Football Supporters' Federation launch ticket pricing campaign

The Football Supporters’ Federation, which FC United is affiliated to, is launching the “Score Campaign: Twenty’s Plenty for Away Tickets??? in central Manchester on Thursday 24 January at 7pm. The event is free and open to fans of all clubs.

The news that Manchester City returned 912 tickets for Sunday’s visit to Arsenal (after the London club charged £62 a ticket for away fans) was the ember that sparked the current fire, but match-going fans of FC United and Manchester United have long known that football is unaffordable for many.

The idea behind the Score Campaign is simple – the Football Supporters’ Federation want clubs throughout England and Wales to agree to charge no more than £20 for away match tickets (£15 concessions). The meeting in Manchester on 24 January will explain the fundamental ideas and principles behind the Score campaign.

Although issues like this may not directly affect FC United fans at the moment, it is important that as a club and as fans of FC United, that we continue to support and be a leading voice in these campaigns. The core principles of our club are to challenge the way the modern game is run, focusing on issues such as pricing, safe standing, policing, financial fair play and to encourage fan involvement and ownership of their football clubs.

FC United general manager Andy Walsh commented: “£62 is excessively expensive for a ticket and Manchester United fans have suffered for years from clubs sticking up prices when United are in town. Now this is hitting City too. The grading of matches dependent on the opposition is unfair on fans of successful clubs and the fact that City’s owners may be rich does not make their fans rich.

"Chelsea fans and Arsenal fans have been suffering high prices for years and Arsene Wenger was quoted only last week making a plea for understanding as he argues that it is the only way that they can compete with the likes of Chelsea, City and the like who are supported by rich backers. This throws up all sorts of questions about the football economy, which need to be discussed and hopefully the FSF’s campaign will look at this also."

Andy continued: “Many leagues set a minimum price but should they be setting a maximum price for tickets instead? The “£20 is plenty??? campaign is focused on the Premier League and whilst I don’t think you should be setting prices for each division I do think we should be making the point to the FSF and more widely that there is football beyond the Premier League and ask the question what is a fair price at other levels of the game."

We’d like to hear FC United supporters’ views on this, so if you’re a member then let us know on the members’ forum or join in the conversation on our Facebook and Twitter pages.

FC United supporters are encouraged to attend the FSF event next week if they are able. To register email your name, club and specify Manchester event to
tickets@fsf.org.uk

Event details are as follows:

“Score Campaign: Twenty’s Plenty for Away Tickets???
Thursday 24 January at 7pm
The Alibi (corner of Oxford Street and Portland Street),Manchester, M1 4BH.
The venue has disabled access.

To find out more about the campaign and the Football Supporters’ Federation visit their website here.