My Spurs ordeal proves fans are cash cows

I WAS caught in a motorway jam on the journey to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for the north London derby on Thursday night and got to the ground just after half-time.

My friend and I had paid for two £30 tickets in the stands but when we showed them to stewards, they refused us entry. They said we were ‘too late’.

I asked why it mattered that we were late. Our lateness only defrauded ourselves. We were not causing harm or danger by arriving after kick-off. We would not spoil anybody else’s viewing pleasure by arriving late. It was not like we would be clambering over people in the front row of the Dress Circle at the Old Vic while the actors glared at us from the stage. We were not seeking a discount.

They repeated we were too late, that these were club rules, that the club would sack them if they allowed us in, that we were breaking the law by asking them to allow us in and that if we continued arguing ‘you know how this is going to end’.

I knew, by then, it was going to end in an Arsenal defeat but I don’t think that is what he meant. I can hear you playing the world’s smallest violin and I know Spurs have a good community reputation and I know one bad experience does not necessarily reflect the way a club treat their fans.

But this just happened to be my bad experience and, sadly, it only confirmed my view that too many Premier League clubs treat their supporters like dirt. They use them as cash cows but they do not care about them. They do not need them and they do not value them.