Strange business

Football doesn’t help itself.

For months I’ve wanted to buy tickets for the Dundee derby (Dundee United versus Dundee) at Tannadice on Saturday January 3, but with less than three weeks to go they’re still not on sale so the only people guaranteed seats are season ticket holders and those who have purchased the more expensive hospitality packages (which have been sold out for months).

I rang the ticket office on December 1 and was told they didn’t know when tickets would go on sale, but it would “probably” be within seven or ten days. Two weeks later they’re still not available which may not be an issue if you live locally but I live in Cambridgeshire, 350 miles away, and for a three o’clock kick-off we would have to travel north the previous day and book a hotel for two nights, which is what I’ve gone ahead and done, albeit at the cancellation rate in case we can’t get tickets.

Meanwhile an old schoolfriend also wants to go to the game but his situation is further complicated by the fact that he lives in Dublin and has to fly to Edinburgh. Needless to say he doesn’t want to book flights (which are non-refundable) until he knows he has a ticket for the match.

With this in mind, I rang the ticket office again this morning only to be told that tickets will go on sale “later this week”. Curiously, I was also told that a “news story” might be issued on the subject tonight. In the meantime I have been advised to “keep an eye on the website” (which is what I’ve been doing!).

I don’t think United are alone in this practise, but it does seem strange that tickets can’t be purchased months in advance, like most other events. That said, even if you are able to book well in advance, football is still a strange business. For example, having bought tickets at the start of the season to see Chelsea Women play London City Lionesses at Stamford Bridge in November, the match was subsequently pushed back 24 hours to accommodate live television and I could no longer go because the new TV-friendly date clashed with a prior commitment.

I was unaware I could get a refund so I didn’t bother trying, but it wasn’t about the money, it was the relatively late change of date that annoyed me, and the fact that I found out about it almost by chance.

Football, eh?

Update: The United ticket office has just been in touch with details of the exact time tickets will go on sale this week. It was kind of them to get back to me, but I fear that’s the “news story” that will appear on the club website and in the local paper overnight, which means there will be a lot of people, similarly forewarned, who will be trying to buy tickets at the same time. I know how this normally ends so let’s hope I get lucky. Watch this space.