One for the older heads on here.

 

As a younger fan, reading through the threads on here describing how groups of mates could just turn up on the day and get a ticket cheaply makes me wish I was born in an earlier time. It got me wondering how we arrived at the current premier league ticket prices.

 

So my question is...

 

Do you remember a specific point , season, or couple of years at which you looked at the prices and thought, "blimey".

 

Was it a reasonably steady process throughout the 90's, sneaking up on you before you realised it happend, or did it just double over a couple of years?

 

I've always wondered why there wasn't more protest from people at the time.  People moan about it now, but it doesn't seem like there was much uproar at the time.

I think it coincided with the Premier league and all seater stadium so it wasn't like for like.  It was a case of paying for posh new seats from which to watch the game (even if we didn't want them), and a massive improvement in the players we were watching.

Ive got some ticket stubs from about 90ish for the Shed against Spuds and others and the price is £6, I also remember going in the temp green seats against Zaragoza, getting soaked, missing the first goal and paying about about £25 just four years later.

 

IF i have remembered those prices correctly then thats a quadruple price rise in four years, partly or maybe mainly due to all seater.

 

Also when all seater stadiums arrived it made it much more diffecult to sit (or stand) with your mates + all seater stadiums meant you had to start booking tickets in advance, so that stopped the spur of the moment decision on a Saturday morning to go with your mates.

 

Im sure when the Shed went that was also the end of the burger vans inside the ground (like the one at the bottom of the Shed steps) and the start of in house catering companys, that would not of helped the overall daily spend.

mid 90's.

Ive got some ticket stubs from about 90ish for the Shed against Spuds and others and the price is £6, I also remember going in the temp green seats against Zaragoza, getting soaked, missing the first goal and paying about about £25 just four years later.

 

IF i have remembered those prices correctly then thats a quadruple price rise in four years, partly or maybe mainly due to all seater.

 

Also when all seater stadiums arrived it made it much more diffecult to sit (or stand) with your mates + all seater stadiums meant you had to start booking tickets in advance, so that stopped the spur of the moment decision on a Saturday morning to go with your mates.

 

Im sure when the Shed went that was also the end of the burger vans inside the ground (like the one at the bottom of the Shed steps) and the start of in house catering companys, that would not of helped the overall daily spend.

 

This is the main reason behind poor crowd atmosphere.

definately a factor and that the price increases priced out many of the old school pay on the dayers. I seem to remember the cheaper seats going up about a fiver year by year. and yes the price of a pie and beer in the ground went up with it.

I remember my dad giving me £1 pocket money during the 65-69 seasons, that used to get me from Cheam to the Bridge and back buy a hamburger and programme then get me into the ground.

Happy days

Well in my case it was when my old woman asked me to start taking my little boy it become expensive little f@@ker loved a hotdog

It was very affordable in the 60's, 70's and most of the 80's ( for me personally ). In the the 60's and 70's and very early 80's The Shed was the only place to be for me. Then I got married, had a decent paying job so I migrated to the West Stand and Benches, Luxury ( cough ) but still very affordable.

 

By the mid 80's my two young Sons ( and ex Missus ) were fed up with missing out so I capitulated and the four of us sat together in the Lower East Stand Family Section ( Oh the shame ) but at £16 for the four of us I couldn't grumble, and my young Sons then became the next generaton of Chelsea supporters. That's how it used to work back in the day when football was affordable to  the average working man or woman.

 

If my memory hasn't faded completely I seem to recall it was the mid to late 1990's when prices started to head skywards, as stadiums gradually became all seater. The irony is that the 90's saw the birth of the Premier League and the first influx of sponsorship and Sky money. The talk back then was that it would help to keep ticket prices down and affordable to your average punter. What a crock of sh*t that turned out to be.

 

I had to give up regularly attending around 2001, but my 2 Sons, the next generation of supporters, ploughed on with their season tickets for a few years more bless 'em. They both got as far as the 2007/08 season before calling it a day because it was no longer affordable to them. My whole family are still genuine Chelsea fans, but there are now 3 generations of us who have been priced out of going to games and giving our loud and proud support.

 

Miserable old git aren't I ?!

It was very affordable in the 60's, 70's and most of the 80's ( for me personally ). In the the 60's and 70's and very early 80's The Shed was the only place to be for me. Then I got married, had a decent paying job so I migrated to the West Stand and Benches, Luxury ( cough ) but still very affordable.

