Liverpool’s loyal fans are red with rage over price increases that will see a big match ticket soar to £77 next season, up from £59.
A season ticket in Anfied’s newly extended Main Stand will also rocket to £1,029.
Supporters groups have called for fans to walk out in the 77th minute of this weekend’s clash with Sunderland at Anfield.
LFC insists the new price structure represents a good deal for fans. Supporters take that with a pinch of salt.
And on a day of bad news, insult to injury was added when Femway Sports Management, the sponsorship arm of the club’s parent company, Fenway Sports Group, boasted of “transforming fans into customers” on its LFC web page.
It later had a change of heart, changing the legend to ‘Transforming consumers into fans”, but not before the message had been screengrabbed and shared hundreds of times across social networks by fed up Reds.
Yet with 8,500 extra seats available in the 2016/2017 season, owing to the £100m expansion of the main stand, the club with be riding high in the money table, if not the Premier League table.
In the old days players received a modest wage, with the incentive of a winners’ bonus.
It was all a ghastly mistakeMaybe the time has come for Liverpool FC's Boston owners to consider giving fans half their ticket money back – if their mega rich players fail to win the game.
It seems we are witnessing the Americanisation of English football with emphasis on financial dividends.
Maybe the time has come for Liverpool FC to consider giving fans half their ticket money back – if their mega rich players fail to win the game
It makes you wonder whether the day will come when English “soccer”, under the slavish control of subscription TV channels, will be a game of four quarters, rather than two halves. That would rake in even more dollars in the form of advertising revenues.
Although the top prices in the Kop will stay the same at £48, most seats in the world’s most famous “choir stalls” will be a few quid cheaper.
The most expensive tickets are for top category games against Everton, the two Manchester clubs and the top London rivals. Tickets are cheaper in another two categories, but watch a game in the cheapest category – currently Bournemouth, Norwich, Watford, and the dearest seats go up by a tenner to £59.
On the plus side the club is introducing £9 tickets in the main upper stands for those lowest category clashes. Cynics would say such games wouldn’t attract an expanded full house anyway.
So what does the top brass at Anfield have to say about the higher prices…
Ahead of Anfield's new Main Stand opening for the start of the 2016-17 season, Liverpool FC have released the pricing and ticket structure, with the club maintaining its focus on bringing more local supporters and young people into the stadium.
This is their main take on what is happening…
• 64 percent of season ticket prices will decrease or freeze.
• 45 percent of match day tickets will see a price decrease.
• Local fans will be given priority access to over 20,000 tickets across the Premier League season, with prices starting from as little as £9.
• Over 20,000 extra tickets allocated across the Premier League season, in a new pricing category, for fans aged between 17 and 21.
• Over 1,000 free tickets across the Premier League season to local kids through a new Young Fan Initiative scheme.
• 13 months' consultation with the Ticket Working Group listening to what are priorities for match-going fans.
Young fans also remain a focus and the club will introduce a new concession category for 17- to 21-year-olds which will provide over 1,000 extra tickets for each Premier League match during next season.
The club will launch a new initiative working in partnership with local schools based in and around Merseyside to offer over 1,000 free incentive-based tickets.
“The club has continued the practice of stretching prices across the ground to reflect seat location, resulting in 64 percent of season tickets freezing or going down in price. Season ticket prices will range from £685 (£36 per game) to £1,029 (£54 per game). Matchday tickets have also stretched, making the cheapest matchday ticket just £9.”
The club says the new structure follows a 13-month consultation with the Ticket Working Group, a sub-group of the official Liverpool FC Supporters' Committee, which has met regularly with the club over the last year to discuss affordability and accessibility of tickets.
Ian Ayre, chief executive officer, Liverpool FC, said: “With the opening of our expanded Main Stand, the club is heading into a new chapter and we want as many of our fans right there with us to support the team at Anfield.
“We always carefully consider ticket pricing to ensure the long-term sustainability and competitiveness of the club, while listening to the views of our match-going fans to understand the priorities around accessibility and affordability.
“The feedback has been clear that having more local and young people at Anfield is a priority and we are delighted to be launching these new ticketing initiatives.”
In a statement, the Liverpool Supporters Committee said: "This is a lost opportunity for LFC to begin the reversal of the effects of inflation-busting prices that have forced out many loyal fans over recent years.
"Unfortunately, the decisions of the ownership are based purely on economics with no compromise.
"They have tried to frame the debate from the view that ticket prices as they stand are fair and that their planned rises somehow supports this fairness. This is an unsustainable argument. Fairness is not making more money than ever before from supporters."
