Liverpool FC Forum

[JohnBull]

On Monday afternoon, the same day they announced the signing of Joe Cole (a “good day to bury bad news”?), Liverpool FC slipped out a juicy little press release about ticket prices for members (of which I understand there are around 15,000 available per game). The gist of the statement is that prices for 2010/11 are rising by a blended 10.6% for the Kop and 10.1% for the other three stands and that’s prior to the impact of the “progressive” VAT rise in January.

Having previously operated on a “Category A” and “Category B” system, LFC have now added “Category C” on the following basis:

Category A: Arsenal, Chelsea, Everton, Man City, Man United, Tottenham
Category B: Aston Villa, Blackburn, Bolton, Newcastle, West Ham
Category C: Birmingham, Blackpool, Fulham, Stoke, Sunderland, West Brom, Wigan, Wolves



Although the price rises vary by category, the message is clear, Liverpool are joining Man United in the debt driven game of pricing out their core working class support. The Kop now has the dubious privilege of being more expensive than the Stretford End which, when you consider the relative quality of football, is a true injustice.

LFC are in real financial trouble, something it actually gives me no pleasure in writing. In the last accounts (2008/09), the club reported EBITDA of £35m and interest of £40m. The dream of a new stadium was screwed the moment the credit crunch hit, leaving the business enormously overleveraged. Despite a valuable new shirt deal with Standard Chartered, the loss of Champions League income will inevitably impact the top line this season. That leaves Chelsea supporting Chairman Martin Broughton scrabbling around for other ways to boost revenues.

In 2008/09 LFC generated £42.5m of matchday revenue from 27 home games at an average attendance of 42,728. That’s £28.74 per occupied seat. The equivalent figure for Old Trafford is £39.58 per seat and for Chelsea £52.72. With the club up for sale and in dire need of new equity investment, yesterday’s announcement (plus the previously announced 4.6% increases in season ticket prices) look like being just the start….

So now we have the spectacle of both of England’s most famous and successful clubs screwing their core support to pay the debts of unwanted speculators. All the while the Premier League and Football Association stand around being “ownership neutral”. Is this truly the “Best League in the World”?

Article courtesy of Anders Red Blog – a website dedicated to football finance, focussing on Man United and the Glazer’s.

[NANNY RED]

Said the same thing meself John on the day we signed Cole , in the owners thread, there sneaky bas,tards thinking there to interested in the cole signing lets push this out itll go under the radar, its absolutly sickening,tbh , they dont want the average man and wonan at Anfield, sorry they want to carry on with the new breedof Liverpool supporter , having there matchday experience, spending loads in the club shop and in the ground, Im lucky enough to be able to afford a ticket but it absolutly guts me to thinksome of the lads who i go the match with will be priced out of going , ive already heard from a couple of them saying there not gonna be able to do all the games , because of it, As i said they dont want people like us there anymore , I feel so sorry for the local kids there is no way there gonna be able to pay . and its these they should be targeting as our future support,

[dundreamin]

Looking at my finances. My days are numbered for going to home games. Its criminal. When i bought a season ticket in 1973 it cost £10.80! Am no financial wizard, but in percental terms it must be well more now than it was then equated to todays average wage..and i get nowhere that these days. I think in 73 i was nearer and it was only a paper round and pocketmoney!  Sad times indeed. But they will never outprice my love for LFC. And one day we will get our game back. THE WORKING MAN

[boodiddy1]

This isnt a problem for Liverpool Fc solely though. If the prem is to be the best league in the world, then we have to pay higher ticket price. It happens world-wide. Now, if we had a bigger capacity then we could issue cheaper tickets in certain areas. But, just now we cant.

Most people are willing to pay for a car they dont really need. For me, we need to put things into perspective and i would rather drive a banger and watch liverpool. Rather than keeping up with the Jones' and not watching LFC. How do you think Spurs, Chelsea, Arsenal fans feel?

If we want Cole, torres, gerrard type players at the club, then the owners (orrible bastatds) need to finance this. TV, tickets, merchandise.

[fivecups]

Or the regulating bodies could get together, agree a salary cap - something like £10k/week, reduce the wage spend of a club from 75% of a clubs turnover to say 20%; ticket prices could be frozen and people who've gone to the game all their lives could continue to do so.

I'm sorry for you dundreamin that really is s'*i*e.

[NANNY RED]

not havin a moan or nothing here but Johnbull opened a similar thread this mornin, its on here somewhere , might be better if we all had a moan in the one thread ,

[fivecups]

not havin a moan or nothing here but Johnbull opened a similar thread this mornin, its on here somewhere , might be better if we all had a moan in the one thread ,

Ohhh, listen to her!

Nan for mod!
Nan for mod!

Yeehaa!





 

[NANNY RED]

Liverpool Football Club have today confirmed ticket prices for the forthcoming 2010-11 Barclays Premier League campaign.

Liverpool's 19 home league matches have been divided into three pricing categories to reflect demand for tickets amongst supporters.

