Trph

[Cheeses Of Nazareth @OhCheesesChrist]

"Your tickets are secure, are you f**king sure"

​Despite Manchester United’s assurances that digital NFC tickets are fully secure, a major flaw in the @SeatGeek ticketing platform leaves supporters highly vulnerable to unauthorised access. By knowing a fan's Supporter ID and just their surname or postcode, anyone can unauthorisedly view, download, and use their tickets without the owners knowledge.

This has already resulted in legitimate ticket holders being turned away at both home and away matches because their tickets had already been scanned.

​The issue was deliberately kept quiet during the season to minimise disruption, but with the Premier League aiming for fully digital tickets next season, it must be prioritised over the summer. The risk is exacerbated by a club culture where fans have widely shared their Supporter IDs for ticket-forwarding purposes, and instances where Manchester United emails have inadvertently exposed this information. The author urges @SeatGeek and the club to implement a secure, user-led authorizlsation process rather than relying on flawed off-the-shelf solutions.

​To read more click here: https://t.co/exJIFmqQMC

Please repost, this is important for all clubs now digital ticket is the future, not just #MUFC

[Cheeses Of Nazareth @OhCheesesChrist]

I want to pick out this paragraph:

"We would also remind all fans never to share their account details or passwords with anyone to ensure their account cannot be compromised."

This highlights a fundamental problem with the club's approach.

The club is using an off-the-shelf product from SeatGeek and expects supporters to use the website and app exactly as they were designed. The reality is that supporters have been using the ticketing system in a very different way for decades.

It's completely normal for one person in a group to apply for tickets on behalf of themselves, their friends and their family. That's not a new behaviour—it has been happening for years, long before the current system existed. If your data analysis flags that behaviour as suspicious or assumes it's evidence of touting, then the problem isn't necessarily the supporters; it's that your analysis doesn't reflect how your fanbase actually operates.

If the club genuinely doesn't want supporters to share login details for certain tasks, it needs to provide a ticketing platform that's fit for purpose. There are countless bugs, limitations and missing features that prevent supporters from doing what they need to do, so people naturally find workarounds. Ringing the Ticket Office is rarely a solution because either they can't help or the phone lines are overwhelmed.

The Strong Relationships feature is a good example. It allows supporters to administer another account, but only if neither account is already in another Strong Relationship. That restriction immediately excludes many families and friendship groups, so supporters inevitably find alternative ways of managing tickets, which often means sharing login details with people they trust.

If an account has simply been accessed via the website by a trusted friend to submit applications or complete renewals, that should not automatically be treated as suspicious. If the club's systems can't distinguish between normal supporter behaviour and actual abuse, then it doesn't really understand its own supporters.

The focus should instead be on accounts that are repeatedly used to log in to the Manchester United app and load tickets across multiple devices without a legitimate explanation. That's where the questions should be asked.

Finally, the club discusses protecting supporters from compromised accounts. But what about protecting supporters from the risk of their tickets being compromised?

[Sam @SibsMUFC]

@ToeInTheWater1 @barneyrednews @OhCheesesChrist There are at least 8 Premier League clubs who would abolish season tickets tomorrow if they could. Since the backlash would be too extreme, they’re chipping away at the numbers in the background.

They want all tickets to be distributed like a Taylor Swift concert or NBA game.

[Trph @trph2]

@CansAndBansV12 @mufc_dan87 never got on with the hundred at all, it's for kids. Seems like they are going to turn it into a T20 which means the end of the Blast presumably

[Trph @trph2]

More excellent work and analysis from Cheeses. Absolutely spot on here 👇

[Cheeses Of Nazareth @OhCheesesChrist]

The Demise Of The Season Ticket Holder

I want to give a bit more context on why I believe the recent sanctions being issued to Season Ticket Holders (STHs) are happening, and why I think there’s a revenue-driven agenda to reduce the number of STHs from the last published figure of 46,800 (see repost).

When the Glazers took over the club, they gradually increased the number of Season Tickets. The benefit of doing so was that it brought more money into the club upfront, at the start of each season, through renewals. Back then, there wasn't much difference between what a Season Ticket Holder paid per game and what a member paid to attend the same match.

Last June, Liverpool reported having 34,000 Season Ticket Holders, which represented around 55% of their stadium capacity. By comparison, Manchester United sits at around 62%. That might not sound like a huge difference, but financially it’s significant if the club replaces those season tickets with higher-priced memberships and hospitality.

