The Price of Football: How much does it cost to watch your local team?
The BBC’s Price of Football is back and the results are in as supporters up and down the land make their annual discovery of just how much they are spending compared to their rivals.
There may be some work left to do, but clubs are slowly beginning to take notice of calls for cheaper tickets, with the Premier League’s average season ticket prices hitting their lowest level since 2013.
In the Championship, season ticket prices are slightly up, but matchday prices down, while replica shirts remain an expensive luxury pretty much everywhere.
How did your club fare? Here are the facts and figures you need to know.
Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury Town might be top of League One but their season ticket prices are firmly middle of the pack when compared to the rest of the division.
The cost of cheapest season ticket at Montgomery Waters Meadow has risen by £10 on last season to £295, with 12 clubs in the division offering cheaper. There are only six clubs, meanwhile, who sell a more expensive season ticket than Town’s dearest offering at £445.
The majority of supporters buy their season ticket at the £295 price, meaning the club’s most popular ticket is almost bang on the average cost (£296.54) for the division in that category.
Those supporters who buy their tickets on a game-by-game basis will find Shrewsbury pretty good value. The club’s cheapest single ticket price of £20 is again close to the League One average, while at £22 their most expensive compares favourably with their rivals.
Where supporters really can make a saving is when buying replica shirts. Only two clubs in the division sell shirts at a cheaper price than Town’s £39.99, while junior shirts at £29.99 also represent good value when compared to elsewhere. Supporters are, however, now paying a little more for their matchday refreshment. A cup of tea now costs £2, compared to £1.80 a year ago, while the price of a pie has climbed by 30p to £3.40.
Wolves
Nuno’s international stars at Molineux are flying at the minute, and the survey reveals – in comparison to their Championship rivals – Wolves fans are generally faring well.
The cheapest day out may be £33.30, the fifth worst in the division, but the most expensive day out is the fourth best.
Excluding Birmingham – who did not provide a figure – Wolves’ most popular season ticket (£345) is the eighth best priced in the Championship, although their cheapest is £299 and most expensive £535. They are all below the Championship averages.
Match tickets are priced in a narrow window between £25 and £30.
That is the same level they were 12 months ago, with the cheapest tickets at Leeds and Middlesbrough the only two more expensive than Wolves’ cheapest price, while Molineux’s most expensive matchday seats are only bettered by Burton Albion (£24).
Adult (£45) and junior (£35) shirts come in below average for the division, despite both going up in price from last season. Pies (£3.10) and programmes (£3) come in below the Championship average, but tea is priced just over at £2.20.
The New Saints
The Welsh Premier League is the cheapest league to watch of those surveyed by the BBC, with champions TNS offering season tickets for £110 and matchday prices at £8.
Their pie is the most expensive in the league at £2.50 and their programme only one of two that is £3, while adult and junior shirts will set you back £39 and £32, respectively, although both include shorts.
West Brom
Albion fans may feel it justified with the football on display at the moment, but a day out at The Hawthorns is among the cheapest in the Premier League.
Adding together the price of the cheapest ticket with the cost of a pie, tea and programme, Baggies fans shell out £34.30, a figure only bettered by Liverpool (£18.40), Tottenham (£30) and Stoke (£34).
The dearest day out at The Hawthorns, using the same formula, is the second cheapest in the top flight – only bettered by Premier League newboys Huddersfield Town (£38.70).
Villa
Villa supporters are generally paying less to watch their football this season despite the club’s prices being among the more expensive in the Championship.
Villa’s cheapest season ticket is priced at £322, a reduction on last season and less than the Championship average. The most expensive season ticket, meanwhile, comes in at £627, almost £40 more than the division’s average but still a long way short of the dearest which is the £929 season ticket sold by Derby County.
