How to fill the PSS for the Azkals’ World Cup qualifier

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Azkals kick off their 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign on June 11 with a home game against Bahrain. It’s been decided that we will defend our home soil, not our home rubber infill granules, and the match will take place on the natural greensward of the Philippine Sports Stadium in Bocaue, Bulacan, and not on Rizal Memorial’s artificial surface. 

At first glance, it seems like a bad idea, considering the unimpressive attendance in recent Azkals matches in Rizal Memorial. RMS seats about 12,500, and yet in the most important home game in recent memory, the first leg of the semifinal against Thailand last December, there were hundreds, maybe even thousands, of empty seats.

The PSS has a capacity of 25,000, and it’s also situated 36.8 kilometers away from the corner of Ayala and EDSA. One wonders if we’re just deluding ourselves into believing we can stuff that bowl with rabid Azkals fans against Bahrain. 

A full stadium will be a tough ask, but it’s possible. Here are suggestions on how we can pull it off. 

Get the ticket prices right. Gone are the days when the Azkals could command a premium on ticket sales. Remember the LA Galaxy match in 2011? The priciest seat cost P15,000, and the cheapest, P2000. My colleague Roy Moore wrote a great piece two years ago about how our ticket prices are rather dearer than those of our neighbors, even though many of those nations are footballing countries. 

In my opinion, the cheapest ticket for June 11 should be P50. That’s right, fifty pesos. That’s half the price of previous budget tickets for Azkals games. I think this makes sense because it makes up for the arduous, time-consuming trek to get to Bocaue, plus the NLEX toll if you take a car.

It’s P45 at the Smart Connect interchange off Mindanao Avenue and then another P56 going back. Besides, there are twice as many seats in PSS as there are in RMS, so you can make the same amount, theoretically, with half-price tickets.

As long as we have a P50 ticket, then you can pretty much make the rest of the ticket zones any price you please. 

The organizers should have the mindset that creating a cauldron of noise in support of the Azkals is as important, if not more important, than making a decent profit off gate receipts.

A traditional media push is needed. In my opinion, one of the biggest problems about this game is that people just don’t know about it. The casual Pinoy fan who could be persuaded to catch the game has no clue it’s happening. He’ll probably learn about the game days before kickoff. 

I would like to see some Azkals show up on a few noontime shows just to plug the game. I think that the presence of just one billboard on EDSA advertising the qualifier would do a lot of good. Football sportswriters can start writing about it as early as now. 

The name of the game is awareness. It needs to be promoted as if it was a Manny Pacquiao fight. 

The game is on a weeknight, so if we want working folks to show up, they should be learning about the match by now and shipping their leave forms to their supervisors. Which brings me to my next point… 

Target students with free tickets. June 11 is right around the time when school starts. Fortunately some schools, like UP, are already shifting to the ASEAN school calendar and won’t start until August. 

But even if students have school that day, some, especially tertiary students, will have class schedules that will allow them to catch the action. The game kicks off at 8:00 pm. 

My proposal is this: have a block of tickets reserved for students. Maybe five thousand tickets, or even more. Announce online that any high school or university student who shows up in the PFF office with a valid school ID from this school year or the previous one, gets a free ticket. Heck, we should just give them two. 

Passion for football often begins at a young age. Lets exploit that as we try to pack the PSS on June 11.

Offering free transportation. Without a car, getting to PSS is a pain. You can commute to the stadium by taking a bus to Santa Maria, Bulacan, the town just north of the facility. But from there you will need to hire a tricycle to schlep you the three kilometers south to the PSS. Don’t ask me how to commute home in the evening. I wouldn’t have a clue. 

I’m hoping that busing could be organized for fans who can’t bring a car. The Philippine Volcanoes did this very effectively during their two games at PSS for the Asian Rugby Championship. But for an Azkals game, it must be done at a bigger scale. 

I’m hoping that our friends in Ceres can whip something up. If not free busing to and from the stadium, at the very least, cheap or subsidized busing.

Bus and tour companies can even make it a package, with the ticket, transpo, merienda/dinner/drinks and maybe sponsored goodies like sponsored scarves, fans, or t-shirts. This is an opportunity for people to get creative. 

While they’re at it, the organizers should also publicize an alternate route going out of the venue. You can actually turn right after going northwards and then go behind the stadium to get to the NLEX Marilao exit via Patubig road.

The way to the NLEX through Santa Maria can get very jammed up after a big event, since it’s mostly two-lane road. There are horror stories of folks getting home at 3 am after the Katy Perry concert in the adjacent Philippine Arena.

Sell the game as part of a long weekend getaway. The following day is Independence day, so no work or school. Perhaps fans and families can do this: watch the game, then afterwards drive off to a beach or other resort in the north? Hit two birds with one stone. 

Good old word-of-mouth with the help of social media will help big time. This is where we can all pitch in.

We need Azkals fans to tell everyone about this game. It needs to get tweeted, Facebooked, Instagrammed and also shared in person. The old-fashioned way could still very well be the best way to ensure that every seat gets filled.

It won’t be enough if just the hardcore fans show up. We need casual fans and non-fans to discover the thrill of supporting our national football team. 

* * * 

This is a huge game. A crossroads game. The team deserves a sellout to give them a solid 12^th man, especially since this is for a spot in football’s biggest stage: the FIFA World Cup. 

This is also our first game of a tough eight-game slog against a murderer’s row of sides, namely Uzbekistan, Bahrain, North Korea, and Yemen. A fast start is imperative. 

Five days after the Bahrain match, we play Yemen in Qatar. (A civil war makes holding the game in Yemen impossible.) I don’t know how many Yemenis reside in Qatar but I sure as hell know there are plenty of Pinoys there. We could, in effect, be having two home games in a row. 

If we get a win or a draw on the eleventh then nick a result in Doha, then the team will be brimming with confidence for the remaining six games. 

The team needs a massive home-field advantage against Bahrain, who we lost 2-1 to in Riffa, last March 30. We need to give the visitors hell to keep the dream of Russia in 2018 alive. 

Spanish power Valencia looking to make inroads into the Philippines. 

Last Thursday we sat down with Andy Yun, the head of sales in Asia for Valencia C.F., the team that lies fourth in the Spanish La Liga table. 

Yun is Singaporean, just like Valencia’s majority owner, Peter Lim. Yun says Valencia want to broaden the exposure of their young side, (average age is 23) worldwide, and also partner with a Philippine club to help boost youth football by introducing their world-class football education methodology here. 

Yun says that it’s even possible that some very talented young Pinoy players could go to Valencia’s vaunted academy. 

More good news for football in the Philippines.

Follow Bob on Twitter @PassionateFanPH.