Whilst on a tour of the Etihad yesterday for my sons birthday, they were telling us about the Tunnel club package that they're currently building for the new season.

Prices start at £15k a season for the chance to see the players before the game, watch them in the tunnel and enter the ground via a separate tunnel to get to the seats behind the dugout

I recall reading about it when they announced it the other year but I'd forgotten about it until yesterday.

The rest of the City set up is very impressive and worth seeing if you get a chance to go on the tour.

prefer the Longside upper!

Spurs and Leicester will also have something similar on the go.

Surely after a game seeing this the novelty would wear off and be better experiencing the atmosphere as they enter the pitch. Certainly not worth 15k anyway.

Could be a police sting it will be full of mancs drug dealers.

bfcjg wrote:Could be a police sting it will be full of mancs drug dealers.

Correct. You should see some of them in the corp box on matchdays. Been a few times they look shifty as

Man City closed the tunnel ahead of the game against us last season to build this - since our game they've been coming out in the corner via a temporary tunnel. Spurs are also incorporating one in their new stadium.

Do you get a free box of tissues looks a bit pervy to me.

Its just odd and voyeuristic.

Does anyone imagine the players want to be ogled whilst they're waiting to come out?

I suspect every Tom, Dick and Harry will want to be involved in the tunnel club.

Rowls wrote:Its just odd and voyeuristic.

Does anyone imagine the players want to be ogled whilst they're waiting to come out?

I doubt they'll give a monkey's.

Rowls wrote:Its just odd and voyeuristic.

Does anyone imagine the players want to be ogled whilst they're waiting to come out?

You think they mind being in view of a few dozen wealthy people is going to faze them just before they step out of the tunnel to be viewed, cheered and jeered by tens of thousands of supporters in the ground and maybe a few hundred million TV viewers worldwide?

Watch how they explain in detail the defeat by Burnley next season!

FactualFrank wrote:I doubt they'll give a monkey's.

I bet somebody will if it constantly freaks their players out and they start losing.

And yes, the tunnel area IS different to the playing arena. One is a public place, the other is a semi-private place and the gateway between the absolute privacy of the dressing room and the absolute openness of the public arena.

You make the tunnel a public zone then the gateway is pushed back to the dressing room door. There is no longer a buffer-zone between the areas.

Maybe it'll be dull as dishwater watching players standing around or maybe it will prove a highly entertaining social experiment. Either way, I don't have £15,000 kicking around in spare change and I'm not interested in gawping at footballers who are playing football.

. doesn't think the tunnel is that private - the players often stand in the tunnel for a while with a tv camera about 2 yards from their face. He doesn't expect a handful of people watching through the wall to bother them in the slightest.

Rule No.1 : Never ever meet your heroes.

How boring must that be before every home game to stand in the tunnel. You would soon get fed up with that unless you are a bit special needs

Yeah, each to their own. I only pay to watch footballers because they're miles better than I could ever be.

But I reckon I could stand in a tunnel for a bit, checking my hair and that.

Rowls wrote:Its just odd and voyeuristic.

Does anyone imagine the players want to be ogled whilst they're waiting to come out?

They won't know, or at least it won't feel like they are being watched as they won't be able to see the spectators.

Maybe it's one-way glass like they have in cop shops. They could hire it out fro ID parades on non-match days.....

Actual cost £18,000. £15k plus VAT. Businesses using it for corporate entertainment may be able to claim the VAT back depending on tax rules, but if you're a "normal fan" (but a very rich one) it's £18,000.

£18,000 to be in the tunnel?

20p in the 110 Club.

Companies will buy these to show off to cliants I wud av fought.