I'm not Anti-Tourist or advocating a blanket ban on them. After all many years ago I myself attended a La Liga fixture, Barcelona v Real Madrid, and earlier that day I took in a guided tour of the Nou Camp. So I'd be a massive hypocrite if I objected to tourist presence at West Ham games.Mr_Rook wrote:as long as the away fans and day tripper spend money then let them come i genuinely dont care about day trippers, look at day trippers for Chelsea, arsenal and Man United its due to these that they have such decent income from kit purchases etc....
And I agree - if Chelski, Man Utd, etc are benefiting from their cash, why shouldn't we? Better still if they go home converted West Ham fans, wearing a West Ham shirt, decide to learn about our history, decide to find out about the significance of that statue in Champions Place, about our working class Docker roots, about Bobby Moore, about Billy Bonds, about the 'White Horse' final, trying to work out what the **** the 'West Ham Way' is :lol:, and learning the words to Bubbles in a far flung corner of our planet then to me that's not a bad thing.
However what I don't expect, and did not expect when I got a ticket for that Barcelona game back then, was that any tourist should get a choice of seat location ahead of any Season Ticket Holder, Member or loyal fan. The tourist gets what is leftover. And they pay for what's leftover.
And if that cash they pay in some small way helps us invest in, and maybe actually helps us keep, the next generation of Rio Ferdinand's, Joe Cole's, Glenn Johnson's and Michael Carrick's instead of having to sell them on before they reach the reach the age of 21, then keep 'em coming!
Just as that £80 I paid for that Barcelona match over a decade ago helped pay for the tiniest fraction of Ronaldinho's wages as he demolished a David Beckham and Michael Owen featured Real Madrid that day.
Only keep them where they belong - at the back of the queue.