The rising cost of Football

[Rip Van We Go Again]

bbc.co.uk/football

Price of Football: Survey of 166 British clubs revealed

The average cost of the cheapest adult ticket in the top four divisions of English football has risen by 11.7% - more than five times the rate of inflation.

The BBC Sport Price of Football survey found that the average price of the most affordable ticket in league football has gone from £19.01 to £21.24 in the past 12 months.

The survey looked at 166 clubs in 10 divisions across British football, including the Conference Premier and Women's Super League.

We have recorded the most expensive, and cheapest, season tickets and adult matchday tickets as well as the cost of a cup of tea, a pie and a programme, to calculate the cheapest day out at a football match.


•Only three out of 92 English league clubs offer a day out for less than £20 this season. Last year it was 12.
•In Scotland, 21 of the 42 teams across four divisions offer a day out for less than £20.
•The most expensive adult matchday ticket is Arsenal at £126 and the cheapest £6 at Montrose.
•Arsenal also have the most expensive season ticket at £1,955, while Montrose's was the lowest at £90.
•In the Women's Super League, matchday adult tickets range from £4-£6, with season ticket prices between £22-£40.
•The most expensive tea in British football can be found in Manchester, where both City and United charge £2.50. The cheapest costs 50p at Alloa and Brechin in Scottish Division Two.
•Kidderminster, in the Conference Premier, charge the most for a pie at £4, while the cheapest is in Scotland, where Alloa, Albion and Forfar charge just £1.
•Leeds United sell the most expensive programme in Britain at £4, while Inverness CT's is the cheapest at 50p.
"Despite the difficult economic times we live in, prices at some clubs and at some levels of the game are still exceedingly high," Malcolm Clarke, chairman of the Football Supporters' Federation, said.

"It is quite shocking that at Arsenal, for example, the cheapest season ticket is only £15 short of £1,000.

"We would like to see a much greater effort to reduce ticket prices and in particular give the benefit of the massive amounts of media income that comes in at the top of the game to the match-going fan."

The highest price of a day out at a football match in England, Wales and Scotland has gone from £109 to £134.30 in just 12 months, with Arsenal the most expensive club to visit for a second successive year.

A trip to the Emirates Stadium can cost as much as £134.40 with top-price tickets going for £126, a £26 rise on last year's figure and a programme (£3), pie (£3.30) and cup of tea (£2) adding to the cost.

Play mediaReduce ticket prices, says Football Supporters' Federation chair Malcolm Clarke
Arsenal's cheapest day out (£34.30) comes in exactly £100 cheaper but it is Newcastle who offer the Premier League's best value day out, with a ticket, programme, pie and cup of tea coming in at £23.

Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis told BBC Sport the club was doing its best to offer value to fans with the club's cheapest league ticket (£26) among the most affordable in the division. This ticket is £9 cheaper than last season.

"We've seen ticket prices rise across the game," Gazidis said. "This isn't just a football issue.

"If you look at the prices of entertainment across the board they have gone up significantly in recent years and clearly we now have an environment where people are economically challenged.

"What we have done is try to hold those prices down, for example our Capital One Cup prices have been £10 for adults and £5 for children.

"What we know, because of the tremendous take up, is that there are people who want to watch top class football but for whom price is a factor. That is something we have to be continually conscious of."

Year-on-year average cheapest ticket price (2011 first)
•Premier League: £24.87 - £28.30
•Championship: £20.37 - £21.07
•League One: £15.52 - £18.54
•League Two: £15.29 - £17.06
•Overall: £19.01 - £21.24 - an overall rise of 11.7%

Former FA chairman Lord Triesman told BBC Sport he was "very disappointed prices keep going up". The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) measure of inflation stood at 2.2% last month, down from 2.5% in August, but our survey found the average cost of the cheapest ticket had gone up 11.7 per cent.

"I think it will prevent the next generation from really seeing live football other than on very unusual occasions every so often when clubs will give the tickets away," he said. "Most of the causes of the increases are driven by the salaries paid to players.

"As it is, it will become a sport in which relatively well-off people will be able to go and watch it live and nobody else. That seems to me to be a tragic historic reverse."

Arsenal once again come out on top with their cheapest season ticket (£985) costing more than all but three of their Premier League rivals' most expensive equivalent.

Wigan offer the Premier League's cheapest season ticket (£255) with Manchester City (£275) close behind. Scottish third division side Montrose offer the cheapest season ticket at £90.

The price of a day out at a Scottish Premier League match remains more affordable with only Celtic (£36.30) costing more than £35. Celtic's most expensive season ticket comes in at £609, however, some £409 more than Inverness Caledonian Thistle's cheapest offer.

Did you know?

•Only three out of 92 English league clubs offer a day out for less than £20. Last year it was 12.
•In Scotland, 21 of the 42 teams across four divisions offer a day out for less than £20.
•Out of 166 clubs in England and Scotland only 38 offer a day out for less than £20.
"I certainly think that our clubs in Scotland make a real effort to ensure that football is accessible," Scottish Premier League chief executive Neil Doncaster told BBC Sport.

"I think our clubs are fully aware of the importance of price in terms of people's decisions to come to a game of football. We've got just over half of our clubs that offer free season tickets, without any charge, to under 12s.

