VIEW FROM THE BLUE

Tarred By the Same Broad Brush

By Lyndon Lloyd :  06/11/2007 :  Comments (14) :

Well, if it wasn't "high risk" before, it certainly could be now. Hundreds, probably thousands, of tickets for Thursday's Uefa Cup Group A fixture between 1. FC Nürnberg and Everton bought on credit cards with UK addresses have, starting yesterday, been summarily canceled.

The decision on the part of Uefa, Nuremberg council, their local police, and whoever else to effectively shut the barn door after the horse has bolted has created a potentially volatile situation from one that FC Nürnberg seemed to be handling in a highly responsible manner.

With Everton's allocation, believed to be 2,300+ based on the club's official statement on the matter last week, selling out quickly, the German club began fulfilling orders for additional tickets to English-based fans and had, by many accounts, sold as many as 8,000 by this past weekend.

Quite sensibly, they were allocating these additional tickets to a section of the 47,000-seat easyCredit-Stadion situated adjacent to the visitor's contingent, thereby expanding the away end rather than dispersing Evertonians among the home fans.

Now, instead of having thousands of foreign fans neatly segregated in one part of the stadium, you have the potential for black market profiteering on the back of not only those canceled tickets that might go back on sale but also of tickets for seats in other parts of the ground. I'm sure the German touts will be all too happy to satisfy the demand for tickets from those Evertonians who will be traveling to Nuremberg regardless later this week.

Therein lies another potential flashpoint and a situation Uefa's limits on away ticket numbers is supposed to avoid, i.e. the possibility that thousands of Blues could descend on the stadium before kick off hoping to get in with a good many ending up being frustrated.

On the one hand, the whole situation seems simultaneously harsh and ridiculous. You've got thousands of fans who have spent years waiting for a run in Continental competition like this and an opportunity to experience those special European nights, and a club which could have had a real windfall with the sale of all those extra tickets and which had gone about fulfilling the unexpectedly high demand in an organised manner.

On the other hand there is Uefa, European football's governing body, and its 5% cap ? although that can't be a concrete ceiling because Everton received 6.3% of capacity ? on ticket allocations for away teams.

It's easy to understand why that cap exists, of course. European football has had more than its fair share of problems with hooliganism, crowd control and general unruly behaviour. Indeed, it was as recently as a few months ago that ticketless Liverpool fans are alleged to have barreled their way into the Champions League final, stealing tickets off their own as they went. And, of course, there is a history of confrontations between English and German hooligans, albeit mostly in connection with matches between the respective national teams.

Therein lies the great injustice of it all. Everyone, including Everton, whose fans have a terrific record in Europe and who suffered mightily as a club from the Heysel ban, gets tarred with the same brush. There can, we assume, be no special circumstances where a club can sell so many extra tickets to away fans, even if, as appears to be the case here, that club is perfectly happy to do so and there is such good will and mutual anticipation between the two sets of fans.

So, while the stage was set for a fantastic night of Uefa Cup football — and it still should be regardless — cheered on by a capacity crowd, the cold reality of rules and regulations has the final say. Irrespective of their reputations, for its own protection, Uefa couldn't take the risk of having so many away fans in one place at one time when it has imposed limits on away allocations designed to prevent just that.

It's unfortunate that so many fans who felt that rather than circumventing Uefa's directives they had acquired tickets through official channels and then made arrangements for travel and accommodation in the expectation that they would be guaranteed entry when they arrived at the easyCredit-Stadion now either have to cancel their plans or wing it in the hope of acquiring tickets on the day.

Moreover, where before the chances of trouble between rival fans were at their least likely, there is now an increased risk of flashpoints developing, either in the town center, with police outside the ground or in the home supporters' areas inside.

It is therefore paramount that those Evertonians who do make the trip do their utmost to prove Uefa wrong and not do anything to vindicate the decision to cancel the tickets of ardent fans. Travel to Germany with the club's proud record of behaviour on your shoulders, fly the flag for the City of Liverpool, and if you are ticketless and travel regardless, make the best of a frustrating situation if you don't get in and protect the good name of Everton Football Club come what may.

Come on, you Blues!

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