To bring United down to the same 55%, the club would need to reduce the number of Season Ticket Holders by around 5,800.

For the sake of simplicity, I’ll use my own Season Ticket as an example. The figures won’t apply to everyone, but they illustrate why not only United but also a number of Premier League clubs may be looking to reduce the number of legacy Season Ticket Holders.

My Season Ticket costs £874 a season (£46 x 19 league games).

If my Season Ticket were removed and those same seats were instead sold to members at current match-by-match prices, the income would look something like this:

6 Category A games: 6 × £81 = £486
10 Category B games: 10 × £73 = £730
3 Category C games: 3 × £58 = £174
That totals £1,390.

So, on my seat alone, the club would generate an additional £516 per season — an increase of almost 60%.

Now apply that same principle across 5,800 Season Ticket Holders, and the additional revenue is almost £3 million per season (around £2.99m based on these figures). There could be additional operational costs to the club around all of this, but I don’t believe it would make the chase for the extra revenue pointless

This also doesn’t include any additional memberships that would need to be purchased for a member to obtain tickets.

Of course, these are illustrative numbers based solely on my own ticket price, and the actual figure would vary depending on where seats are located and how they’re repriced. But it indicates the financial incentive to reduce the number of Season Ticket Holders and replace them with more profitable ticketing models.

Now, you could argue that United did issue new Season Tickets after the renewal deadline, so they can’t be actively trying to reduce the overall number. My counter-argument would be that they still need to be seen to issue some Season Tickets while encouraging supporters to buy a Premium Membership, pay a Season Ticket deposit and commit to a Cup Season Ticket.

If the club were seen to be significantly reducing the number of Season Ticket Holders, the whole model would start to unravel, as fewer people would see the value in paying deposits and memberships while waiting for a ticket that may never come. That, in turn, could reduce revenue from those products.

The question then becomes whether the additional income from converting more seats to member sales and hospitality outweighs the potential loss in Premium Memberships, deposits and Cup Season Tickets. I don’t know the answer, but it’s certainly part of the financial equation.

The club will be crunching the numbers across all these scenarios.

Whether that’s what’s happening is open to debate, but when you look at the economics, it’s not difficult to see why clubs may be tempted.

[Cheeses Of Nazareth @OhCheesesChrist]

The Demise Of The Season Ticket Holder

I want to give a bit more context on why I believe the recent sanctions being issued to Season Ticket Holders (STHs) are happening, and why I think there’s a revenue-driven agenda to reduce the number of STHs from the last published figure of 46,800 (see repost).

When the Glazers took over the club, they gradually increased the number of Season Tickets. The benefit of doing so was that it brought more money into the club upfront, at the start of each season, through renewals. Back then, there wasn't much difference between what a Season Ticket Holder paid per game and what a member paid to attend the same match.

Last June, Liverpool reported having 34,000 Season Ticket Holders, which represented around 55% of their stadium capacity. By comparison, Manchester United sits at around 62%. That might not sound like a huge difference, but financially it’s significant if the club replaces those season tickets with higher-priced memberships and hospitality.

To bring United down to the same 55%, the club would need to reduce the number of Season Ticket Holders by around 5,800.

For the sake of simplicity, I’ll use my own Season Ticket as an example. The figures won’t apply to everyone, but they illustrate why not only United but also a number of Premier League clubs may be looking to reduce the number of legacy Season Ticket Holders.

My Season Ticket costs £874 a season (£46 x 19 league games).

If my Season Ticket were removed and those same seats were instead sold to members at current match-by-match prices, the income would look something like this:

6 Category A games: 6 × £81 = £486
10 Category B games: 10 × £73 = £730
3 Category C games: 3 × £58 = £174
That totals £1,390.

So, on my seat alone, the club would generate an additional £516 per season — an increase of almost 60%.

Now apply that same principle across 5,800 Season Ticket Holders, and the additional revenue is almost £3 million per season (around £2.99m based on these figures). There could be additional operational costs to the club around all of this, but I don’t believe it would make the chase for the extra revenue pointless

This also doesn’t include any additional memberships that would need to be purchased for a member to obtain tickets.

Of course, these are illustrative numbers based solely on my own ticket price, and the actual figure would vary depending on where seats are located and how they’re repriced. But it indicates the financial incentive to reduce the number of Season Ticket Holders and replace them with more profitable ticketing models.

