The last few days has seen the issue of ticket costs come back to the fore for fans. Manchester City returning just over 900 tickets for their match at Arsenal this weekend has seen the mainstream sports media take note of the story.
At £62 it is certainly an expensive day out for anyone that is going. Much has been made of the need for fans to come together in protest of spiralling costs and the way the game is run. The idea of a protest on a mass scale such as a boycott is intriguing and definitely worth some serious considerations by supporter’s associations.
One concern from this episode that perhaps has not received as much attention as the possible protests, which themselves are worthy of the attention they receive, is the steps Arsenal have taken to combat this.
The tickets have been sold to home fans so the top brass at the Gunners will not be seeing any loss from what has gone on.
With those tickets being so quickly taken up by home fans, there is a worry that to stop this negative attention, the capacity for away fans at the Emirates will be reduced permanently. With less to sell they are more likely to be purchased without as much complaint.
Reducing the away capacity would ultimately lead to a reduction in atmosphere. The Emirates is the example here but if these sorts of measures were to become more frequent with the most expensive clubs and permanent reductions were applied all around, it would be a bad thing for English football.
Of course it is practice for clubs to sell spare seats if there is a vast number not taken up by the travelling support, but these are only done in those games where there is a noticeable deficit.
A change in policy would be seen as a further way of sanitising football and squeezing as much money out of the “matchday experience” as possible, as reducing the number of away fans in theory reduces stewarding and policing costs whilst allowing the clubs to keep expensive tickets they know they will sell.
For most fans nowadays they will say that the best games they have attended have been away games. The atmosphere just seems to be better. It is not something that needs reducing as it is an important part of creating a memorable experience in the stands.
Also, as home fans you generally enjoy the banter with the away following which can lead to some brilliant songs and observations.
Rather than just selling off away tickets to home fans for the same cost, it is time for the biggest clubs to take serious note of what the fans are saying to avoid possibly huge consequences down the line.
For more from me, find me on Twitter: @dmsmith1987
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It is the clubs that don’t have to make a living that push prices up for player and wages leading to tickets mic chel run at a loss no business can compete