letter in today's City Tribune from an angry Utd fan.

**eamo1** · 25/05/2007, 3:57 PM

theres a letter IN THE SPORTS SECTION of todays c.t which is from a utd fan complaining about the price of the sunderland tics etc and accusing the club of greed and "rogue trading"(oh he's clever).he says he was thinking of boycotting tonights game but decided not to for his kids.the guy is entitled to his opinion but why not write directly to the club?and why did the tribune publish this letter in the sports section and not in the normal letters section??at the start of the season a couple of fans write in to encourage people to go and these are put in the normal letters section,so why when its something negative does it get a big section of the sports section where people who might go to the games will be reading?

**Mr A** · 25/05/2007, 4:03 PM

In all fairness, Galway United to a large extent have the local media in their pocket to an unbelieveable degree. The Galway First in particular is at times ludicrous in its level of positivity about the club.

I reckon the fact that a lot of Galway's papers are free protects the club from the more usual trend which is that negative news is more likely to sell papers. In this case the paper is not free, and may feel that this will catch people's attention.

Either way, in general GU can have very little complaint about the way the local media treat the club, and fair play to them for their ability to make this the case.

**gufct** · 25/05/2007, 4:09 PM

this is the second time in a fortnight and neither appeared in the country edition so id say Mr. McIntyre is the one who is driving this issue. Both people I have never heard of before and neither has Ronan so id be highly sceptical about both.

Sunderland have sold out their allocation of 1,200 so id say that the game is officialy now sold out.

**gilberto_eire** · 26/05/2007, 7:00 AM

Originally Posted by Galway Harps

In all fairness, Galway United to a large extent have the local media in their pocket to an unbelieveable degree. The Galway First in particular is at times ludicrous in its level of positivity about the club.

I reckon the fact that a lot of Galway's papers are free protects the club from the more usual trend which is that negative news is more likely to sell papers. In this case the paper is not free, and may feel that this will catch people's attention.

Either way, in general GU can have very little complaint about the way the local media treat the club, and fair play to them for their ability to make this the case.

that is because cian o'connell writes 90% of the sport for the 1st and the advertiser and is a fan himself. he writes more frm a fans perspective!!

**inthestand99** · 26/05/2007, 9:46 AM

Guys like this fellow just give Mc Intyre more ammunition to have a go Eamo! GUFC will still carry on as normal and many more will take a pop. Its like the family wedding, no matter what u do someone is not going to be happy.

**geezer** · 26/05/2007, 5:10 PM

glad to say at this stage that i have boycotted the tribune and sentinal rags for many years. Great at writing stories about individuals down on their luck but meek when it comes to planning and corruption or investigative journalism because they might lose revenue from business advertisers.
Im 30 years goin to terryland and will enjoy watching fair weather fans fork out a mangy fifty euro when the same people think nothing of spendin hundreds of euro following their "beloved" liverpool or Manchester.

the sports editor at the tribune was always a sad begrudger and he probably wrote it himself. if it was a regular supporter they could have no complaints as you wouldnt see a premiership team in england for 12 english pounds presuming he has a season ticket and done what every other season ticket holder has done and purchased as advised by the club.

**Claret Murph** · 27/05/2007, 6:05 AM

Top post Geezer, i could not have put it better myself .

**Terry** · 27/05/2007, 7:23 AM

McIntyre is having a go at everyone lately. The Tuesday after the Gaa match between Mayo and Galway, he had a go at how Galway will get hammered when it comes to the semi finals stage rather than congrat them on winning well for a change !! Not that I give a damn about GAAAAAA, but I do enjoy going to work after beating our ever dependant neighbours hehehe

**GuisaSaigon** · 27/05/2007, 12:30 PM

Originally Posted by geezer

glad to say at this stage that i have boycotted the tribune and sentinal rags for many years.

I've been doing the same for the last few months. While the Advertiser and paricularily G First's coverage can read like a club press release at times, The poor coverage in the Tribune's publications make them nothing more than expensive bog roll in my view.
The tribune have made it obvious that they have no respect or understanding of the league of Ireland and it's about time all United fans started a boycott of their rags.

**inthestand99** · 27/05/2007, 3:48 PM

A frustrated second rate hurling manager who had the audacity to beg the GAA not to subject Offaly hurling to where it rightly belongs!!!

**Tir Oilean** · 28/05/2007, 7:51 AM

I read in the article that the gentleman involved pays his money every week at Terryland and I guess the reason the letter was written due to the fact that there was no response from the club to his phone calls. Having said that he clearly didnt give them much of chance to respond. I thought personally that the club made it fairly clear how the tickets would be sold so I question his outrage at payin over his hard earned cash for the tickets. He could have chose not to go to the game instead. As regards the C.T. the reporting on matches is fair and more accurate than the alternative and as Saigon has said the alternative reads more like a press release. A dose of reality, though it may not be welcome by fans, is far more beneficial imo. The journo in the C.T. as you know is also a fan but a journo must always be neutral and call it as it is. The Ed however doesnt have this ability which is a shame and he clearly is as anti soccer as most on here are anti GAA. It was the same for many years in the Advertiser where C O'C was struggling to get a quarter of a page of space from his Ed gladly that has changed in recent times.

