FSF are organizing a meeting with every PL clubs' supporters to try and get some mass protests going. I have a few thoughts; mainly that it has a good chance of succeeding. Prices in general seem out of hand all around the league and I'm all for people standing up to an injustice. The clubs for the most part can afford to take in less match day revenue, especially the largest teams.

 

Since most here are closer to the situation, I'd like to hear their thoughts.

 

Do you think there will be league wide protests? Will they work in bringing prices down for the average fan? Do you think Chelsea have done a good job in trying to keep our own ticket prices down? Just for my own curiosity, what were the single ticket prices when you starting going to matches?

Edited February 9, 201610 yr by TheChelseaBlues

Last year I happened to read an old diary from around 1978 (I can't quite remember the date and can't check as I'm at work) in which I said that a very kind neighbour had given me two tickets for the most expensive seats at Chelsea.  They were in the (then) new East Stand and cost the princely sum of £3.25 I think.

 

Using an online inflation calculator this would now be £18.  Even allowing for the fact I may have got either the price or the year slightly out, that's a huge difference!!  

 

Interestingly I had also recorded buying a pair of bog-standard jeans for around £12 - so my jeans cost 3 or 4 times more than a ticket to the best seat at Chelsea!  Safe to say it's the other way round now!

Chelsea have done well freezing most prices for about 4 or 5 seasons and they reduce ticket prices for European and cup matches. Think memberships have remained fairly constant too.

 

Still hasn't stopped a lot of people being priced out of going and that probably won't change in the new stadium with the vast majority of extra seating being 'club' seating. 

 

Unfortunately I don't know what can be done to change it and I think a lot of people feel the same. You hear a lot of supporters feeling a detachment with their clubs and I don't think our club is any different. 

Edited February 9, 201610 yr by ShedEnder91

Last year I happened to read an old diary from around 1978 (I can't quite remember the date and can't check as I'm at work) in which I said that a very kind neighbour had given me two tickets for the most expensive seats at Chelsea.  They were in the (then) new East Stand and cost the princely sum of £3.25 I think.

 

Using an online inflation calculator this would now be £18.  Even allowing for the fact I may have got either the price or the year slightly out, that's a huge difference!!  

 

Interestingly I had also recorded buying a pair of bog-standard jeans for around £12 - so my jeans cost 3 or 4 times more than a ticket to the best seat at Chelsea!  Safe to say it's the other way round now!

 

Considering where we finished that season, you got value for your money.

Considering where we finished that season, you got value for your money.

 

Hmm, I wonder.  It may have been the next season as I think it may've been Division 2 - but I'm just as likely to be remembering two different occasions that I sat in the East Stand (the only two times I think).  One was definitely against Plymouth but as I say that may've been the other time.  Will reread my diaries and let you know!  But anyway, I take your point, we weren't quite such a successful club at the time I was talking about!

Hmm, I wonder.  It may have been the next season as I think it may've been Division 2 - but I'm just as likely to be remembering two different occasions that I sat in the East Stand (the only two times I think).  One was definitely against Plymouth but as I say that may've been the other time.  Will reread my diaries and let you know!  But anyway, I take your point, we weren't quite such a successful club at the time I was talking about!

 

Imagine how you would feel as a Arsenal fan, almost 15 years of never winning the prem, and yet they pay the most money. Can see  why they are called gooners.

Imagine how you would feel as a Arsenal fan, almost 15 years of never winning the prem, and yet they pay the most money. Can see  why they are called gooners.

Do you know, when I used to go back in the 70s, it never occurred to me that we might actually win something, other than the odd match!  And I was happy.  Though that’s a bit different to Arsenal – the nearly guys who really think they are going to win!

Edited February 9, 201610 yr by Beerqueen

Last week i bought two tickets for the Stoke game(for a mate) they cost £133.00, add travel, beer & food, for a run of the mill game v Stoke could end up costing £200/£250, when you could have a nice weekend away somewhere for the same price.

 

Thats one reason i pick & choose my games now days, i can afford it again(after having 10/15 years of being priced out) but i cant justify the cost.

 

Unless fans actually stop going especially for sky/bt games then they'll always rip us off.

What's an acceptable price for the average fan nowadays? How far would prices have to go down for you to attend most or every home match? I can't imagine any of the big clubs will lower prices enough to do anything but patronize the fans. (77 is too much you say? Well now they're 70!) I wonder if we lowered some tickets to something extremely affordable for fans 12-21 if we wouldn't see an uptick in support from that age group simply because we'd be the cheapest ticket in London. I also read it may be most feasible to lower away ticket prices.

 

Here in KC for example there are some complaints over our NFL team raising season ticket prices by 40% over last season. The single ticket price for the average fan is somewhere around $100, a season ticket about $1,000. I remember when a single ticket cost $45 and I'm not even 30. The NFL seem to be doing the same thing, prices are going up and people are choosing to watch the game from the comfort of home instead of going to the games or simply hanging out in the parking lot and tailgating. (HIGHLY recommended btw, go to a game just to tailgate if you are ever over here during football season)

 

To put the $100 in perspective, that would buy you 2.5 Royals tickets. (a team that just won the World Series) Interestingly enough Sporting KC offers supporters a 20 game season ticket package for $360 or 250 pounds for those across the pond. Quite a deal that last one, I may have to sign up for the season

Edited February 9, 201610 yr by TheChelseaBlues

Says it all

 

The price of tickets has been a problem for years especially at Chelsea. But as soon as it affects our Liverpudlian friends then it gets massive media attention.

