It isn’t so often (in fact it’s never happened before) you will hear “well done Liverpool fans” uttered from me, but on this occasion their latest demonstration on the KOP is actually worth a mention. Wigan Athletic fans have banged on for years (as have other Clubs), but Liverpool seem to be taking the lead in the Premier League (not so often you hear that either)…..
The Wigan Athletic Supporters Club has been plugging the FSF’s Twenty’s Plenty campaign for a maximum price away ticket to be £20 for close on 3 years now, TNS writer Alan Moore started to highlight just before Christmas and now Cockney Latic will get the message out through the news pages rather than just the message boards.
At Liverpool home games there are really big banners pointing out the increase in price that football fans have had to endure over the years, these images are beamed around the World and published in the media hopefully to the humiliation of Clubs that think people who go to games are there to be bled dry.
On the day the FSF are meeting with the Premier League we all need to get our voices behind what they are campaigning for, so we can have a hope in the future to pay a fair price for watching our teams play, rather being dictated to by shareholders.
The latest from the FSF website is:
FSF chief executive Kevin Miles will lead a delegation of fans to talk ticket prices with the Premier League on Friday (23rd January).
Nine out of 10 fans tell us they think prices are too expensive and our Affordable Football For All! demo delivered that message in August 2014.
Members and regular visitors to the site will know we’ve long argued that Premier League clubs need to cut prices.
That argument will be reiterated as we visit PL HQ along with Blue Union, Manchester United Supporters’ Trust, Newcastle United Supporters’ Trust, Tottenham Hotspur Supporters’ Trust, and Spirit of Shankly.
We’re also keen to find specific ideas which can be developed in conjunction with the Premier League and its clubs. A good example of this is our Twenty’s Plenty for Away Tickets which saved top-flight fans £342,000 during 2013-14.
On the agenda:
1.Kicking “categorisation” into row z/maximum away ticket price;
2.Prices for younger fans as they graduate out of “kids” concessionary prices;
3.How can the PL help fans get in front of decision-makers at clubs who set the prices?
Many fans think categorisation should be scrapped, as FSF chair Malcolm Clarke told The Independent: “This business of categorising matches is blatantly unfair. Just because Manchester City have a lot of money doesn’t mean their supporters have, and the same is true of the other teams who get charged the highest prices every time they play.”
There are also concerns over the “pinch point” when kids graduate to full adult prices. Are clubs easing that transition with reduced prices for young adults who might be in full time education, low-paid jobs, or apprenticeships?
The Premier League often argue they are, in effect, only a trade body for the individual clubs, and it is the latter who have power to reduce prices. If that is the case, how can the Premier League empower fans to get in front of the decision makers at their clubs? Not all clubs have fans’ groups with that access or influence.
August’s delegation also included fans from Football League clubs and we want to follow up that meeting with more campaign work which focuses specifically on those 72 clubs. If you’d like to be involved with that work, email tickets@fsf.org.uk.
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