The football club charging £2k for tickets

by John Fitzsimons on 02 August 2011  |  15 comments
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It may be the nation's favourite sport, but it will cost you an arm and a leg to enjoy it in person

I’ve not enjoyed football a huge amount over the last couple of years. Undoubtedly, a major part of that is that my own club, West Ham, have been utterly rubbish, culminating in our relegation last year.

But an added factor has been the sheer cost of going to games. When the cheapest available ticket for some games is more than £40 – and that’s before you dare to buy a programme or pie – it becomes a seriously expensive hobby, especially if you’re not going to be particularly entertained by the football on show.

The biggest game in town

But do other supporters have to pay through the nose to the same extent? Each year I like to take a look at the season ticket prices for the Premier League’s clubs, but this year I’ve added matchday prices too, since many of us can’t afford to shell out for an entire year’s football, but are likely to pop along to a few games over the season.

*Club will decide where your seat is. **Manchester City did not return my calls

Let’s take a look, in a little more detail, at season tickets.

Cashing in

A number of clubs have announced price rises from last season. Arsenal, who have kept prices stable over the last couple of years – even though, by a distance, they charge the most for season tickets – have raised prices by 6.5%.

Norwich City have also increased the cost of season tickets by £1.50 per game for adults, while Manchester City have raised prices by 6%.

However, the most significant rise comes from one of the new boys, Queens Park Rangers. The club earned the moniker of the ‘richest club in the world’ a few years ago, after its takeover by a collection of seriously rich individuals (Bernie Ecclestone, Flavio Briatore, Lakshmi Mittal, etc) and following some astute spending, the club now finds itself in the Premier League.

And it’s rewarded the supporters who have sat through years of rubbish by ramping up season ticket prices by an average of 40%, with the most expensive season ticket jumping from £699 to £999.

More balls for your buck

At the other end of the scale, there are some bargains to be had.

While Manchester City have raised prices across the stadium, they have also introduced a value season ticket, at just £260. Given the talent on display at City, after the millions they have spent accruing some of the world’s most talented players (and James Milner), that’s a hell of a deal. Unsurprisingly, these are in short supply, and the club will decide where you’re seated if you do get one.

Other bargain tickets include a £225 season ticket at Blackburn Rovers (working out at just £11.84 a game), and a season ticket for £295 at Wigan Athletic. Stoke City also deserve some praise, after not only freezing prices but neglecting to pass on this year’s VAT increase, while Bolton have frozen season ticket prices for the sixth straight season.

Unsurprisingly, these are clubs that don’t tend to sell out all that often.

The London premium

London boasts a number of football clubs in the top division, but don’t be fooled into thinking that level of choice means a good deal for supporters – instead, we pay a premium. Obviously, the eye is drawn immediately to the frankly mental prices that Arsenal charge, where the cheapest season ticket is not much shy of £1,000. But it’s not just Arsenal – even Queens Park Rangers are charging in excess of £500 for their cheapest season ticket.

The average cheapest season ticket price for a London club is £647.80, compared to £416.30 across the other 15 clubs.

I appreciate that supply and demand plays a bit part in this, but it remains incredible that London clubs can get away with charging such inflated prices.

A question of categories

In terms of matchday prices, it’s clear that each club takes its own path, with prices tending to vary depending on who the opposition are. So while Manchester United charge a flat rate, no matter the opposition, Everton have a frankly ridiculous FIVE different levels of pricing depending on who they are playing.

My personal favourites here are Newcastle, who have three tiers – A+, A and C. Not entirely sure what the club has against the letter B though.

In terms of value for money, Wolves, Wigan, Swansea and Aston Villa all have matchday tickets available for less than £25 which is fantastic, while once again it’s the London clubs cashing in with the extortionate prices. Blackburn Rovers told me they will be charging on a match by match basis, which should prove interesting.

As for me, I’ll be waiting for the games where West Ham’s owners, desperate to fill the ground, cut prices, something they did a couple of times last year. With our cheapest ticket at £32, we are still charging Premier League prices for Championship football.

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