Main Stand tickets at Hampden for the 1978 Scotland v England Home International match.

£5 centre stand and £3.50 wings of the stand.

Wonder what the equivalent prices would be today ?

I know my post above isn't Chelsea related. However this is the big game ticket prices that has stayed in my mind.

Carshalton Blue's screen cap says it all; supply and demand.

And it not like if they made all seats a tenner from tomorrow it would help because most grounds have been conquered by the more affluent and their season tickets. And they're not exactly going to give them up and allow the less affluent to engage in a fair online application fight for next season. A reduction in ticket costs now would mainly benefit those who can clearly already afford it.

I sometimes think that loyalty points are a bigger problem than the prices. I agree in principal with rewarding loyalty, but they seem to have created a closed shop. The more you have the easier it is to accumulate more. Bit like the housing market; it's becoming very difficult to get on the ladder. I recall that Birmigham cup replay that sold out despite there being a lot of empty seats at St Andrews. I figured that might have had something to do with 8 loyalty points for £20. A bargain and further proof that perhaps money isn't a major barrier to those who currently have season tickets.

I rarely go nowadays but my membership is next to useless as I can only ever get tickets for the least attractive games and even then I only ever seem to end up with those sh*tty seats at the back of the MHL. And if I'm not that fast off the mark it's pay even more for the back of the East Stand if I want two seats next to each other. The price of success I guess. I never failed to get tickets for anything through nineties.

When the prices do become too high there will be empty seats without having a half arsed walkout near the end of a match you've already paid to watch.

Rant over.

The only way to sort all this out is to bring back terracing. That way you won't be sat next to some bloke with his bird taking selfies, a Japanese geezer taking 2000 photos per game or sat with some stiff who's there coz he can afford a day out at chelsea with his clients from work. It's the price that comes with success. Do you think west brom or Swansea have this problem??? Dare I say it but the best atmosphere these days from home fans is at palace. Like I said, it comes with success. Would we need a new stadium if Roman never took over? I doubt it.

 

Couldn't agree more with the loyalty points comment above as well. The whole system is wrong. Just take a look at the amount of tickets available now on the exchange for Newcastle on Saturday. I've had to get mine off the exchange as I queued online and couldn't get 2 together so had to wait until 2 come on the exchange. Correct me if i'm wrong but I don't even get the loyalty points for it either!!

Edited February 11, 201610 yr by Cfcstevens

Terracing, now that seems like a win/win/win solution. Fans gets cheaper tickets, clubs get more fans, the atmosphere improves during match days.

I can imagine the likes of Chelsea/Arsenal for example thinking, "how can we charge our fans "only" £30 for a great seat with a great view, once that happens fans will then demand terracing where we will have to charge them even less, f'ck that" 

 

That is probably a load of crap but it wouldnt shock me if that was clubs attitude.

Some great points made, bring back an element of the good times and respect the average pay packet.

The only way things will change is if we see a lot of Premier League games played in front of half empty stadiums. One of the big selling points on TV internationally is the crowd and the atmosphere. I think the TV companies would raise serious concerns if they start to see poor crowds at games involving the traditional big teams.

Didn't this happen in Italian football when the prices went too high. I remember seeing lots of Serie A games with only about 10-20% of the stadium occupied. I believe the Roma and Lazio Ultras have been staying away recently in protest to decent effect. Of course this would only work if people bought tickets and then didn't show up. Otherwise another tourist would happily take the spot.

In my lifetime football has gone from me paying 5 shillings to get in to £60-70 a seat.The cost of beer and food has soared and train fares have risen.A day at the bridge with my grandson costs a lot of money.Is it worth it,you bet !

In 2013 the cheapest match and season tickets for Premiership were £28.30 and £467.95 respectively.

Bundesliga was £10.33 and £207.22 respectively.

Season tickets. Cheapest in La Liga was £232.80.

Serie A £164.80.

Some differences...

Just looked when I first went through an old programme Boys were charged 2/- 6d (12 and a half p). Even then my dad used to get the nod from the operator to lift me over the turnstile.

In an old Chelsea programme from 1975 v Oldham we were advertising trains to Nottingham for 3 quid. I think we must have been eternally hopeful too as we had tokens in the programme in case we reached the final of the FA Cup, we probably hadn't realised by the that we were sh*t.

Yeah remember getting a lift over the turnstiles when going to matches up here in Scotland in the 1970s.

The price of a match programme was about 10p when I started going to the football in 1974/75.

Season ticket prices in 1980, we were even expensive back then

 

Love that paper clipping from 1980, we were only 70p more expensive than Aldershot lol.

 

Personally I don't think we will ever, ever see terracing at premier league grounds. Clubs would have to drop prices significantly and that's never going to happen.

I also don't think the clubs, police or the premier league would want us to have too much fun.

Edited February 13, 201610 yr by MitchellJames