Blockbuster a hot ticket
More than 60,000 seats snapped up for Cats v Pies at ’G
MORE THAN 60,000 tickets have already sold for the Cats qualifying final next week, the AFL says.
It comes as more than 9000 Cats members secured tickets for the September 6 blockbuster after pre-sales opened yesterday morning.
Last night more than half of Cats-allocated tickets were put on sale to the public after members failed to snap them up.
Yesterday the AFL confirmed that Geelong and Collingwood members were allocated equal numbers of tickets when the four-hour pre-sale opened at 9am.
“Competing club members get the largest share of tickets for finals — which for this match at the MCG is 55,000,” AFL spokesman Jay Allen said.
“Geelong and Collingwood members each are allocated 27,500 tickets for the member pre-sale period.
“At the conclusion of the member pre-sale at 1pm Collingwood members had purchased approximately 16,500 tickets and Geelong members 9000 tickets.
“The remaining tickets went on sale to the general public at 2pm.
“Currently there are over 61,000 tickets sold for the game across club members, general public, MCC and AFL Reserve.”
A Geelong Football Club of two males seen in the area at the time who they wish to speak to.
Anyone with information is urged to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. spokeswoman said the club’s membership team received “minimal” inquiries yesterday from members experiencing issues with buying tickets.
“Equal allocation of tickets (is) made available for both clubs. Over 65,000 Geelong Cats members were eligible to access a ticket in the member pre-sale,” the spokeswoman said.
Yesterday the Addy approached the AFL to address claims — which have now been proven to be wrong — that Collingwood was allocated more pre-sale tickets.
It came after images posted online appeared to show Collingwood members were allocated more seating bays than Geelong.
Alongside screenshots of the MCG seating bays one fan posted: “Yeah, nice ‘home’ game allocation going on here AFL. And they wonder why we get annoyed.”
Earlier this week the AFL Fans association welcomed the move by the AFL and Ticketek to stagger the sale of finals tickets.
Ticket sales for the Cats qualifying final at the MCG were first opened to Melbourne Cricket Club members on Tuesday then moved to Geelong and Collingwood members yesterday.
Membership at the Geelong Football Club rose 2 per cent this year and now sits at 65,063. Collingwood has more than 85,000 members. CATS super fan Fletcher Mills’ passion for the club runs so deep that he’s regularly spotted watching replays of losing games.
The 10-year-old boy’s Armstrong Creek bedroom has been transformed into a Cats shrine completed with more than 10 signed footballs, scarfs, flags, dolls of his favourite players and a commemorative flag with the names of players who took the field in the Cats 1967 semi-final.
Fletcher’s mother Karen Mills said her son’s enthusiasm for the Cats had grown in recent years after he completed Auskick and then started playing underage football with Grovedale.
“Fletcher watches the replays during the season — he even watches the losing games,” Ms Mills said.
“Once he started playing he took a lot more notice of how much effort goes into playing AFL. He idolises the players.”
After winning a competition earlier this year, Fletcher, a three-year Cats member, toured the club’s inner sanctum and sat between Chris Scott and Patrick Dangerfield for a team photo.
And last Sunday Fletcher had a cameo on TV with Mark Blicavs on the set of Channel 7’s Game Day.
The Addy is running a competition to find the ultimate Cats fan. Email your contact details, a statement on why you’re the most dedicated Cats fan, and a photo or video with your Cats gear to catsfansearch@gmail.com
You can even enter yourself. The Addy will showcase entrants on our website.
Prizes include two tickets to the Cats’ first home final and a behind-the-scenes tour by the Geelong Cats for two people at GMHBA Stadium.