Fleecing.

[passport1]

Football has evolved into something would be barely recognisable to our grandfathers. The notion of club loyalty is long gone. The type of fan that follows clubs has changed also. Whether  it is for the better is debatable.

Personally I love the game and will always watch it but my attachment to Villa as ' my club' is probably lessening as the years go by.

[sid1964]

If they dont fleece us who can they fleece?

[Sexual Ealing]

I...well, I certainly don't want to go into the hero-worship, but I think they're much more in it for the ego than the money. They're billionaires; think about the levels of business they're used to operating at! For all we think football is big money, for these sorts of guys it's really not.

They want the club to be self-sufficient as they don't want to sink too much into it, and anyway the rules of the league dictate that we have to be. But as far as making money goes, these guys are much richer than the Glazers, who bought a much more valuable sporting asset in a much dodgier way, which is virtually the only way to make any money out of football. Sawiris is big in construction and telecoms - I really don't think he needs football.

That's all true. Football is trifling in comparative terms. That doesn't mean they won't want to see a return on their investment when they sell. If it was all about profile/ego, they could've bought an existing PL club. They didn't because this one was vastly undervalued.

[Monty]

I...well, I certainly don't want to go into the hero-worship, but I think they're much more in it for the ego than the money. They're billionaires; think about the levels of business they're used to operating at! For all we think football is big money, for these sorts of guys it's really not.

They want the club to be self-sufficient as they don't want to sink too much into it, and anyway the rules of the league dictate that we have to be. But as far as making money goes, these guys are much richer than the Glazers, who bought a much more valuable sporting asset in a much dodgier way, which is virtually the only way to make any money out of football. Sawiris is big in construction and telecoms - I really don't think he needs football.

That's all true. Football is trifling in comparative terms. That doesn't mean they won't want to see a return on their investment when they sell. If it was all about profile/ego, they could've bought an existing PL club. They didn't because this one was vastly undervalued.

In terms of selling, yeah they'll want a big return, and they'd get one should the time come. But in terms of the undervalued asset, I think they saw it as a cheaper shot at glory - a club easier to acquire at the time than (idk) Bournemouth with a much higher ceiling.

I'm not doubting there are some cold-blooded calculations going on here, I just think that, ultimately, the primary motivation is billionaire narcissism.

[85kota]

For the past two years inflation has been much, much higher than it was for the prior 30.

Recent ticket price increases are not a Villa-only issue.

The quality of service provided descending into the basement as prices are blasting through the ceiling is.

However, an extra tenner on a ticket isn't something you can blame the club for. Our tickets have generally been very fair value compared to the rest of the league.

[Sexual Ealing]

Another reason not to overdo the gratitude to them.

Edit: I was replying to Monty.

[85kota]

I...well, I certainly don't want to go into the hero-worship, but I think they're much more in it for the ego than the money. They're billionaires; think about the levels of business they're used to operating at! For all we think football is big money, for these sorts of guys it's really not.

They want the club to be self-sufficient as they don't want to sink too much into it, and anyway the rules of the league dictate that we have to be. But as far as making money goes, these guys are much richer than the Glazers, who bought a much more valuable sporting asset in a much dodgier way, which is virtually the only way to make any money out of this sport. Sawiris is big in construction and telecoms - I really don't think he needs football.

Agreed Monty, it's an ego/fun project for them.

[Rory]

Football has evolved into something would be barely recognisable to our grandfathers. The notion of club loyalty is long gone. The type of fan that follows clubs has changed also. Whether  it is for the better is debatable.

Personally I love the game and will always watch it but my attachment to Villa as ' my club' is probably lessening as the years go by.

I'm the complete opposite, actually, and were it not for Villa, I'm not sure I'd ever watch another football match in my life.

[langleylions]

completely agree with everybody here , i wouldnt mind if it was a minimal increase of say a fiver to a max of £25.  but to put prices up for a 3rd !! round league cup game by 20 quid over what it normally would be is taking the piss , and i aint gunna pay it , if i miss out on a final ticket because of it so be it , oh and if they set the euro group games prices the same i wont be going to them either

[VillaTim]

i didnt do the Ci£y final as the only tcikets left were £250 . An absolute joke

[Clampy]

It's £36.50 if I was to claim my own seat. That's way too much for an early League Cup game.

[pauliewalnuts]

The sentiment and strategy is pretty much cough up or feck off. Disgusted by the direction and I'm not sure I'm going to be part of it for  much longer .

Yeah but here’s the thing. That’s what we’ve been saying for years now. All of us, including me.

But we keep coming back, and they know this.

Now they have tens of thousands of people waiting to come and take our places if we really were to stop coming.

[Dave P]

I tell you what, I'm dreading the prices for the European group games.  Imagine how much home games would be if we progressed in either cup?

[Nii Lamptey]

I'll probably still go, as I only have to buy my ticket and can afford it, but it does take the piss.

If this price squeeze continues, along with pet projects like that Tory balcony in the Holte, it will push the real, working class, lifelong fans out of the club, to be replaced with Hooray Henry day trippers spending most of the game taking selfies to post on Twatter.

Atmosphere is already shocking to what it was 20 odd years ago - Imagine a Villa Park 20 years ago if it were to witness Emery's football every week..... the roof would come off!

Also, going back to the original topic of the Everton ticket prices - The club could massively have dropped the ball here. I saw some pillock sticking up for the decision online saying 20,000 tickets at £36 is the same as 40,000 at £18.... but what the prat is failing to highlight is the additional sales in food, match programmes, merchandise, etc that 20,000 extra fans would bring (as well as atmosphere and general appreciation of the good will gesture from the fans of course).

[andyh]

I tell you what, I'm dreading the prices for the European group games.  Imagine how much home games would be if we progressed in either cup?

i said previously, I wouldn't be surprised to see a 3 game package for £125 - £150 in the Upper Witton where i sit