By the mid 80's my two young Sons ( and ex Missus ) were fed up with missing out so I capitulated and the four of us sat together in the Lower East Stand Family Section ( Oh the shame ) but at £16 for the four of us I couldn't grumble, and my young Sons then became the next generaton of Chelsea supporters. That's how it used to work back in the day when football was affordable to the average working man or woman.

If my memory hasn't faded completely I seem to recall it was the mid to late 1990's when prices started to head skywards, as stadiums gradually became all seater. The irony is that the 90's saw the birth of the Premier League and the first influx of sponsorship and Sky money. The talk back then was that it would help to keep ticket prices down and affordable to your average punter. What a crock of sh*t that turned out to be.

I had to give up regularly attending around 2001, but my 2 Sons, the next generation of supporters, ploughed on with their season tickets for a few years more bless 'em. They both got as far as the 2007/08 season before calling it a day because it was no longer affordable to them. My whole family are still genuine Chelsea fans, but there are now 3 generations of us who have been priced out of going to games and giving our loud and proud support.

Miserable old git aren't I ?!

Miserable old git you certainly ain't. Sadly chelsea have missed out on generations of fans I reckon.

Fifty years of watching football and i have seen the prices rise alarmingly.I honestly cant afford to go to the amount of games i used to.

I can remember the admission charge for The Shed End being doubled from £2 to £4. I travelled down to watch a game i think it was early 80s against Oldham (not the "promotion" one) and the game was shown on MOTD later and the commentator mentioned the increase and the reasons behind it i.e. the wranglings about the stadium. My missus at the time found it quite funny that i had travelled a 200 mile round trip to watch a game that was on TV and i got charged double for my troubles.

Worth it in my eyes to stand on The Shed but i like many others on here have been priced out lately as have the younger generations in my family who are mostly Chelsea. We used to make Villa away our main get together as it was always potd and quite cheap at around £25-£30. Last season i think it was around £40 and there we were told that it was very unlikely that we could get away tickets on the day so,the pub it was.

Edited February 5, 201412 yr by Midland Shed

I couldn't honestly say when I first noticed how expensive it was getting but I can state with certainty when I knew I just couldn't afford it anymore. I started going regularly in 71/2 and up until the end of 84/5 season only missed 10 home games and probably went to roughly a third of the aways in the same period. From 85 up until about 94 I went to most home games and any aways I could get the time off for/afford. Since then it's been pretty much a handful of games every season excepting the 2nd Jose year when I caned a credit card and went to every home game.

 

Truth be told though I just don't enjoy going to the Bridge anymore, awaydays on the MK (unofficial) coach and the odd Euro away appeal far more.

 

Onto the question asked. Me and my mrs, a Clapham girl so a natural born blue,  went to the first home game of the season in 2011 against WBA. No big day out, we got the train from MK pretty early and had a stroll from Euston down to the West end, done some window shopping and stopped for a cuppa a few times. We got to West Brompton at 1ish and had a bite to eat followed by a couple of beers. Total outlay for the day was over £200 and sad to say that was the day that we just decided that we couldn't afford it anymore.

I think when bates took over in 82 there was an immediate big hike,obviously he used the club being next to bankrupt as a logical reason.I seem to remember a quote that our best seats were twice the price of man united and remember, that first season he was in charge we nearly went down to the old division 3! From that point we were amongst the most expensive clubs in the country to watch.

Fifty years of watching football and i have seen the prices rise alarmingly.I honestly cant afford to go to the amount of games i used to.

 

Only a couple of years behind you Hemel Blue, and like many others i dare say, i have to 'pick and choose' these days. Cost of a match day ticket, train fare and a 'pie and a few pints' to make a day of it, and that's £100 gone!.

Alas i do not have that amount of disposable income on a regular basis, just to go to a football match with all the other financial commitments to contend with.

I was fortunate enough to have a company car for a few years years, petrol paid for, (although i paid for it in tax every month, but what you dont have to start with you dont miss) which i used for away games.

Used to just charge mates £10 for petrol, which paid for my ticket and a bite to eat etc. Remember driving to Middlesbrough in successive seasons (2003 & 2004, we won 2-1 and drew 1-1) and the price of  the ticket there at that time was £32.

I would say early to mid nineties. I used to get in for a pound standing in the shed, Sometimes for a change we'd go into the west stand benches which would cost another quid into the stewards pocket who used to mind the gate between the shed and west stand. 

 

Oh happy days people, the football wasn't great at times but I loved it all the same. I f**king love Chelsea.

My eyes were opened when going up to Maine Road in the eighties and paying £1.80 to stand.

