FC Groningen will start season ticket sales for the new football year on June 1. Until then, the matches that the club still has to play in the premier league are awaited with fear and trembling.
It has been asked here and there for weeks. Supporters, especially now that FC Groningen has been relegated, would like to show their support for the club by extending their season ticket. Still, the loyal following will have to be patient until the current disaster season is over.
“After consultation with supporters, we have decided to start the 2023-2024 season ticket sale from Thursday, June 1,” the club said. ,,The reason for this is that, in the eyes of the supporters’ delegation, the club should first enter calmer waters before it can work towards a new season with fresh energy and new impetus.”
Price reduction
From June 1, current season ticket holders will first be given the opportunity to extend their card and keep their place. The sale of all remaining, free places in Euroborg will start on Sunday 2 July.
Due to the relegation to the first division, FC Groningen has decided to lower the price of the season tickets by a few tens. In addition, the fans will be served two extra home games due to the number of twenty clubs in the Kitchen Champion Division. The prices for a regular season ticket for adults vary from 180 to 325 euros. Early bookers (before July 2) receive an additional discount of 5 to 10 euros.
FC Groningen indicates that it is sticking its neck out with the downwardly adjusted prices. ,,Due to inflation, the costs of the club have risen enormously, but we do not think it is appropriate to pass on the extra costs to our season ticket holders.” The cost increase that sponsors had been promised has also been cancelled.
Stone on the stomach
In the meantime, FC Groningen still has three matches to play in the Eredivisie against Ajax, Vitesse and the final home match against Sparta. Especially Sunday’s game is like a stone on the stomach for the management. There is a fear that things will go wrong in the stands, as has happened a few times before this season.
FC Groningen is still waiting for a few penalties that the club has been promised. Security has been put on high alert for Sunday. Not only because the frustration of the relegation can still be high among their own supporters. The past shows that a visit by Ajax to Groningen also often attracts friendly supporter groups from other countries (such as Belgium) to Euroborg.
unwanted visit
As if all this were not enough, FC Groningen has also received wind from a journalist who would like to show on video next weekend how a person with a stadium ban can easily enter Euroborg for the match against Ajax. The club does not know which journalist it is, but did share the information on the website on Friday morning.
FC Groningen wonders aloud whether the deliberate circumvention of imposed measures serves the public interest and/or can be classified under the category of ‘investigative journalism’, the club writes. ,,FC Groningen prepares for the unwanted visit of the media representative, who wants to take place undercover in the stands, and the person with the stadium ban.”
Declaration
FC Groningen calls on the journalist to abandon his plan. “Because it does not contribute to the problems surrounding the enforcement of stadium bans. By deliberately bringing in this person, an unwanted signal is sent.” The media representative would also be guilty of a criminal offense. “Ignoring a stadium ban, but also provoking it, is punishable.” The club will file a report and has already reported the situation to the police and the KNVB.