FFS has received an e-mail explaining why there were may have been so many empty seats on Saturday at the opening game and making us feel a little bit guilty for tarring all corporate w*nkers with the same brush! (Only a bit though, eh?! - Ed)

Here's the message from Chris which explains some of the gaps, and rightly points out that not all the people up there are prawn eaters not watching the game!

Here's Chris's right to reply...

"I was as distressed to find myself sitting in a practically empty block at the Watford game as FFS clearly was at the sight of all those empty seats in a stadium that was otherwise heaving. Just to put the record straight on a few things though, the empty seats in your picture are not really corporate seats. Although some of the seats in this area of the ground are owned by local businesses for the purpose of entertaining their clients, the majority are occupied by debenture holders, amongst them some of the most loyal and long-standing supporters of the club.

"In case you're unfamiliar with the concept, basically a debenture is an interest free loan which the individual makes to the club. Many of the debenture holders at City leant the club money (and we're talking four figure sums here) to build the Carling Stand at Filbo or to fund the abortive attempt to turn the Filbo pitch around and build some proper stands where the bikesheds were. I don't think any debenture holders expected to see their money back (and to be honest, with the club's present financial difficulties, they probably never will). On top of the debentures, these people have to purchase their season tickets each year, the debenture just guarantees that a season ticket will be available in a good location within the stadium. This is a case of real fans putting their money where their mouth is and helping the club out in hard times.

"The empty seats at the Watford game were there because the club has overestimated the take-up of season tickets by debenture holders. Something clearly needs to be done about it but if I were the club I would leave it a couple of games to see if interest is sparked by a good start to the season before selling them on to normal punters. With the potential for 31,000 + gates at New Filbo, no so-called loyal supporters (the 10,000 who were there on Saturday because they were curious about the new stadium but couldn't be arsed to get to a single game last season when we really needed them) are going to struggle to get tickets for any of the upcoming fixtures and if you can flog the empty seats in the debenture holders areas for £500 + for the season (which is the going rate) that might give the club enough to find some wages for McKinlay and Summerbee. (Steady, we don't want 'em getting any fancy ideas - Ed)

"Those people in the Fosse Stand (which I think the Kop has just be named) did a marvellous job of lifting the team on Saturday - the noise was amazing and, believe it or not, some of the corporate w*nkers were singing along with you too !"

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