[spireitematt]

While I agree that prices are going up too much and its not the working mans sport that it used to be, I think there is also a lot of misinformation surrounding the reality of the prices at clubs.  Not singling you out Matt, but Arsenal's cheapest Adult POTD ticket is actually 26 quid and they offer this in nearly all areas of the ground for Category C games.  Arsenal have 3 categories, A, B and C, and yes for their 5 Cat A games those prices rise to 64 quid, but still nowhere near the 96 quid quoted.  At Liverpool they too have three categories and the lowest price for a ticket in Cat c is 9 quid, with the whole of their famed Kop paying no more than 32 quid for those games.  The 77 pound tickets are available in only 2 blocks on the halfway line, so approx 500 seats.  Of course as always if you buy a ST then there are further discounts to be had for both these teams, and all others!!

Now having said that, the current trend in prices is causing too many fans to have to pay 40 quid and up for tickets for PL football and for me that is too much, but what can be done about it??  The biggest problem at the PL level is that the grounds are running at 95% full every game even though some fans are paying these high prices, so from a supply and demand perspective they currently have it at worst spot on and in some cases too low if they have waiting lists!!  Football whether we like it or not is a business but the average fan is being priced out when its a "premium" product on offer and the fans of those teams are forever demanding the best players be bought and that trophies be won every season, meaning more transfer money and wages being spent requiring more revenue!!  And unfortunately its the fan that is being asked to fund this in part, and if those 10k Liverpool fans stopped going I would guess there are 10K in the wings waiting to take their place!

A category A game at Arsenal in two sections of the upper tier is £97. Cheapest for an A game at Arsenal is £65.50 which still a lot. £30-£40-£50-£60 is a lot of money for a Premier League ticket then you've got travel, food, beer etc it all adds up. The category C games are against teams like Bournemouth, Southampton, Leicester etc.

A lot of things can be done about it. Wage cap players salaries? Have a cap on how much teams can spend on transfers? Cap how much clubs can charge fans? I mean there's a campaign being going for a few years called Twenty's Plenty. The Premier League and supposedly the whole of the Football League right down to grassroots are getting a share of the £8 BILLION TV DEAL £8 BILLION. Clubs could use that to subsidise ticket prices make tickets cheaper.

Football is a business Yes and every single of the 92 clubs is being run as a business but fans should rewarded not penalised.

Look at German football they have cheap ticket prices, they share the TV revenue, supporters own 51% of there teams, safe standing, we should be copying there model.

"Football without fans is nothing. It could be the greatest game in the World but if there are no people there to watch it, it becomes nothing. The fans are the lifeblood of the game".         - Jock Stein