Boycott Premier League clubs over rising ticket prices, MP Tim Farron tells fans
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2223455/Boycott-Premier-League-clubs-rising-ticket-prices-MP-Tim-Farron-tells-fans.html?ITO=1490
PUBLISHED: 04:46 EST, 26 October 2012 | UPDATED: 04:46 EST, 26 October 2012
A government MP has urged football fans to boycott the likes of Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool and other top Premier League clubs over hikes in ticket prices.
Liberal Democrat party president Tim Farron, a Blackburn Rovers fan and MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale, wants supporters to make a stand against the rising cost of watching football by going to watch their local non-league teams instead.
The BBC's annual Price of Football survey last week revealed that the cheapest adult tickets in the top four divisions of English football had gone up 11.7 per cent compared with last year. The most expensive matchday and season tickets on sale are at Arsenal, at £126 and £1,955 respectively.
Teach them a lesson: Fans should watch their local non-league side play rather than the likes of Manchester United, Lib Dem MP Tim Farron has suggested
Football doesn't come cheap
Year-on-year average cheapest ticket price (2011-12):
Premier League: £24.87 - £28.30
Championship: £20.37 - £21.07
League One: £15.52 - £18.54
League Two: £15.29 - £17.06
Overall: £19.01 - £21.24 - an overall rise of 11.7 per cent
Matchday essentials
Tea:
Most expensive:
Manchester City, Manchester United - £2.50
Cheapest:
Alloa, Brechin - 50p
Pie:
Most expensive:
Kidderminster Harriers - £4
Cheapest:
Alloa, Albion, Forfar - £1
Programme:
Most expensive:
Leeds United - £4
Cheapest:
Inverness Caledonian Thistle - 50p
*all figures from BBC Price of Football survey
And Farron has urged fans of teams across the Football League, but particularly those supporting the leading Premier League clubs, to 'send a message' to club owners looking to hit fans in the wallet.
He told BBC Radio 4: 'No I'm not asking people to dump their club. I am, for my many sins, a Blackburn Rovers fan almost since birth, and I couldn't have it stripped out of my DNA. But I don't think those who are loyal to our football club should nevertheless be blindly loyal to people who own them,
and who consistently increase ticket prices, placing football out of the affordability of millions of people in this country.
'So what I'm saying is, perhaps in response to the report last week that demonstrated the expensive nature of football today, we should do a positive thing. We should decide instead we're going to go and watch our local non-league side.
'I live near Kendal in Cumbria where we've got a side which is three seasons away from the league. For £8 and £1 for your children you can go and watch really good quality football.
Outspoken: Liberal Democrat party president Farron is a Blackburn supporter
'You can hopefully make a valuable protest against the likes of Man Utd, Man City, Liverpool or indeed Blackburn Rovers if you like, and do it in a positive way by backing your local non-league side.'
Farron continued: 'I've got more sympathy with clubs further down the divisions who really do desperately need the ticket income. But higher up the league, people, clubs are taking advantage is the fact that demand for football tickets is kind of elastic because people are sort of addicted, aren't they?
'People love their clubs, they will put up with all sorts of nonsense from their managers, people will even put up with dismal performances as I have done over the years.
'But at the same time we shouldn't just sit back and take that. I'm not saying don't see the team you've supported since childhood, you should carry on supporting your team. I don't approve of people dumping their club and supporting a better one, that's a pretty dreadful thing.'
He added: 'The people who own your club, who are charging you 11.7 per cent more than last year, send them a message, teach them a bit of a lesson, and go and support in a very positive way, a much more local, much more needy non-league side, who I promise you, are playing a better standard of football than you think they are.'
(via Instapaper)
Victor Cuvo, Attorney at Law
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