Zimbabwe News Update
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The i Paper Journalism ApprenticeNottingham Forest are facing a furious backlash from season ticket holders who have been forced to give up their seats to make way for a new hospitality section.159 supporters have been moved to different parts of the City Ground, in what many say is an inferior location, as a result of ongoing stadium works.They were given just eight days’ notice that they would have to move and communication from the club to fans was regarded as inadequate.Archie Bellamy, 22, is one of those affected by the relocation.“The overarching feeling is one of disrespect and disregard for paying fans that have been there for years,” he toldThe i Paper.“It is quite clear that the club does not prioritise us because we don’t spend anywhere near as much as one-time premium ticket holders.”Forest have secured planning permission to expand the City Ground (Photo: Getty)Rachel Perkins, who has been a season ticket holder since 1993, says that the situation has made fans feel like they are not important.“As a fan, I think there’s a love and affection for your club, so when the management make a decision like this, it’s like you’ve been kicked in the teeth.
I love you but you clearly don’t love me.”She clarified that being moved wasn’t really the issue, it was how the club managed it.“I can’t believe for a minute that they haven’t known about this for a long time, so why wait three home games into a season and then move people?
If they’d done it at the end of last season or before the season started, we may have had more options to move.”On top of this, the long-time Forest fan says that when the club contacted her, they hadn’t made it clear the changes would be permanent.“At the end of the day it doesn’t matter how successful the club is, it’s the fans that make it and this is where it becomes sad in the upper echelons of football, because they don’t care about the fans.”Perkins noted that in the first game since being moved, her previous seat was unoccupied, showing that “people will only come and buy [the hospitality seats] when Forest are doing well.”Other fans such as Meg Lister, 19, share the same sentiment.“It doesn’t feel like the club is owned by the fans anymore, I think [Evangelos] Marinakis wants to be the main character,” she said.“As the seasons have gone on, Forest have acted more like they are a ‘big club’.
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