It was £4.00 to get in The Shed at the time.

Eventually graduated to a season ticket but when that went up £40 from £280 to £320 it was too much to lay out in one go.

Distinctly remember Bates saying if you want the best (Players) you'll have to pay for it.

I think when bates took over in 82 there was an immediate big hike,obviously he used the club being next to bankrupt as a logical reason.I seem to remember a quote that our best seats were twice the price of man united and remember, that first season he was in charge we nearly went down to the old division 3! From that point we were amongst the most expensive clubs in the country to watch.

Bates also had a habit mentioning the Royal Opera and how cheap we were in comparison.  I actually went there just before Xmas, a pretty good ticket cost me £75 and that was for nearly five hours entertainment and IMO is now better value for money.

Probably my memory playing tricks but I would swear when I first started standing in the Shed it was about a quid or a quid fifty and going to the cinema was about 5 or 6 quid. Now it's 50 quid a game and the cinema costs about 8 to 10 pounds. One of those is not in line with inflation.

This is the main reason behind poor crowd atmosphere.

 

I couldn't agree with this more. I went to a game with my Dad over Xmas (he's overseas so hasn't been a regular since the early 80's), and he was astonished just how few twenty-something year olds you see having a drink in the pub/at the match. I personally weigh up the cost of each game and decide which I can and can't attend almost purely based on price. How can a student/recent grad/young professional expect to pay upwards of £50 to watch a home game every other week?! There's just no way. It's great to see 2 or 3 generations represented, but the distribution of age should be much, much more even, and that will only happen with cheaper tickets. 

 

. Arguably the best atmosphere I've seen in recent years is the away match at Arsenal - £10/£20 tickets and a 9000 seat allocation meant that hundreds of loud, proud under 30's turned up and completely outsang the library. More of this please! 

back in the late 70's £5 from Hampshire to Fulham Broadway. 20 John Player Blue, something to eat and entrance to the Shed up the stairs to the whitewall, take me laces back out from me gonads and put em back on, only for the old bill to nick em. Then delight at the end of the game for about 300 Skinheads fighting each other outside those awful portacabin bogs to get some form of laces to get home in (Happy days)

 

Realised My Chelsea had gone when sitting in the East Stand the evening of the Boro Cup final before a heavy night of it on the Kings Road, the ground, all change the players, the fans had started coming from China, Japan, Korea (local Chelsea Haunts) ? that's progress for you.

 

Chelsea fans now do not realise how Special it was to follow Chelsea. We  were, the only fans in the country where our own chairmen was trying to kill us, yet he wanted to take our money. We started beating Tottenham,

 

Thank You Chelsea I have and will, love you all my life and the great times. Getting hammered at awful northern towns like Rotherham, would not  change it for anything. Hoolifan describes exactly how it was for us and also describes the laughs we all had as Chelsea Fans.

 

Now we are the best in the world, what we always wanted, times change as long as we stay at the top that is all that matters to me. Sorry getting all sentimental. 96 was the stop year for me. Thought her indoors would not take to kindly to the old bill flying through the front door in the early hours.

 

Still have the last hurrah every now and then when the odd phone call comes in, though we are all dinosaurs who still think we are sixteen (long may it continue) 

 

Blue will always be the colour.

I went in the Lilly before the west ham game.The general age profile was 35-55.I think we must have the oldest match going fans in the country.A bit off topic but i was impressed with crystal palaces support at Arsenal last weekend. Looks like they may have picked up a few of our priced out yoof.Proper passionate fans of an unfashionable club.

Nice post londons finest. We all loved our youthful times following the chels, and however sh*t the team were. The initial times will always remain amongst the best.I actually think we that started going after the 70s cup winning side broke up, have been the luckiest, because we have seen it all. From relegations through to premiership and unthinkable champs league success.I remember in 82/83 as a 17 year old on middlesbrough station, a freezing 1-3 defeat,huddled round listening on the radio to the FA cup draw. Huddersfiels away came out. whooppee f**king whoo you may think,another sh*t northern town in a season of visiting sh*t northern towns, but you know what? Dozens of us bouncing around chanting "Hudders here we come!" and we ment it. I knew i was hooked for life.For the record 4000 chelsea made there way to huddersfield, we drew 1-1 but won the replay and it was f**king lively!

Was a regular member at the bridge up to the end of 2003 season,saw the prices for next season in the programme when i decided enough s enough...it`s getting too much now to a watch footie match.

Only been back a couple or so  times since....i was there when we was s**t!

who was the chairman trying to Kill Us? London finest