Second Post 6.5% better

Theres no bigger talking point today than the ticket hike, dropped a couple days after beating Man Utd. The cynical side of me says this press release has been in the draft email folder since we lost the Shit Beer Cup Final to a shit team with Lee Bowyer in it.

A thing that has been raised is how not just this ticket price rise at arsenal, but the general skyward nature of tickets to all football games will affect younger fans going to games. Will they all just turn into armchair fans only ever watching on Sky? I think that has already happened regardless of this particular price increase.

Most people I know only ever watch their team either on Sky, a stream, or Match of the Day. The only people I know that regularly go to games (me aside) support lower league teams where they can get in for a tenner with an NUS card. (Dagenham and Leyton Orient)

I was a child of the 90s and so only ever watched Arsenal on Sky, as we didn't have broadband back then, this was in the dark ages of going down the paper bins looking for porn. 1998 against Everton - Sky, 2002 against Man Utd - Sky, 2004 against the spuds - a little different I got into a pub underage and watched it on Sky.

Speaking of Sky I hear Andy Grey has got a new job commenting on hardcore gay porn. "Take a bow, son. I mean that, take a bow"

I also never actually got to go to Highbury because I didn't have any money to get a ticket and my parents couldn't afford to take me. I only ever went to two arsenal games growing up, both of them away games at West Ham in the wrong end because my dad knew someone who worked there who got some cheap tickets.

All I can remember of the game was (back in 1996) that David Seaman saved a penalty and arsenal won 1-0. Via the same contact that acquired the tickets, I got to meet then manager of West Ham at the time, Harry Redknap, I can't remember what I said but I took the piss out of him for losing even with a penalty. Harry just twitched. He's still twitching even now, the cunt.

Back on topic, Now having got older, and got a job I go about once a month on a red level membership. You can really see that a lot of people are excluded because of the price, I'm not exactly rich or loaded but I've been to Uni, got a degree and a decent job so am okay financially. I could afford a season ticket at the low end of the price range at £1000 and would be just about able to manage a high end one, but there are a lot of people worse off than me.

I remember seeing a documentary about Hillsbrough, where it was stated that one of the reports recommendations were that prices should not rise significantly due to the move to all seater stadiums. So I ended up spending about an hour skim reading the Taylor report tonight looking for that quote, hoping to use it as an argument against price hikes, I did find the quote, however having thought on it some more I don't think it makes much different, prices have been steadily rising as money has been invested into the sport. I did however find a couple of interesting things in the report.

Taylor Report

They say the popular perception of transfer fees as excessive and extravagant is mistaken. The money, I was told again and again, simply circulates round the League clubs. It is calculated to bring on budding players. The level of payments is high, but it is forced up by prices continental clubs with huge financial backing (like Juventus from Fiat) are able to pay.

The fact is the more money that is pumped into football through TV, and sugar daddy owners the more that prices in general are rising. Is there any chance in hell Newcastle would've got 35 million quid for Andy Carrol if they didn't know Liverpool had 50 million in the bank from the Torres deal. If they want him, then they just have to pay whatever Newcastle ask.

This is probably why English players cost a lot more than foreign players. The 8 million Arsenal paid for Eduardo was probably a significant cash injection for his former club. Even for a midtable club in england that isn't a huge amount of money. Even the man behind the price rise hinted at this went talking to the guardian:

Crazy Ivan talks to the Guardian

This is bad for the continued health of the game and is driven primarily by escalating and ultimately unsustainable levels of spending on transfer fees and player salaries.

This is a fundamental issue that football needs to address and is why I have been a vocal supporter of Uefa's proposals to bring more restraint and responsibility to spending within football

You have to consider the fact the you have to pay 30 quid to be a red level memeber (I'm not sure if this too is increasing by 6.5%, in order to have the privilege to pay 50 quid for a ticket. So even if you can't go regularly it's going to cost you about 80 quid just to a one off game, a family of 4 is looking more like £320 quid, pretty prohibitive I would say.

Taylor Report

Admission to all parts of the ground, save the visitors' section (pen D), is to be for members only to prevent away supporters buying tickets for the home end."

And as much as I've moaned about ticket prices, I'd still take a season ticket if I could get one anytime within the next 5 years. :-(. Also expect the next post to be less rambley with quotes from 20 year old public enquiries and more "Stoke, what a bunch of cunts..."

And because 2.5% of the increase is due to the Tory VAT increase I'll leave you with this: