Since the inception of the Premier League and everything that has brought with it, there has been a steady decline in the number of young supporters who attend games to the extent that the youth culture that once dominated the English football scene has almost entirely disappeared thanks largely to spiralling ticket costs and the inability to stand inside the stadiums amongst a group of friends.
To have any hope whatsoever of returning the atmosphere to Old Trafford, it is essential to reintroduce the youth culture to our support and to make the idea of coming to a game attractive once again to younger supporters.
To achieve this, the following must be in place:
- The ability to stand for the entire game
- The ability to stand with groups of friends
- The ability to stand in a large, vocal area
- The ability to stand amongst large numbers of supporters of a similar age
- Cheap, not just affordable, ticket prices
TRA have already worked hard to create an area that allows for the first three requirements and now we have taken the first steps towards delivering the final two.
TRA YOUTH SEASON TICKETS
We have negotiated 1,000 season tickets priced at £285 (£15 per match) for TRA members aged 16-25 for next season.
Currently there are only a very limited number of 18-25 ‘youth’ season tickets available inside Old Trafford and we have worked hard over the past few months to persuade the Club to provide an additional 1,000 season tickets at this price for TRA members and to extend the age from 18-25 to 16-25.
Existing TRA members aged 16-25 (as at 1st August 2020) will be offered the chance to purchase one of these season tickets for next season. Any remaining tickets will then be offered to 16-25 year-old season ticket holders currently in other parts of the ground who would like to join TRA and help further improve the atmosphere.
The tickets are initially for one season only and we will review the impact of this ahead of the 2021/22 season. If you are within this age group and would like to apply for a season ticket priced at £285, please apply for the TRA event:
Apply here for a TRA Youth Season Ticket
We remain committed to keeping TRA membership free to all under 18s and will keep working to ensure the future generations of our support are welcome in TRA and at the heart of improving the atmosphere at Old Trafford.
Securing 1,000 discounted season tickets is a huge first step in a series of improvements that will hopefully make going to matches more affordable and more feasible for younger supporters.
We appreciate you will have some questions about the above announcement so have included some questions and answers below. If you have any other questions, please post on the forum and we will do our best to respond to them.
TRA FAMILIES
TRA remain committed to increasing the number of younger fans who regularly attend home games and we will continue to push for further discounts and incentives. We will continue to accommodate young families who want to join TRA, especially following the club’s decision to relocate the Family Stand to North Stand Tier 2.
To be absolutely clear on this, and to correct some of the misinformation being shared on social media, TRA have never asked for the Family Stand to be moved. This was the club’s decision following a proposal from MUST in 2018 about reclaiming the Stretford End.
Q&A
Q. If I apply and am successful in getting one of the youth tickets, will I still be part of my existing group and get to stand with my mates / parents who are older than 25?
A. Yes. We need to work out the exact details on how we will implement this, but our intention is not to separate individuals from their group. This may mean that your exact seat within TRA has to change / move during the season, but we will do our best to ensure you can still stand with your mates / family
Q. Are the 16-25 season tickets all being grouped together, if so where?
A.The season tickets will all be within the TRA section which will be blocks W208-W212. We are looking to keep groups together so one of the terms and conditions of the season ticket will be that you may be asked to move within the TRA section during the season.
Q. Why have you only done this for 16-25 year olds and not for under 16s?
A. We remain committed to making games more affordable for all fans. We would like to see bigger discounts being made available for under 16s and will continue to push for this. The 16-25 group are unfairly disadvantaged with the current pricing structure and lack of available youth tickets. For example, a 22-year-old in Stretford End Tier 2 would be paying £703 for a season ticket, with our new youth ticket, they will pay £285.
Q. Why are you not using W206 and W207?
A. We expect to have around 2500-3000 members next season. Therefore, we would not fill W206-W212. The Stretford Paddock is the best area for improving the atmosphere at the west end of the stadium and we therefore plan to occupy from W212 round to W208. We very much hope and expect to grow in numbers and eventually fill W206 and W207 as well.
Q. What is a ‘virtual block’ and how does that work?
A. This is a group of 500 TRA volunteers who have agreed that the club can use their season ticket for all games for the 2020/21 season. They will apply in the TRA ballot like all other members. If they are unsuccessful they will be allocated a ticket somewhere else in the stadium by the club on a best available basis.
Q. What if you have more than 2500 apply for each game?
A. We will remain in discussions with the club throughout the season about capacity and demand. If we consistently have more demand than 2500 we will look at how we can expand into blocks W206 and W207.
Q. You have always said ‘no season tickets’, so why are you now introducing 1000?
A. The opportunity to secure our younger fans a significant discount by rolling out the youth season ticket price in TRA is too big an opportunity to miss. The majority of fans in the TRA section each game will be applying match by match, therefore this is the right approach in order to keep the area as loud as possible.
Q. What happens when I turn 26?
A. The season after you turn 26, you will be offered an adult season ticket by the club somewhere else in the ground and would then apply game by game for TRA like all other ‘adult’ members.
Q. Why are the youth season tickets only guaranteed for one season?
A. This gives us time to evaluate the impact of this on our section. We very much hope and expect this to continue for future seasons.
Q. If the one-year youth season ticket ends at the end of the 2020/21 season, will I go back to my current season ticket?
A. Yes