Festive football costs soar as fans fork out up to £468 to attend matches, Cost of supporting your football club away over Christmas revealed by FSF survey.
Plymouth Argyle fans face the highest cost and most arduous journeys to watch their team over the festive period. This is according to annual research carried out by the Football Supporters’ Federation (FSF), and supported by Virgin Media, into the cost of Christmas football.
The analysis includes ticket, travel and food costs, plus journey times, incurred by supporters of all 92 clubs across the Premier League and English Football League for festive fixtures played between Boxing Day and January 4 2018.
The findings show that Plymouth Argyle fans will spend £468.43 – 11 times more than the lowest costs paid by Morecambe FC fans (£42.89). The Pilgrims will travel more than 1,000 miles to get behind their team at MK Dons on Boxing Day and Blackpool on December 30.
Premier Prices
Overall, the average fan will spend £171.37 to watch their team this Christmas, where supporters of 46 clubs will travel twice to support their teams away. In total, Premier League fans will pay the most (£182.08) to watch top-flight football over the Christmas break.
On top of costs, some fans will have to travel huge distances to attend games across the country. Total distances that will be travelled range from 20 miles (Chelsea away at Arsenal) to 1,096 miles (Plymouth Argyle at MK Dons and Blackpool) taking between 1hr 41mins and 26hrs 47mins respectively.
The findings underpin the FSF’s ‘Twenty’s Plenty’ campaign, backed by Virgin Media, which calls on clubs to cap the cost of an away ticket to £20.
Kevin Miles, Chief Executive, FSF said:
“Despite money being tight around this time of year, supporters will be travelling up and down the country over Christmas and New Year to back their teams in remarkable numbers once again.
“Away fans are a huge part of our match-going tradition and that shouldn’t be taken for granted, so clubs and sponsors can and should do more in making football as affordable as possible.”
As the official shirt sponsor of Southampton FC, Virgin Media is on the side of fans this Christmas by subsiding Southampton supporters’ coach travel and match-day tickets for the Saints’ game against Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley Stadium. Crystal Palace fans visiting St Mary’s on January 2 will also have their tickets subsidised to £20 as part of Virgin Media’s ongoing cap on away ticket prices at the stadium.
Key findings from the research:
Cost by League
| League |
Average cost (per fan) |
Highest Cost |
Lowest Cost |
|
Premier League |
£182.08 |
Manchester City – £383.63 |
Chelsea – £54.63 |
|
Championship |
£169.47 |
Fulham – £368.94 |
Sheffield United – £56.88 |
|
League 1 |
£150.00 |
Plymouth Argyle – £468.43 |
Gillingham – £43.62 |
|
League 2 |
£157.14 |
Luton Town – £342.53 |
Morecambe – £42.89 |
|
Total average: |
£171.37 |
N/a |
N/a |
Distance travelled by League
| League |
Average driving distance (miles) |
Most travel |
Least travel |
|
Premier League |
372.06 |
Brighton Hove Albion – 816 miles |
Chelsea – 20 miles |
|
Championship |
358.95 |
Fulham – 748 miles |
Sheffield United – 82 miles |
|
League 1 |
321.86 |
Plymouth Argyle – 1,096 miles |
Gillingham – 59 miles |
|
League 2 |
353.37
|
Yeovil Town – 772 miles |
Morecambe – 91 miles |
|
Total average: |
360
|
N/a
|
N/a |
Match-day ticket costs by League
| League |
Average match-day ticket cost |
Most Expensive Ticket |
Cheapest Ticket |
|
Premier League |
£29
|
£30 price cap
|
Southampton FC – £20 Crystal Palace – £20 Both subsidised to £20 by Virgin Media |
|
Championship |
£27.06
|
Nottingham Forest – £42
|
Fulham – £18 |
|
League 1 |
£22
|
Doncaster Rovers – £28 |
Rochdale – £10 |
|
League 2 |
£21
|
£24 – All Jan 1 |
Wycombe Wanderers – £16 |
|
Total average: |
£24.61 |
N/a |
N/a |
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