League 2 Ticket Prices - What is the real story?

AustrianAndyGull · Post by **AustrianAndyGull** » 29 Nov 2013, 19:38

Is somebody able to clarify the position of league 2 away ticket prices as it applies to each individual club?

Do the clubs get carte blanche to charge pretty much what they like to away fans or are there certain regulations they have to adhere to such as charging the fans of the away club the same price when they visit as the home club fans were charged for the reverse away fixture?

I ask because Scunthorpe are charging £21 per adult seat tomorrow and I paid £22 pounds at Northampton earlier on in the season. These prices for the bottom tier of professional league football are unacceptable when you compare them against prices of tickets for many clubs even going up to Premier League level.

I paid £15 for a seat at Bury so how can it be justified for Scunthorpe to be charging £6 more and Northampton £7 more in the same division?

It would be great if somebody were able to shed any light on this as I feel my 'protest and action' mode beginning to kick in because I've simply had enough of being fleeced like this. Anyone who says "just don't go then - you have a choice" can you please go and do something constructive like play marbles on the M1.

In addition I went to watch Northampton at Chesterfield on Tuesday night and I was quite surprised to be asked to pay £18 to get in (I had a tiny win on the footy so could pay it). Surprised because I know for a fact we paid £21 to get in there last season because I've got the ticket as proof and therefore when we play them this season, if we are NOT charged the same amount as Northampton were (£18) then I will take both the Northampton ticket and ours from last season and also DEMAND for myself and the rest of us who travel there to be admitted for £18.

If I may add a bit more flesh to the bones to the above and if anyone in the know again would be so kind as to answer. The Northampton fans were allocated the central sections of the away end (Rubicon North Stand) which is behind the goal but each time we have been we have been allocated a small block of seats in the East Stand which runs along the side of the pitch. Presumably due to us being not too great in number and therefore they can steward us better and leave the away end unopened. Are clubs allowed to increase their prices due to an away club not having many fans to bring and then force them to sit in superior seating thus making more money? Is this happening?

Can Chesterfield FC charge us more for sitting in this stand than the usual away end and if so why do we not have a choice? Another twist to this is that a few days prior to our game at Chesterfield last season I popped in to the ticket office whilst shopping at Tesco next door to buy my ticket and I asked a representative of the club if we would be behind the goal this year because I am unhappy when we are shunted to the side stand and he said yes, we WOULD be allocated the away end behind the goal for he game and as expected my ticket had printed on it RUBICON NORTH STAND £21.

Then on the day of the game they shunt us into the side stand again.

All in all there are some descrepancies here which don't add up and I'd like to know your thoughts please about this and about what you think (and KNOW) about ticket price fixing for away fans in our league.

Can't wait for the Chesterfield game just to find out if we will be treated fairly and charged £18 the same as Northampton or if we are going to get unfairly ripped off again.

yellowforever · Post by **yellowforever** » 29 Nov 2013, 20:33

It's a serious problem in English football, and attempts need to be made to lower costs as too many people who watched football in the past have been 'priced out' of the modern game.

It won't happen, but I'd love for a team to half their prices for a year, both for season tickets and also game by game ones. Revenue would be almost certainly down, but long term support for the club would increase due to more younger people being able to attend regularly. An interesting experiment, but it would be perceived as far too risky for any clubs' directors to approve it.

ferrarilover · Post by **ferrarilover** » 29 Nov 2013, 21:46

It's a difficult conundrum. Clubs need to make money, that's the bottom line of it and the bulk of that money needs to come from you and I heading through the doors. This is especially true at our level. If I told you how much running our club costs and how little we are able to attract through sponsorship and other, non ticket related items, you simply would not believe that we can run our club without charging £100/man.
I object much less to paying to get in to Accrington and Torquay than I do to paying to get into Northampton and Rovers because I know that those latter clubs are simply taking my money and paying it to vastly over-rated, under skilled players on three grand a week.
What really grinds my gears is the likes of Manchester City, who charge their fans well over £100 a time, only to give it to Samir Nasri at the rate of a quarter of a million pounds a week for the sake of his sitting on the bench looking like a transvestite Thunderbird. All the while, the club's owners swan about the Gulf in their gold-plated Lamborghinis.

