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Huge rise in cost of football drives fans away from Premier clubs
Tim Stewart28 Jul 2009
A third of football fans plan to go to fewer matches this season as the recession bites, a new study reveals.
Premier League teams that could lose the most supporters are Arsene Wenger's Arsenal, champions Manchester United, runners-up Liverpool, West Ham and newly promoted Wolves and Birmingham.
Tens of thousands of cash-strapped supporters are turning to lower league football for a less expensive fix of live games in 2009/10.
The average match day now costs supporters more than £100 for their ticket, food, travel and drink - up 15 per cent on last season and 28 per cent up from £78 three years ago.
The Virgin Money survey of more than 4,000 fans representing the 92 teams in the Football League is alarming for all clubs, who face many more empty seats.
Across the four leagues, 30 per cent of regular match-goers have decided to go to fewer live games this season because of the cost - up from 26 per cent in pre-season last year.
Of those priced-out fans, 22 per cent intend to follow a cheaper, lower league club.
Premier League clubs with the least to worry about are Burnley, Fulham, Hull, Bolton and Manchester City.
However, even they face up to a quarter of their fans scaling back the number of matches they attend.
Malcolm Clarke, chairman of the Football Supporters' Federation, said that "football inflation" being at a level far above standard inflation was "deeply worrying".
He said huge player transfer fees and wages were "obscene" as hard-up fans struggle to support their sides. He said: "It is almost as if Planet Football thinks it is separate from the rest of the world. In the middle of a recession when they are losing their jobs and worried about the future, fans are still being expected to fork out more and more to attend games.
"And Premier League clubs are paying huge sums of money in transfer fees and wages, which many regard as obscene. I cannot believe that the current situation can go on.
"Many of them are going to lower league matches or watching games with their friends in the pub, where they can stand up and drink beer without having to pay £30 to get in.
"That is a real threat to the Premier League and some clubs may soon find themselves in more difficulty than they realise. A little bit of prudence and a little bit of humility from those at the top of our game would not come amiss in the current climate."
Virgin Money spokesman Grant Bather said: "For many fans attending just one game burns a big hole in their pockets. To attend 10, 20 or 30 games in a season is asking a lot."
Arsenal 33
Manchester United 33
Liverpool 33
Birmingham City 31
West Ham 31
Wolves 31
Portsmouth 29
Sunderland 29
Tottenham Hotspur 29
Aston Villa 28
Stoke City 28
Chelsea 27
Everton 25
Manchester City 25
Hull City 23
Fulham 22
Burnley 19
Percentage of Premier League fans who plan to attend fewer games this season
Reader views (10)
Next year could easily see 4 million people in UK on the unemployment list.At present there is a grand-total of 13 million adults out of work when all Politically Correct categories are added together.
The players and clubs are grossly overpaid. A saturday match-day of protest where all fans boycott the games demanding a halving in match day tickets is what is needed. Also a cut to 25% for the price of shirts. Forget the transfer fees it's your money that is paying for it.
- Joe, Thornton Heath, LOndon, England., 24/08/2009 11:08
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Birmingham City will definitely have fewer fans than even before as the season unfolds with their policy of charging vicious prices for fans to watch them play 'ugly' football in their endeavour to achieve results - which won't be achieved as the Board have yet again failed to release sufficient cash to give the team a fighting chance of staying up anyway.
The supporters of the club are tired and weary of being misled by a Board who have simply raked it in over the years and given litle but false promises and hot air in return - although BCFC are not alone in this.
I think this will be a watershed year for football in this country.
- Quinblue, Birmingham, England, 05/08/2009 10:11
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The passionate fans already do attend: they represent about 40% of any crowd. The stay-aways won't be replaced by real fans, they will be replaced by those who can afford it - prawn sandwich munchers. We need parents to take their kids for the future.
- Bluebarry, Maidstone, Kent, 31/07/2009 04:37
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Good! You will get the real and passionate fans attending matches now. The atmosphere would improve and the Arsenal team need all the support they can get at the moment since Wenger is not prepared to spend any money on new players.
- Izzy, UK, 30/07/2009 12:36
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It is the global T.V.audience,that fuels football's economy.
The live 'audience' is fairly irrelevant to the Premier and Sky.
They may even use actors and computer graphics soon,to save themselves the inconvience of having to deal with a few thousand supporters.
I gave up on the idea of giving them any more of my money about five years ago.
Find a local team,they drive you just as mad.
- Jimfred, London Uk, 28/07/2009 16:46
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well my son purchased his first season ticket for the not so expensive price of £95 for fulham and will go to all the 19 games at a reasonable price of £5 per game.well done mr al-fayed
- Owen Mulhall, london uk, 28/07/2009 15:56
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no way will i pay silly money to support a leauge that the same big 4 are always at the top half the teams in premiership havent a prayer of winning anything i support me local team bromley only a tenner to get in much more realistic.j terry on `150 thousand a week is a total joke.
- C May, bromley, 28/07/2009 15:52
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I'm sure Millwall players are delighted to meet their fans; do they still announce the names of the crowd to the players?
- Blue Baby, London, 28/07/2009 15:34
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Don't worry, I'm sure Sky will take advantage of this and put up their prices.
- Bob, Cheam, 28/07/2009 14:54
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Following Millwall is cheaper and you easily meet all the players and they are pleased to meet you, unlike the stories from other Premership followers who ignore their supporters.
- Joe, Swanley Kent, 28/07/2009 13:23
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