City fans have expressed their anger over prices for the game in the Steel City on April 11
Hull City visit Bramall Lane next month looking to complete the league double over the Blades (Image: Harriet Massey/Getty Images)
‘Disgusting’, ‘crazy’, ‘unaffordable’, ‘ridiculous’, ‘stupid’ and plenty of words that cannot be printed were used to accompany Hull City’s announcement of the ticket prices for their Yorkshire derby at Sheffield United next month.
Rarely do ticket announcements from any club generate much engagement, but this was different. There was a collective feeling of anger, and not just from City fans, but their Blades counterparts too, who themselves feel priced out of watching their team in action.
Like Hull, Sheffield is a working-class city. People work especially hard to make ends meet, and going to watch their team comes at the end of a gruelling week, which for many has been a struggle.
At a time when the public continues to struggle with the cost of living, with prices rising yet again owing to events in the Middle East, the Blades have priced out many Hull City’s supporters and leave those who will find the money to go, needing to pay an extortionate amount.
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For a parent and their youngster to watch City at Bramall Lane on April 11, they would be expected to pay £38, £17 or £24 to sit in the away end, behind the goal and hardly benefit from the best view in the ground, or superb facilities. Albeit facilities that had to be repaired after some mindless idiots in City’s away contingent last season damaged the toilets.
We’ve commented a lot on ticket prices this season, with exorbitant prices at Coventry City, Bristol City and QPR to name but three, and this from United is nothing short of a disgrace.
Perhaps our expectations have been skewed somewhat because of how superb Hull City is when it comes to the way in which they treat their supporters. Ticket prices are reasonable, and the club do everything they possibly can to encourage the next generation of fans to come and watch football.
In comparison, when City host leaders Coventry City on Easter Monday in a huge game under the MKM Stadium lights in the race for promotion, Sky Blues fans are charged either £24 or £29 for an adult ticket, depending on where they sit. Juniors aged between two and 10 will pay just £4, and those between 11 and 15 will pay £9. Young adults, who are between 16 and 22, will pay either £12 or £14.50, depending on whether they sit in the North or East Stand. When the Blades came to the MKM Stadium in September, United fans were charged the same as the Sky Blues.
There are clubs in the Championship that help supporters. Stoke City are one, for example. The Potters charged adult Tigers fans £25 at the bet365 Stadium in November, with Under-18s paying no more than £15, and younger children even less. Stoke is a club that gets it and does an awful lot for their fans with subsidised travel dating back to 2013. If they can do it, so can others. And let’s be fair, Stoke have not had the benefit of parachute payments like the Blades.
While adults expect to pay a premium for tickets, which doesn’t make it right, by the way, youngsters are the future and they should be priced accordingly. United are not the only ones in the Championship charging top-end prices. Having no concession for Under-18s is ridiculous.
Ticket revenue is vital to cash flow; we get that. Clubs outside the Premier League rely on matchday ticket revenue to pay the bills, but there has to come a point when the EFL steps in to take a stand against this. It’s simply unacceptable. Fans are being priced out of watching Championship football by some clubs, and it needs the authorities to grow a backbone and lobby the clubs to do something about it.
Ultimately, there will be fans priced out of going to the game, but there will be those who find a way to pay those prices and go to the game, and as long as seats are filled, clubs will feel vindicated. If both clubs are in the same league next term, it’s hard to imagine those prices not rising above £40, and that’s just crazy.
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