Now, you could argue that United did issue new Season Tickets after the renewal deadline, so they can’t be actively trying to reduce the overall number. My counter-argument would be that they still need to be seen to issue some Season Tickets while encouraging supporters to buy a Premium Membership, pay a Season Ticket deposit and commit to a Cup Season Ticket.

If the club were seen to be significantly reducing the number of Season Ticket Holders, the whole model would start to unravel, as fewer people would see the value in paying deposits and memberships while waiting for a ticket that may never come. That, in turn, could reduce revenue from those products.

The question then becomes whether the additional income from converting more seats to member sales and hospitality outweighs the potential loss in Premium Memberships, deposits and Cup Season Tickets. I don’t know the answer, but it’s certainly part of the financial equation.

The club will be crunching the numbers across all these scenarios.

Whether that’s what’s happening is open to debate, but when you look at the economics, it’s not difficult to see why clubs may be tempted.

[Steve @CansAndBansV12]

The next United fans forum should focus solely on the mistreatment of our ST holders and the bans that have been dished out this week. Nothing else should be on the agenda - straight into this topic and find out why they fucking hate us and are keen to ban people for nowt

[Trph @trph2]

@bagshaw2112 92

[Trph @trph2]

When the trains are so regularly late that the TOC cannot cope with the amount of claims so just rejects them

[Great Northern @GNRailUK]

We've been receiving high volumes of Delay Repay claims in recent weeks and our back-office systems are designed to review the volume of claims submitted. We've shared the feedback we've received internally and will take this into consideration when managing similar periods of disruption in future.

In order to have your claim reviewed, please use the contact form and include as many details as possible. You can find the form here: https://t.co/YEVohNtoJf^Liv

[Trph @trph2]

The club are an absolute disgrace. They don’t want season ticket holders and regulars at the new stadium. Only tourists allowed.

[Molerz @molerz7]

@OhCheesesChrist Look at this utter bullshit from the club. 1 phone has had access to the tickets to the device for matches but have logged in on other devices such as to link season tickets together for seat moves. How do we even reply to this, need serious help next steps.

[Trph @trph2]

@giggsclass1 I think it’s supposed to be a joke mate but hard to be sure

[Trph @trph2]

@joeg03_ But we let you have Djemba-Djemba?
Ungrateful.

[Trph @trph2]

This is disgraceful

[Cheeses Of Nazareth @OhCheesesChrist]

Manchester United Account Audits: Fans Hit with Draconian Information Demands

Today, many Manchester United supporters began receiving emails stating they have violated ticketing rules. The club provided no specific details about what they are accused of doing, only a demand for extensive personal information as part of an appeals process. Let’s break down the email text.

The Accusation
The club opens with a boilerplate paragraph that seems to be attached to every sanction email they distribute:

"Demand for match tickets at Old Trafford remains extremely high, and the Club has a responsibility to ensure tickets are accessed and used fairly by supporters. One of the most regular complaints we receive is around automated activity on our website, impacting genuine supporters when trying to purchase tickets."

They follow this with the core allegation:
"Following a detailed review of activity across our ticketing and digital platforms, we have identified sustained activity associated with your account, or with accounts that appear to be connected to or controlled by you, which may indicate a breach of the Club’s Ticketing Terms and Conditions."

While this states that account activity indicates a breach of the terms and conditions, it fails to provide any specific evidence. A review of the actual terms shows no rules restricting a user from logging into their account from multiple devices or locations, provided it is done manually without ticket duplication or automated bot software. Therefore, these compliance audits should strictly target automated activity.

However, based on the fans who have contacted me after being caught up in this sweep, I do not believe this is actually targeting actual bot users or people who simply refresh the page to catch a returned ticket. Given who is being targeted, United’s grounds for issuing these sanctions look incredibly weak—this is an area where a legal expert really needs to review the club's actions.

Immediate Sanctions
The club then details the immediate penalties being applied before the review is even complete:

"As a result, your account has been temporarily restricted from making further transactions. Any tickets currently held for upcoming matches have also been deactivated while we complete our review."

This aggressive approach is standard across all of their sanction communications.

The Information Demands
The email continues with an attempt at reassurance:

"We understand that receiving this communication may be concerning. No final decision has been made, and there may be legitimate explanations for the activity identified. This process is intended to give you the opportunity to provide further information so that your circumstances can be reviewed fully and fairly."

In reality, the club shows zero consideration for the well-being and anxiety of loyal supporters who receive these notices, especially when the evidence used to trigger these flags is flimsy at best.