**MyTown** · 28/05/2007, 9:55 AM

The Tribune is

Originally Posted by geezer

meek when it comes to planning and corruption or investigative journalism because they might lose revenue from business advertisers.

Spot on Geezer. The Tribune group is the most profitable provincial media group in the country. They'll maintain their position by not rocking boats or asking the "hard" questions.

Originally Posted by Terry

I do enjoy going to work after beating our ever dependant neighbours hehehe

Agree 100% Terry, I remember submitting what I thought was a "funny" piece about Mayo's colonisation of our city and county to the match Programme a few seasons ago when Paddyfield and gufct were producing it. The article never appeared and gufct told me he felt it was offensive to Mayo natives Alan Murphy and Sean Malee. Maybe I should dig it out and post it here for ye to make up ye're own minds!

Originally Posted by Tir Oilean

As regards the C.T. the reporting on matches is fair and more accurate than the alternative and as Saigon has said the alternative reads more like a press release. A dose of reality, though it may not be welcome by fans, is far more beneficial imo. The journo in the C.T. as you know is also a fan but a journo must always be neutral and call it as it is. The Ed however doesnt have this ability which is a shame and he clearly is as anti soccer as most

True Tir Oilean. As Galway Harps pointed out we've got fairly good coverage at a local level over the years. The Tribune group stopped sending reporters to away games a good few years ago (I think it was after our second relegation), but you have to balance the criticism of the Tribune against the Friday night coverage on Galway Bay FM this season (the Tribune owns Galway Bay FM) and their sponsorship of the GalwayUnited/PowerSoccer Sumer Schools.

I thought the letter was a cheap shot, but it was also inevitable. If the letter writer was as regular an attender as he claimed to be, he would have been better advised to buy a Family Season Ticket and claim his haul of Sunderland tickets at the going rate. He directed his anger at the club for his own poor judgement in my opinion. Still at least he was as good as his word and showed up last Friday night, where I understand, some club officials exercised their right of reply.

**gufct** · 28/05/2007, 10:26 AM

My town do you actually know John Cahill.You might point him out to me the next game in Terryland.

Its Offical that Sunderland have sold out their allocation for all the Irish Games http://www.safc.com/news/?page_id=12447 so it looks like thats the end of anymore tickets going on sale.

**MyTown** · 28/05/2007, 10:42 AM

Originally Posted by gufct

My town do you actually know John Cahill.

No - Never met the man or heard of him before I saw the letter in the Trib, but I know at least one member of the Board of the Club spoke to Mr. Cahill on Friday night by way of responding to the points he made in the letter that was published.

**Tir Oilean** · 28/05/2007, 11:02 AM

Just heard that Galway First is carrying the same story from the same complainant so its not just the Tribune thats airing this supporters views!

**gufct** · 28/05/2007, 11:35 AM

Checked the online version and cant see anything about it. The ticket details were published in all the local papers and Galway Bay F.M. and I personally explained them to the majority of the people in the queue the night of the Derry Game and I had no complaints. I know one woman who paid in 3 times to get tickets and then left the ground happy out before the game even kicked off.

**Claret Murph** · 28/05/2007, 12:06 PM

Originally Posted by gufct

My town do you actually know John Cahill.You might point him out to me the next game in Terryland.

.

Yer I know the guy i used to work with him years ago and I must admit i hate the man, outspoken , never been wrong in his life , the kind of person who would always speak over you to get the last word in . He is a Man Utd nut loves them and hates every other team but he does knows his stuff about football . I seen him a couple of season ago up at Terryland with his kids and then every odd game or two no doubt the kids love going that's why he keeps going .
On a personal note i was happy when he left the company where I worked as I had a gut full his foul mouth .
One final note if you do see him stay well clear of him as I do and i have never spoken to him in years and i hope i never will again

**Patrick Dunne** · 28/05/2007, 12:11 PM

The letter is indeed reproduced in the Galway First.

Why would anyone who goes to all the matches incur an extra expense by not buying a season ticket ?

Mr Cahill wants to contact Sunderland FC. He won't get too far if he goes to the Stadium of Light and expects his kids to get in for free, as they do in Terryland.
I doubt if they would fall for the "I go to all the games, but I won't buy a season ticket" argument. Why ?

Similarly, he compares our pricing structure to Bohemians. Their season tickets are far more expensive.

**geezer** · 28/05/2007, 12:51 PM

if its the jc i know, id say i seen him in Terryland 3 times in the last 5 years
if you add gufct and patrick dunne and they dont know him well that says it all really. At the same time we gotta listen to criticism as well and claret murph its unfair to blame an area that gave us great players in the past for the moaning of 1 very irregular terryland attendee.

**Conor H** · 28/05/2007, 1:01 PM

Sensible UTD fans know that this is a money spinner for the Club.Perhaps a more simplictic explanation to Mr.Cahill by the Club would put him straight.

High Profile Friendly=Money=BetterPlayers and Club Stability=Better League results and Cup Runs=More Money again=Winning the League=Qualifying for Europe=Champions League Winners 2020.Massive.

In all seriousness these trivial complaints are a real 2 fingers to all the work that everyone in UTD has put in over the last few years.
This is a prime example of a blow in/fairweather moaning because he has to dig into the wallet a bit deeper.
If he doesn't want to pay-then don't.Very simple really.