Should Liverpool fans be charged £50 to watch their side play Hull City?
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ByEurosport
Updated 27/04/2015 at 18:54 GMT
In-depth: Brendan Rodgers has backed the decision of thousands of Liverpool fans to boycott his side's Premier League match at Hull City on Tuesday due to a £50 ticket price, but who is in the right? Premier League clubs or their unhappy fans?
Liverpool's fans hold up scarves and banners
Image credit: Reuters
Hull are charging Liverpool fans £15 more than when they visited the KC Stadium last season - and according to the Daily Telegraph, it is a whopping £34 more than Stoke's supporters were charged when they visited last August.
Visiting fans' group Spirit of Shankly is organising a boycott of the game in protest at the £50 admission charge, and Hull manager Steve Bruce has echoed his Liverpool counterpart Brendan Rodgers in backing its right to do so.
“Like everything in modern football I respect the supporters right to protest,” said Rodgers. “Supporters work very hard to earn their money to go to football games so they have a right to protest.”
The high ticket prices come fast on the heels of the Premier League securing a record-busting £5 billion deal which should in theory afford clubs the ability to make ticket prices cheaper to their fans.
Arsenal and Liverpool recently orchestrated a protest prior to their Premier League match regarding the admission prices to watch English football's elite league.
Former Manchester United defender Bruce has called for Premier League officials to act to curb rising ticket prices.
"I feel sorry for the supporters of big clubs who have to dig deep every week and I hope when the new TV money comes into play the Premier League can remember football does belong to supporters," said Bruce.
"I know how difficult it is for people here at our club to find the money to bring their two kids to a football match and we have to make sure with all the money washing around we give something back to the fans.
"We have to remember the average man in the street because they are the lifeblood of football and I think if the Premier League set certain rules we would all have to abide by them."
WHAT THE LIVERPOOL FANS ARE SAYING?
"For two years Spirit of Shankly has been at the forefront of a national campaign to get a fair deal on ticket prices for all football supporters. From national demonstrations to public meetings and banners at matches, Spirit of Shankly has worked with “Spion Kop 1906” and with supporters organisations from Everton, Arsenal, Spurs, Manchester City, Manchester United and many others to get the message across.
"This campaign steps up a gear on Tuesday night when we estimate that more than 500 seats will be empty in the Liverpool section of Hull City’s KC Stadium. Liverpool supporters have purchased concessionary tickets and will be staying away from the game."
WHAT THE MEDIA IS SAYING
Liverpool supporters are ready to fight back at what they see as now ridiculous levels of entry prices at games, by calling for their ranks to ignore the game at the KC Stadium on Tuesday evening." - David Maddock, Daily Mirror
Tickets for the match at the KC Stadium are priced at £50, with £2 knocked off by Liverpool as part of the Premier League’s away fans initiative. For the corresponding fixture last season, tickets were priced at £35, meaning an increase of 31% for this campaign. Stoke City fans visiting Hull back in August were charged just £16, while Everton supporters paid £35 to watch their side on New Year’s Day. Hundreds of Liverpool fans eligible to buy tickets for the game have purchased a kids' ticket for £10 simply to ensure their seat will be empty rather than snapped up by anyone else." - James Pearce, Liverpool Echo
OUR VIEW
Hull will argue that their conduct is simply a case of supply and demand in the same way an airline can hike prices for a flight whenever it sees fit. But football clubs are not simply businesses. They are part of the local community, and continuing to fleece fans in such an outrageous manner continues to highlight the disconnect between clubs and their fans in the modern era. Liverpool fans are no different than Stoke supporters, and should be treated in the same manner. Not seen as cash cows - and particularly not for an evening kick-off match necessitating a two-and-a-half hour drive across the country just to get to the stadium.
Just because there are more of them doesn't mean it is right to take advantage of their desire to watch their favourite football team. On the back of such an eye-watering television deal, football clubs are under more scrutiny than ever to make the national sport more accessible than ever. At the moment, it remains vastly overpriced for the product on offer. There remains a real danger of some kids growing up thinking football is a game played on the television.
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