volume increased when thousands more took their seats, yet the South Stand almost felt like they were making a point with one of the best atmospheres of the season.

Guardiola asked for their support from the first minute and while they remained determined to make their absence felt, they also played their part for the other 84 minutes and got behind their side en-route to another huge three points.

Progress has certainly been made through the official channels regarding tickets and fan pressure (both diplomatically and through protest) has seen fans next season get a better deal than if they hadn’t made their feelings clear.

But the supporters’ determination to keep those protests going also sends a message that they feel more can be done. If the atmosphere in the second half is what they are trying to protect, surely it is in everybody’s interests to continue talking. Or as Guardiola says, keep on listening to each other.

The club will certainly have heard them on Friday, and almost exclusively for positive reasons. If they stick to their promise with season tickets in the North Stand, and still hope to make that the ‘Blue Wall’ that Khaldoon Al Mubarak wants, then the South Stand’s wall of noise should be reason enough to follow it through.

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