"The cheapest match day ticket, in terms of a season ticket, works out at £11 a game at a club that has a family ticket - that's two adults and two children at £20 a game, so that's real value against any comparable activity that families can carry out."

Kidderminster Harriers, of the Conference Premier, sell the most expensive pie in British football at £4, although the club says the product is a large, homemade cottage pie.

[silhillvilla]

Is it a case of shopping around and snapping up the offers when they come along ?
I mean my ST was £295 and my sons £100 which is amazing value.
Doubt the club will do it again next year but you never know ?

[Simon Ward]

4 tickets for £44 for the Norwich game! But cheaper tickets are hard to find!

[Nev]

The phone in on 5Live is on this very subject this morning. Some interesting guests, such as David Conn, Tom Cannon and some commercial guy from Man City.

Then they introduced Robbie Savage.

*click*

[PeterWithesShin]

Cost is a big factor for me these days. It's the reason I don't have a ST this year. I've managed every home game so far but am going to start missing some now. I doubt i'll be at the manure or Arse games. By shopping around my ticket costs so far are

Everton £28
Swansea £20
WBA £12
Norwich £14

[Chico Hamilton III]

The league table is quite interesting

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19842397

[DeKuip]

I dont care what they say, it's a much cheaper day out for me down the Villa than it would be going to watch Montrose!

[silhillvilla]

Villa is still quite reasonable, it's factoring in all the ancillary costs that make it a bit pricey. Fuel, parking (£5), programme £3, food and drink (you'd need this anyway).
Like this Saturday ticket £35, train £25, tube £5 so £65 before anything else. Adds up.

[NeilH]

Those prices even down to the lower leagues are eye-watering frankly. I've got a season ticket for my local team in the Dutch 2nd division. I sit in the main stand, can buy a halftime beer for €1,50 and my season ticket cost €175. How can you justify nearly double that at the likes of Wycombe.

[W5AVFC]

You have to hand it to the Germans, a ST over there is approximately £100 give or take 10%. I suppose compared to a lot of clubs Villa is quite reasonable, but with the amount of money put in by the likes of Sky it would be great if this made its way to cheaper gate prices.....

I have friends who have STs at Arsenal, Spurs and Chelsea and they pay over £1000. I nearly spat my beer out when they told me. Ridiculous.

[silhillvilla]

Cheapest ST at Borussia Dortmund is £150.27
Programme £1.61
Bratwurst £2.01

This is what the EPL needs to emulate

[NeilH]

Cheapest ST at Borussia Dortmund is £150.27
Programme £1.61
Bratwurst £2.01

This is what the EPL needs to emulate

Have just looked and a ticket for the chumps league game at the Amsterdam Arena between Ajax and Dortmund will cost €33 for adults. It's very tempting and I suspect a lot cheaper than any chumps league tickets in England.

[PeterWithesShin]

Paul Faulkner on the report.

Paul Faulkner has spoken of his delight after seeing Villa perform well in the annual BBC Sport 'Price of Football' report.

The survey, published this morning, looked at the matchday costs of 166 clubs in 10 divisions across British football.

BBC Sport recorded the most expensive - and cheapest - season tickets and adult matchday tickets as well as the cost of a cup of tea, a pie and a programme in order to calculate the cheapest day-out at a football match.

Villa produced strong results in all categories, coming out as the third best-value day-out in the top-flight.

This meant the matchday experience in B6 was cheaper than clubs such as Shrewsbury Town, Notts County, Leyton Orient and Gillingham.

The cost of season tickets remains fantastic value for money - they are less here than League One clubs like Bournemouth and Colchester United and League Two clubs such as Southend United and Rotherham United.

If you look at the range of season ticket prices - from the highest to the lowest - we are the fourth cheapest in the top-flight. In terms of match tickets, we are the second cheapest in the top-flight.

Faulkner was pleased with the results, although ultimately not surprised by the positive findings.

He said: "This survey shows what great value it is for our fans coming to watch the team at Villa Park.

"The matchday experience, ensuring that prices remain affordable and competitive, is immensely important to us here.

"Paul Lambert has stressed the importance of our fans this season, how they can really drive the club and the team on as we look to have a successful campaign, after a couple of seasons when our home form has been disappointing.

"Hopefully these findings show that it works the other way too, that we value our fans and want to ensure that supporting Villa is a premium experience.

"The other thing to bear in mind too is that this survey shows that there is nothing like actually being here at the ground and supporting the team.

"I know we live in an age where there's immense access to games on television but the buzz of matchday simply can't be matched.

"There's nothing like getting up in the morning and looking forward to the journey to the ground, picking up the programme, having your half-time cuppa and watching your favourite team.

"Now it's clear that this can all be done in a very cost-effective manner at Villa Park."

Half season tickets are on sale now - offering you the chance to be a part of the final 11 home games of the season.

There are some exciting games coming up at Villa Park against several of the Barclays Premier League's big guns.

And you can make sure you've got your own seat for all the action.

Tickets are also still available for our match against Norwich too.

[Bottom Right 89]

Whatever category you look at in this table shows we get value for money, can't be many fans across the country thinking the same - £37 the cheapest ticket at Reading, £495 the chepeast season ticket at Southampton - ludicrous.

[darren woolley]

Our prices are not that bad compared to other teams.