A Manchester City fan who paid for the controversial Tunnel Club package has revealed how excited he was to be ignored by the team’s players in such an unusual and intimate setting.
Saying that the level of access was something he had previously only dreamed about, 42-year-old Blues fan Roy Farmer spoke with delight of the £15,000-per-season membership which he was experiencing for the first time.
The club have come in for criticism since the launch of Tunnel Club, with many suggesting that it is yet another example of the absurdity of the modern game.
Farmer however, who has supported the club for 35 years, rejected such criticism and insisted it was a breath of fresh to be totally blanked by his heroes from the comfort of such exclusive and novel surroundings.
“It’s a whole different experience”
Speaking from the comfort of the glass-walled lounge which features a bar, restaurant and unfettered access to the players tunnel, the banker said that he felt honoured to have had the opportunity to watch Man City’s players utterly disregard his attempts to speak to them from just yards away.
“It was incredible. I know the Tunnel Club has been slagged off by some people but it really is such an unbelievable experience. The atmosphere, the proximity to the team, the luxury, and where else can you get the chance to be blindly ignored by the people you want to be close to more than anyone else?” said the fan, adding that he would recommend the Tunnel Club to all other Blues.
“It’s a whole different experience to the regular match day. When you’re on the sidelines the players blank you from really far away, and they have so many distractions that it kind of loses its effect. But in the tunnel it’s just you, the players, their headphones, their phones and whatever else they can find to make sure they don’t have to look at you. It’s absolutely fantastic.”
The supporter later went on to say that while he enjoyed his experience, he would be more than happy to pay a larger sum to be ignored by the players in the club’s actual dressing room.
