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Sporting Khalsa gate prices

FC United supporters may have become aware that the gate prices agreed with Sporting Khalsa for the cup tie this Saturday, 24 October 2015 are not their normal gate prices. The FC United office staff discussed prices last week and were not aware of that at the time and agreed in good faith an adult price of £8, with concessions at £5 and children under 16 at £2. In particular the agreement on a significantly lower child’s price was at our request.

As £8 is not their normal price, we have contacted Sporting Khalsa again today to get a better understanding of the reasons for the increase and to alert them to the concerns of our club and the possible effects on the likely attendance and other forms of income. Following the discussion, these were the key points:

  • Sporting Khalsa understand our concerns, but don’t feel it is appropriate to change the agreed prices.

  • The minimum for this round is £6, so charging their normal price was never anticipated by Sporting Khalsa (we know it could have been negotiated at this round, but they were not expecting that)

  • Sporting Khalsa had already planned to charge £8 for their last round, but reduced it down to the minimum, as it was non-league day, hence £8 was the price they gave our staff member.

  • Sporting Khalsa are a very small club, with no staff or volunteers that would have the experience to run this match safely, therefore all extra people (e.g. safety officer, stewards, medical staff, turnstile operators) are having to be found very quickly and paid accordingly.

  • As the size of the crowd is very unpredictable and extra staff will be totally unfamiliar with the ground, they are planning to have more than the minimum. FC United are pleased that Sporting Khalsa recognises that the majority of the crowd attending the match will also be unfamiliar with the ground and have put resources in place to ensure safe administration of the match.

  • Fixed costs will therefore be high, but with no guarantee of sufficient income. Sporting Khalsa are a community club with no major external income from backers.

  • Some of these costs will be deducted before the gate share e.g. stewards, medical and turnstiles, plus away team travel and match officials, but VAT will be payable and any additional expense for works carried out on the ground before Saturday to prepare for the game will be deducted from Sporting Khalsa’s share of the gate only.

  • As the tie was subject to replays, the documentation had to be sent to the FA immediately, so even if Sporting Khalsa wanted to reduce the prices at this stage, it’s not known if that would be possible and attempting to do so would take their focus away from vital match preparations.


  • We would like to thank Sporting Khalsa for their time and patience in discussing this at length today and we accept their decision was made with good intentions. The Board of FC United recognises that many of our co-owners and fans are disappointed that our opposition have changed their normal gate prices and that due to an oversight, that decision wasn’t challenged before the prices were agreed.

    Individuals may make different decisions about attending this game, so we ask all fans to respect each others viewpoints and to acknowledge Sporting Khalsa’s right to make decisions in the best interest of their club.


    First Posted ~ 18:40 Mon 19 Oct 2015
    News ID ~ 6453
    Last Updated ~ 00:47 Tue 16 Feb 2021