Comparing clubs in the same division is a bit like asking why a chicken in Tesco is 49p and in Marks and Spencer it's £375. That's just how capitalism works.

For the legals of the situation, you'd have to check the FA rules. From my view, to offer an equivalent product (same match in the same quality of seating, however they determine such a quality) would need to be priced exactly similarly for both home and away fans. Sticking away fans into the most expensive areas is perfectly acceptable (legally, if not morally), provided these areas are also offered to home fans. Attending the match is a choice, you're free not to wish to pay the quoted entry price. The price you are quoted for a ticket or entry is an invitation to treat, your handing over the money is an offer and their taking your money and allowing you into the match is their acceptance of that offer. Interestingly* this differs from unmanned car parks, where the price on the sign constitutes an offer and your entry into the car park constitutes an acceptance of that offer.

Are prices too high? Depends what you consider to be too high, of course. For 90 minutes entertainment, £20 or so is pretty steep. It's nothing like as unreasonable as something like ten-pin bowling or going to the funfair. Nor is it as expensive, per hour, as hookers, crack, booze or driving really, really fast. Each of these things is about as much fun as watching a really good football match, so, perhaps, in that way, football is reasonably priced.

Matt.

*not interesting at all.

AustrianAndyGull · Post by **AustrianAndyGull** » 29 Nov 2013, 21:58

Thanks for that Matt, an interesting insight and I too have always held the opinion that Samir Nasri does indeed resemble a tranny thunderbird.

What would you're thoughts be if Chesterfield charged us more than £18 for our game given that was what Northampton fans paid. Surely the away rate is fixed for each team regardless throughout the course of a season? I'm not saying this will happen when we play them but if it did would I be perfectly within my rights to argue my case to be let in for £18?

I just find it a bit odd how they charged us £21 last year and this year they potentially (if they adhere to fairness) we could be getting in for £18. Why would they reduce the price by £3 a ticket when they know roughly the same amount of people will pay £21 like they did last season?

Rjc70 · Post by **Rjc70** » 29 Nov 2013, 22:13

Don't we charge more to the away fan on days where only Bristows Bench is made available to them (fewer fans anticipated) as opposed to days when the away end is opened? (Bigger away support)

ferrarilover · Post by **ferrarilover** » 29 Nov 2013, 22:21

As is often the case with these things, there'd be nothing the Court was willing to do about any fans being charged a higher fee from game to game. Other agencies, such as trading standards or the Competition Commission may well take an active interest following complaints.
Clearly, if it could be established that the reasoning behind the increase was specifically to disadvantage any particular group (black people, old people, disabled people or, more interestingly* fans of a particular club), then there may be scope for some civil action.

So, if we thought it might be an advantage to us that, say, Exeter brought no more than a handful of fans, and we accordingly closed the away end, forced them to sit in the Bench, then charged both home and away fans £1500 to sit there for that match, we'd likely be found to have discriminated against a class of people (Exeter fans, and, possibly, the elderly or infirm among our own fans, since they are much more likely to sit in the Bench). It's not a gimmie and would involve a chunk of legal wrangling, but there's a prima facie case there.

Matt.

*again, I've misused this word completely.

ferrarilover · Post by **ferrarilover** » 29 Nov 2013, 22:22

We do, R, but that's within both the law and the FL rules.

Matt.

Rjc70 · Post by **Rjc70** » 29 Nov 2013, 22:30

ferrarilover wrote:We do, R, but that's within both the law and the FL rules.

Matt.

I got the impression that was not dissimilar to that being complained about re Chesterfield? ie: different areas for differing anticipated numbers of supporters.

AustrianAndyGull · Post by **AustrianAndyGull** » 29 Nov 2013, 22:37

Rjc70 wrote:Don't we charge more to the away fan on days where only Bristows Bench is made available to them (fewer fans anticipated) as opposed to days when the away end is opened? (Bigger away support)

Ah but we're slightly different because we have the away TERRACE and the away SEATS. Away fans coming to Plainmoor know they have a choice of the two and that they will pay more for the seating option. Away fans with a tiny following like Accrington say will only have the one option, the bench for which they will be charged accordingly but we won't charge them £3 say over the normal seat price in the bench just because the terrace isn't open would we?

