Season Ticket Prices for next season

[Rex]

Thought it was £90.

I am just going to renew my ST and my daughters next pay. Might as well, though another move would look tempting.

[Jerry St Clair]

+1. The main reason for renewing is to keep "my seat" - which I've had for 10 years and personally chose in a portacabin on a building site in 1998.

But if the weird emotional attachment to this can be overcome, there would be little objective need for a ST.

And if, for some unaccountable reason, we did go up, it would be even less attractive to pay more to watch a sub-standard team get massacred week after week.

I broke the emotional attachment last season and haven't regretted it for a minute. You don't realise what a ball and chain your football club is until you break from the shackles. I now go when I want and can choose a seat pretty much anywhere I like. It's a perfect scenario.

[RoyalBlue]

So have I, but relatively speaking the cost of the ST wasn't as great and I never expected us to achieve much. Things are different now, particularly when you have the Chairman telling us he wants us to get back into the Prem etc etc. Never had that with Frank Waller!

You are spot on. Even allowing for the worst effects of general inflation, season tickets and match by match admission are considerably more expensive than they used to be. And no, given the choice, I don't think it's worth paying the extra for the luxury of the Mad Stad.

[Dirk Gently]

So have I, but relatively speaking the cost of the ST wasn't as great and I never expected us to achieve much. Things are different now, particularly when you have the Chairman telling us he wants us to get back into the Prem etc etc. Never had that with Frank Waller!

You are spot on. Even allowing for the worst effects of general inflation, season tickets and match by match admission are considerably more expensive than they used to be. And no, given the choice, I don't think it's worth paying the extra for the luxury of the Mad Stad.

As well as outlawing standing at football matches, the Taylor Report from nearly 20 years ago insisted that the conversion to all-seater stadia should not result in a price hike. Lord Justice Taylor insisted that a "fair price" at that time for a Tier One match was £6. Adjusted for inflation this is now equivalent to between £11 and £13.

Guess which one of these two regulations is the one so rigorously enforced?

[Sun Tzu]

So have I, but relatively speaking the cost of the ST wasn't as great and I never expected us to achieve much. Things are different now, particularly when you have the Chairman telling us he wants us to get back into the Prem etc etc. Never had that with Frank Waller!

You are spot on. Even allowing for the worst effects of general inflation, season tickets and match by match admission are considerably more expensive than they used to be. And no, given the choice, I don't think it's worth paying the extra for the luxury of the Mad Stad.

You miss the point though.

With the millions (billions ?) that have flooded into the game from TV it's inevitable that prices should rise because there is so much more money floating around the game. Add in the investment from mega rich foreign owners and it's hard to see why people can't accept that prices for the fans should rocket.

Um, is there a flaw in the argument there somewhere ?

[Dirk Gently]

So have I, but relatively speaking the cost of the ST wasn't as great and I never expected us to achieve much. Things are different now, particularly when you have the Chairman telling us he wants us to get back into the Prem etc etc. Never had that with Frank Waller!

You are spot on. Even allowing for the worst effects of general inflation, season tickets and match by match admission are considerably more expensive than they used to be. And no, given the choice, I don't think it's worth paying the extra for the luxury of the Mad Stad.

You miss the point though.

With the millions (billions ?) that have flooded into the game from TV it's inevitable that prices should rise because there is so much more money floating around the game. Add in the investment from mega rich foreign owners and it's hard to see why people can't accept that prices for the fans should rocket.

Um, is there a flaw in the argument there somewhere ?

There's a massive flaw in the argument. The quantum increase in income has come from TV income (especially the the top levels). There's no logical reason that virtually all of that increase should have gone to pay players' wages, but it has. Ditto with foreign investment.

All this extra income could have been used to keep ticket prices at a reasonable level, but it hasn't been. First, the clubs could get away with massively increasing ticket prices so they did ("It's the market!") and also at some there's a definite policy of "economic cleansing" - prices up equals more affluent people, likely to spend more and cause less trouble, as well as make less noise.

But as they're finding now, and especially at places like Blackburn and Middlesboro, that strategy only works for so long and only during the good times. But in the meantime Tier One wages and prices have dragged up wages and prices for the whole pyramid.

[Sun Tzu]

There's a massive flaw in the argument. The quantum increase in income has come from TV income (especially the the top levels). There's no logical reason that virtually all of that increase should have gone to pay players' wages, but it has. Ditto with foreign investment.

It's almost criminal really isn't it ?

And really there's been no protest against it.

Even the Man Utd fans with United FC haven't made any impact - still full houses every week at OT and placeslike Chelsea with their astronomic prices don;t seem to have any incentive to drop them.

The current fashion for freezing season ticket prices also looks more like a marketing gimmick than a real attempt to restore prices to a more sensible level.

[Zammo]

I broke the emotional attachment last season and haven't regretted it for a minute. You don't realise what a ball and chain your football club is until you break from the shackles. I now go when I want and can choose a seat pretty much anywhere I like. It's a perfect scenario.

Cheers for that. I've been standing in the same place or sitting in the same seat for 25 years. Now with two young kids, it has become harder and harder to attend every home game. I've missed 4 this season already....probably only missed 4 in 25 years. Coupled with the football on offer this season (and the general non-investment of new players); I have a big decision to make in the summer. I'll be gutted not to have a season ticket, but it just feels the right thing to do at the moment.

