Not sure I mentioned it in this thread of somewhere else about something else but I paid £700 off a tout for a ticket to the Carling Cup Final.
Whilst I dont condone it and certainly wouldnt encourage it, it is part and parcel of the game. Without them I wouldnt have got a ticket to the game, end of story. I was just under the required number of loyalty points required to receive a ticket (due to the fact I live 125 miles from White Hart Lane).
Should (or when, or hopefully) Rangers progress to the final tonight, I dread to think of the value of the tickets on the black market. If you compare the £700 I paid for a domestic cup final then in the scheme of things I would estimate it will certainly be higher. And its fair to say, whatever you think of touts and so on, even if you dont pay the price, someone, somewhere will. As I read earlier there is also the consideration that apart from beer money and a hotel (possibly) for the night there really are no further outgoings (e.g flights, visas and so forth).
I guess due to Rangers domestic success that a Cup Final ticket for the Scottish Cup and so forth wouldnt command such a high price but just add to the fact that this is the 2nd best trophy in European football and the whole pricing structure defies logic.
Ultimately, for me to see Spurs beat Chel$ki in the final was well worth the money I paid and I would do it again and again and again (if I could guarantee the same result!!). Sometimes it just the price we have to pay to follow our teams all over the place.
For instance when I went to Seville Vs Spurs in the UEFA Cup last year, it cost me around £850.00 all in for fllights, hotel, transfers, beer, taxis and so on and it wasnt even a final!
Well thats enough of my spiel, just wanted to make my point and finally GOOD LUCK THIS EVENING