By Paul Nicholson
March 9 – The long running battle between clubs and fans over the price of tickets for away matches has found a league-wide solution with Premier League clubs having unanimously agreed to cap away tickets at no more than £30 each. The agreement will last for three seasons.
The debate over tickets prices has been a constant theme amongst Premier League supporters in recent years with fan groups even marching on the Premier League headquarters before the start of the 2014/15 season in protest.
Ticket prices for away fans have come under particular scrutiny and not just for Premier League matches. Bayern Munich fans protested against £64 away tickets for their match against Arsenal in the Champions League in October last year, while Manchester United fans protested at £71 tickets for their away match in the Europa League against Denmark’s FC Midtjylland last month.
Premier League away ticket prices generally have ranged between £40 and £60 and fans groups had been lobbying on a £20 cap for away fans. While £30 is more than they had hoped for, Malcolm Clarke, chairman of the Football Supporters’ Association, said that is was a significant improvement and that they felt that they had been listened to.
In capping the maximum price at £30 the Premier League said on its website: “Clubs know that away fans have a unique status. They are essential for match atmosphere and stimulate the response from home fans that distinguishes Barclays Premier League matches from those of other leagues.”
Clubs had already been providing assistance for away fans via the Away Supporters’ Initiative (ASI), introduced in 2013 with each clubs investing £200,000 per season in initiatives for fans.
These included free coach travel (Stoke City), reciprocal pricing (Newcastle United, Everton, Southampton, Stoke City), special trains for away fixtures (Chelsea) and ticket price reductions (Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool).
Ticket pricing is the responsibility of the home club who had argued that with stadiums at least 90% full for each of the last 18 seasons, rising to 95.9% for the 2014/15 and 2013/14 seasons, the pricing was in line with the demand. This season the average capacity of Premier League grounds is running at 95.55% according to Insideworldfootball figures (see http://www.insideworldfootball.com/premier-league/19002-west-ham-and-swansea-top-attendances-toon-army-return-to-st-james-s).
Even with the price reduction for away fans, ticket pricing will remain a sensitive issues, as witnessed two weeks ago at Liverpool where fans staged a walkout on 77 minutes – the equivalent of the £77 top priced ticket proposed for the new Main Stand. Liverpool’s US owners quickly revamped their ticket price schedule.
The Premier League have separately released a comprehensive overview and analysis of the ticket prices available by club (http://www.premierleague.com/en-gb/news/news/2015-16/oct/081015-premier-league-overview-of-ticket-prices.html).
Source: Premier League
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