[Royal Lady]

If the thoughts on here are replicated throughout the current crop of ST holders, the club could find itself seriously short of money in the close season.

[RoyalBlue]

So have I, but relatively speaking the cost of the ST wasn't as great and I never expected us to achieve much. Things are different now, particularly when you have the Chairman telling us he wants us to get back into the Prem etc etc. Never had that with Frank Waller!

You are spot on. Even allowing for the worst effects of general inflation, season tickets and match by match admission are considerably more expensive than they used to be. And no, given the choice, I don't think it's worth paying the extra for the luxury of the Mad Stad.

You miss the point though.

With the millions (billions ?) that have flooded into the game from TV it's inevitable that prices should rise because there is so much more money floating around the game. Add in the investment from mega rich foreign owners and it's hard to see why people can't accept that prices for the fans should rocket.

'hard to see'? Why the hell should fans accept that their ticket prices should rocket just because the players etc. are getting fat on tv money?! Should we also accept that Fred the Shred is getting a criminally high pension (at our expense) for failing in his job just because there was so much money floating around in the banking system?

[Sun Tzu]

'hard to see'?

Oi ! You !!

Siddown.....

Really can't believe you RB

[cavroyal]

[I also bought my ticket "off plan" but I think I am slowly coming to terms with the emotional attachment and will probably not renew next season. Nothing particularly to do with the current fare being served up as I have seen far worse in my time. More just a general disilusionment with football in general and having other priorities. Will still go to a good number of games though.

Absolutely the same situation with me, and exactly what I plan to do next season.

Personally I think it is a fair deal that the club are offering, and at times the entertainment has not been that bad this year, however I too have became slightly disalusionned with football in general, and no longer get the same buzz I used too. I first went in 1977, but the emotional attachment probably went during the second season in the Prem. I actually regret getting the ST this season, if I am honest.

I will go to games now and then, but will pick and choose. Certainly I will go on a Saturday at 3pm, but being an old school traditionalist, I don't think I can be arsed any more with all that Monday night and Sunday lunchtime etc bollox that Sky now 'kindly' insist on. I first went in

You only have to look at things now. We have been in the top 3 for about 3-4 months now, and still struggle to sell out at home for the run-in games. Personally, next season I think getting a ticket on a pick and choose basis will not be a problem. This way will mean I have the money in the bank, just in case something serious crops up like losing my job.

Regards

[CMRoyal]

+1. The main reason for renewing is to keep "my seat" - which I've had for 10 years and personally chose in a portacabin on a building site in 1998.

But if the weird emotional attachment to this can be overcome, there would be little objective need for a ST.

And if, for some unaccountable reason, we did go up, it would be even less attractive to pay more to watch a sub-standard team get massacred week after week.

I broke the emotional attachment last season and haven't regretted it for a minute. You don't realise what a ball and chain your football club is until you break from the shackles. I now go when I want and can choose a seat pretty much anywhere I like. It's a perfect scenario.

Have to confess that was always the way with me. From the Elm Park days, 'roll up and pay at the gate' has always been my way and I don't think I ever lost that desire to see the game from different parts of the ground. I only started STing when it became necessary, ie when we went up into the Prem, so I'm sorely tempted not to renew assuming that even if we go up it won't be such a novelty this time and I should have sufficient points to get tickets for all but the "gloryhunter" games. But I certainly won't miss having to put up with crowing Man U/Liverpool/Arsenal fans anyway.

[Rev Algenon Stickleback H]

+1. The main reason for renewing is to keep "my seat" - which I've had for 10 years and personally chose in a portacabin on a building site in 1998.

But if the weird emotional attachment to this can be overcome, there would be little objective need for a ST.

And if, for some unaccountable reason, we did go up, it would be even less attractive to pay more to watch a sub-standard team get massacred week after week.

I broke the emotional attachment last season and haven't regretted it for a minute. You don't realise what a ball and chain your football club is until you break from the shackles. I now go when I want and can choose a seat pretty much anywhere I like. It's a perfect scenario.

Have to confess that was always the way with me. From the Elm Park days, 'roll up and pay at the gate' has always been my way and I don't think I ever lost that desire to see the game from different parts of the ground. I only started STing when it became necessary, ie when we went up into the Prem, so I'm sorely tempted not to renew assuming that even if we go up it won't be such a novelty this time and I should have sufficient points to get tickets for all but the "gloryhunter" games. But I certainly won't miss having to put up with crowing Man U/Liverpool/Arsenal fans anyway.

I've had a season ticket since about '88. As easy as being able to pay on the day was, you weren't stuck with the same bit of terrace like you are with a seat, so there was no disadvantage.


I did renew last week though, as I know I'll be back next season, and prices are not exactly likely to drop. I used to go to every Saturday away game, but lost interest in doing so when it became a bit of a chore. The last two seasons have been the most boring I have ever known, and if it wasn't for the fact that I meet up with mates at the games, I'm not sure I'd bother.

I really wish I could get that enthusiasm back that I had in the past. The morgue-like atmosphere at the stadium doesn't help. At Elm Park you had the singing that would start at around 2.30 as tension built up towards kick-off. Now everybody just sits there, or stands out in the concourse drinking until about 2.55. To be frank I get more enjoyment out of the pre-season friendlies.