When a Segunda B team like
Alcoyano
meets a Primera in the
Copa del Rey, it
is cause for joy in the dressing room, but if
Real Madrid
or FC Barcelona, the celebration extends to the offices, where leaders accustomed to square budget to hammer rub their hands.
The sports award of receiving stars is joined by an
economic pinch
that fixes the budget.
An extra to shore up survival.
In Alcoy, the party was left half.
The very high
rate of Covid incidence
in the city has meant that the 150 fans that the health regulations in the Valencian Community cannot even be in the stadium tonight.
The city suffers special restrictions that will leave the stands empty.
That is why the board of directors has sharpened their ingenuity and has put the 4,850 locations on sale virtually to fill El Collao.
"We need a good dose of morale and affection that could come from any corner of the world," they say.
In exchange, for a symbolic price of 10 euros, those who collaborate will receive a
ticket for the "no match"
of the Cup signed by the entire squad.
A collector's item.
If all were sold, the collection would still be far from what they achieved in the last visit of Real Madrid in the Cup, in the 12/13 season, with
Mourinho
on the bench.
“So we expanded the stadium's capacity by 3,500 more seats and it was full.
We gave 1,600 members a free ticket, but we knew that Real Madrid was the only team that allowed us to set the price we wanted because they were going to sell out.
And the cheapest was worth 80 euros ", explains the director of Communication of Alcoyano, Jesús Fernández.
The result of that game was a resounding 1-4 that left them with no options in the return leg at the Bernabéu and
350,000 euros of collection
, 40% of the budget for that season.
The pandemic has left them without that award, although going through rounds has already brought them 145,000 euros of the distribution made by the Federation.
It seems little in a season in which modest clubs are suffering without the income from season tickets and tickets and the fall in sponsorships.
That is why they hope to be able to add the almost 50,000 that these virtual tickets would bring.
English example
The idea has been cooked up as a result of a similar initiative by the modest
English
Marine
.
This team from the eighth division of Crosby, a town near Liverpool where famous people such as Carlo Ancelotti or Rafa Benítez live, was paired in the FACup with
José Mourinho's
Tottenham
and could not fill the stands of Rosset Park due to the coronavirus.
However, it multiplied by seven its capacity in a virtual way.
Instead of the 3,185 towns in the field, he sold 20,000 for ten pounds, about 11 euros.
And not only among their fans, the success is that they got the collaboration of the Spurs and legendary former players like
Gary Lineker
or
Alan Shearer
.
Those who buy the virtual ticket for El Collao will have to watch the game on television, with the rotations that
Zidane
prepares
, and perhaps cross their fingers so that Alcoyano pulls morale and manages to surprise and sneak into the hype of the round of 16.
And then hope that the pandemic allows us to wait for the next First with an audience in the stands.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
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