Manchester City will become the first football club in England to offer entry to its stadium using radio frequency-enabled (RF) mobile phones when it plays Arsenal this weekend.

The club has provided a small group of volunteers with near-field communication phones with embedded RF chips, and will make them generally available at Christmas.

Fans can use the phones to download tickets, open turnstiles when they pass the device over the reader, purchase merchandise and store electronic money.

‘We tested the technology at the final three games last season to ensure it worked,’ said the club’s head of retail Duncan Martin. ‘This year, we contacted our top customers and asked them to take part in the next stage.’

Fans can already enter the ground using RFID smartcards. Those wanting to take advantage of the mobile service will have to upgrade their phones to an RF-enabled Nokia device supplied by Man City.

The service will also allow the club to promote special offers, such as discounts for arriving early to reduce crowd build-up.

‘The phones can open the turnstile and communicate to the back office to let us know exactly when a fan arrives,’ said Martin. ‘This will allow us to communicate with them directly and offer discounts if they arrive early. It is also more convenient as most fans already own a mobile phone.’

AMR Research analyst Nigel Montgomery says the technology will allow the club to add value to the fans by cross selling and offering targeted marketing campaigns, including club merchandise, wallpaper, ring tones and even branded phones.

‘Manchester City was one of the first adopters of smartcards and learned a lot,’ he said.

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