So Chesterfield is all seater and they cannot charge us £3 or £4 more for the price of a seat just because they decide to put us in a different area because you then argue they are discriminating against us for having a small following and thus trying to make more money out of us by putting us in the side stand. The North Stand at Chesterfield is for away fans and so I don't see why they cannot open that up for us instead of forcing us into the side stand. Bury managed to open up a huge away for 160 of us AND charge us just £15. They had no problems.

Looking forward to Chesterfield away and I shall be writing letters to the club and the local press beforehand to request we be housed behind the goal and be charged accordingly.

ferrarilover · Post by **ferrarilover** » 29 Nov 2013, 22:38

http://www.football-league.co.uk/regula ... 2125729#33

s34 pertains to the facilities to be provided. The answers are all there. 10% margin pops up a lot, which is reasonable. However, this is in relation both to the agreed Pricing Plan submitted to the FL at the start of the season and to the price charged to home fans for equivalent accommodation (there's a handy cut out 'n' keep table of equivalence). I guess, if we liked, we could submit the relevant paperwork stating that we'd be charging £1500 for the City game, but that decision would be passed to the regulatory authority and would be rejected out of hand, in all likelihood.

Matt.

R, just read your reply and realise I misinterpreted your reply. Yes, that is what I think Andy means. From what I've seen around the internet, it seems that this sort of thing is common in L2, but most uncommon in the Conference, hence it's the Jonny Come Latelys who are moaning about it. Well, them and our Austrian brethren.

AustrianAndyGull · Post by **AustrianAndyGull** » 29 Nov 2013, 22:46

Matt, I just think that if Northampton fans get charged £18 then we should be charged that too REGARDLESS of where CFC see fit to accommodate us. If they wish to move us into the side stand then fine but don't increase the price. Why should clubs like Chesterfield try to make more money out of sides with smallish away followings by moving us then hiking up the price? Why should clubs with large followings get special dispensation and get in cheaper? It should be the same price at one club for every away fan regardless of levels of support and if they choose to move us then fine, just don't ask us to subsidise this move by paying more.

Post by **bixieupnorth** » 29 Nov 2013, 22:52

good discussion andy, something needs to be done, £21 tomorrow is disgusting! it wont stop me going, but the lads who normally come to games with me have, for the last three trips, decided to spend their money in the pub and havent even come to the matches, i cant blame them when its cheaper to stay in the pub in the warm and spend their hard earned on ale and crisps!!

for anyone who hasnt yet signed up for the excellent stand against modern football movement then check them out here

http://www.standamf.com/

AustrianAndyGull · Post by **AustrianAndyGull** » 29 Nov 2013, 23:00

bixieupnorth wrote:good discussion andy, something needs to be done, £21 tomorrow is disgusting! it wont stop me going, but the lads who normally come to games with me have, for the last three trips, decided to spend their money in the pub and havent even come to the matches, i cant blame them when its cheaper to stay in the pub in the warm and spend their hard earned on ale and crisps!!

for anyone who hasnt yet signed up for the excellent stand against modern football movement then check them out here

http://www.standamf.com/

Hey Bix!! You're going tomorrow?!!

Say hello mate, i'll be at the back singing boll*cks!!

RussianGull · Post by **RussianGull** » 30 Nov 2013, 20:13

Got in on an expired student card today, happy days!

Countyareup · Post by **Countyareup** » 06 Dec 2013, 20:56

Hi from sunny South Wales. You may find this interesting. Before we added the 'outside' seats, behind the goal at Rodney Parade, the only away supporter provision was in the a Bisley Stand. Conference rules meant, the Club could not charge more than the home terrace ticket price, so for a time, away supporters sat in the same stand as home supporters & and paid a couple of quid less! No longer the case, as the outside seats are the same price as the home terrace.

Our away game at Cheltenham the other week was a 'premium' fixture & we were asked to pay £23 to go in the away end. The home fans weren't too happy about the price hike either. When Rovers went there, 3 days later, the prices were lower. We still took nearly a 1000 there though. I hope they bring as many as that to Rodney Parade, the difference being that over two thirds of the soon to be 1400 away capacity can be bought for £15 per adult (in advance)..!

What are your thoughts on the matchday experience at Rodney Parade (not the result)? Chesterfield fans think we stiffed them, on Sunday.

Good luck for the rest of the season.

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