The club then lists the heavy administrative burden being placed on the fan:

"To allow us to undertake a full review, please email a written response to [email protected] 8am on Monday 27 July.
Your response must include:
- Confirmation of every device regularly used to access your account, including mobile phones, tablets, laptops and desktop computers.
- Confirmation of whether any of these devices are also used to access other ticketing accounts. Please provide the names of the account holders and explain why you access those accounts.
- Confirmation of whether your account is regularly accessed from multiple locations. Please provide details of each location.
- A brief explanation of how your account is accessed and managed, addressing each of the points above.
- A copy of valid photographic identification.
Note: This investigation is based on activity between March and Sunday 12 July, your response only needs to cover this timeframe."

It is highly suspect that the investigation window covers up to July 12, well after the final game against Brighton on May 24. It is hard to see what kind of "suspicious activity" a Season Ticket holder could generate during the closed season, suggesting United may have been sitting on this data for nearly two months before acting for many.

While the terms do not explicitly bar you from sharing your login details with a family member, a grey area arises if the club classifies account sharing as general "misuse" of a ticket or account. Doing so can inadvertently trigger the automated security flags meant for bots, which I believe is the angle they're using here, however flaky that approach is.

I know many fans who have responsibly managed ticket applications for their entire match-going groups for decades because the away application system is easier to navigate that way. These people have never abused the system.

Furthermore, demanding that supporters email copies of their passports or driving licenses is highly insecure. Sending unencrypted identity documents via email poses significant data privacy risks, and the club should not force fans to compromise their personal data security.

If the club wants fans to utilise the "Strong Relationships" or "App Ticketing" features, it needs to make those systems secure and intuitive. Right now, the digital relationship setup is flawed, leaving everyone vulnerable to abuse.

The Deadline and True Intentions
The email concludes with a strict warning:

"Please ensure your response is complete and accurate. We may be unable to conclude our review or lift the restrictions if the requested information is not provided by the deadline."

The application deadline for the Hull City away fixture is July 29. It is highly doubtful the club will process these complex appeals by then, meaning falsely accused supporters will inevitably miss out on match applications.

We have to look at the real motivation behind this sudden crackdown. If the club successfully revokes these Season Tickets, it is highly unlikely they will simply be handed down to the standard waiting list, which has been declining for years. Instead, this feels entirely revenue-driven. For a football club carrying massive financial debt, maximising income is the priority.

Take a look at these previous posts for context:
https://t.co/l7gyzVRnq5
https://t.co/zMxUgcypIs

Clubs are well aware that they can generate significantly more revenue by selling a seat on a match-by-match basis for just six high-profile games than they make from an entire standard season ticket. This financial incentive appears to be the true driving force behind United's aggressive sanction strategy.

What Affected Fans Should Do
If you have been hit by this email, you need to act quickly:
- File Your Appeal Immediately: Do not delay your response.
- Push Back on the Email ID Demand: For the photographic ID requirement, tell the club to reference the official identification documents they already collected from you during the mandatory verification process ahead of the 25/26 season. If they refuse to use that data, demand that they provide a secure, encrypted portal to upload your documents rather than sending them via standard email.
- Escalate If Unsuccessful: If your appeal is rejected by the club, immediately contact the Independent Supporter Liaison Officer (ISLO) at the Manchester United Supporters' Trust via [email protected] for dedicated fan advocacy and support.

[Trph @trph2]

@AlternativeMUFC @UrmstonMeadows After we beat Argentina tomorrow ITV will announce Lineker. But it’s Clive we need

[Trph @trph2]

@gary302 That Mbappe. He’s alright but he’s no Rooney is he? Faced with that defence Wayne would have been dropping deep, going wide either flank, forcing the game to come to him rather than waiting for it to. There’s only one Wayne Rooney

[Trph @trph2]

@AndyMitten After all these years Andy, should we have been calling you Andrew?

[Trph @trph2]

@drinkmoregravy @TheHughAnthony @PolitlcsUK That’s not a conclusion, is it DCI Crab. It’s a possibility and a definite line of enquiry

[Trph @trph2]

@drinkmoregravy @TheHughAnthony @PolitlcsUK Please share facts if you have them DCI Crab. Try not to prejudice an ongoing investigation

[Trph @trph2]

@TheHughAnthony @PolitlcsUK Have you shared your findings with the Police, DCI Anthony?
Or are you just speculating on the internet for clout?

[Trph @trph2]

@HardTruth2000 @SkyNews Hard lies, Hard Truth