Category A games for the 2010-11 season include: Arsenal, Chelsea, Everton, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur

Category B games for the 2010-11 season include: Aston Villa, Blackburn, Bolton Wanderers, Newcastle United and West Ham United

Category C games for the 2010-11 season include: Birmingham City, Blackpool, Fulham, Stoke City, Sunderland, West Bromwich Albion, Wigan Athletic and Wolverhampton Wanderers

Main Stand, Centenary Stand, Paddock Enclosure and Anfield Road:

Category A games: £45 (over 65s £34)

Category B games: £41 (over 65s £31)
Category C games: £39 (over 65s £29.50)

Combined Adult Child Anfield Road (1Adult/1Child)

Category A games: £67.50

Category B games: £61.50
Category C games: £58.50

Kop Grandstand:

Category A games: £43 (over 65s £32.50)

Category B games: £39 (over 65s £29.50)
Category C games: £37 (over 65s £28)

Disabled and Visually Impaired, Paddock, Anfield Road:

Category A games: £34

Category B games: £31
Category C games: £29.50

Disabled and Visually Impaired, Kop Grandstand:

Category A games: £32.50

Category B games: £29.50
Category C games: £28


Personal Assistants:

Category A games: Free

Category B games: Free
Category C games: Free


*Please note that with the Government introducing a VAT increase in January 2011, our match day ticket prices will be subject to change.

Thats a rise of 6 pound for a cat a game , and ill bet you come january it will be close to 50,

[NANNY RED]

not havin a moan or nothing here but Johnbull opened a similar thread this mornin, its on here somewhere , might be better if we all had a moan in the one thread ,

Ohhh, listen to her!

Nan for mod!
Nan for mod!

Yeehaa!





 

see how nicely i put it though, ive gotta have a moan at someone though with him being in Cyprus, no one else to moan at 

Oh an i forgot  your bannned

[Owzat]

Or the regulating bodies could get together, agree a salary cap - something like £10k/week, reduce the wage spend of a club from 75% of a clubs turnover to say 20%; ticket prices could be frozen and people who've gone to the game all their lives could continue to do so.

If it were that easy I'm sure they'd have done it years ago. The big clubs would just form their own breakaway league and the regulating bodies are too scared of that threat.

And if you could get paid £100k a week would you want someone to say they will reduce it to, or only pay, £50k? It's silly money I know, but that much different to other companies who pay management and executives equally silly money only per year not per week. Don't blame the players, blame the clubs. The clubs could stop it, but they want the best players and so pay the price - and so do we.

The simplest solution is for people to stop going, but that is all talk and no action. Like heroin addicts fans can't survive without their fix and the drug dealers that dictate prices are only too aware of that. There may well come a point at which people have had enough, but frankly some fans are so fanatical that they would literally have to not be able to afford tickets before they stop going and prices are way off that level

[The Good Yank]

I don't want to seem ridiculous here, but, wow after seeing the prices of the tickets, I am amazed that tickets for an LFC match are so low.  I had to donate $5000 just to keep my same seats for Rutgers Football,This is American College Football, and that doesn't inclued the $50 per ticket per each home game (7).

Not to mention that my wife is a New York Jets fan and I had to pay $6000 for a PSL per ticket (Personal Seat License) twice, and then pay $175 per ticket for each game.  Also paying over $7,000 for for New york Rangers tickets for my family of 5 for an eight game package (NHL).

[SouthCoastShankly]

I don't want to seem ridiculous here, but, wow after seeing the prices of the tickets, I am amazed that tickets for an LFC match are so low.  I had to donate $5000 just to keep my same seats for Rutgers Football,This is American College Football, and that doesn't inclued the $50 per ticket per each home game (7).

Not to mention that my wife is a New York Jets fan and I had to pay $6000 for a PSL per ticket (Personal Seat License) twice, and then pay $175 per ticket for each game.  Also paying over $7,000 for for New york Rangers tickets for my family of 5 for an eight game package (NHL).

What you have to realise is your spending power is far far higher that the vast majority on here.

[ben oseman]

we do only have a small stadium by todays standards, thats why the price is high imo

[RED BEERGOGGLES]

Lifted from the Liverpool Echo

IT hasn’t all been good news from Anfield this week.

That it will cost up to £43 to sit on The Kop next season is a further sign of the harsh financial climate gripping the club (don’t forget the £2.50 booking fee).

Given the country is in an unprecedented spell of purse-tightening, there are real fears gaps will open up on Britain’s most famous stand.

No wonder.

With many people not in a position to meet that cost every other week, this is perhaps a sign that sections of the local support will find themselves priced out.

After Liverpool performed abjectly and missed out on a Champions League spot last season, many fans are understandably indignant about this 15% hike.

The game has moved on and the days of ticket/programme/pint/bus fare for less than £10 are gone, but the club must be wary as this is an exceptionally sensitive issue.

Earlier this month Liverpool there had been times when they had taken supporters for granted. That admission struck a chord.

Actions speak louder than words and this development simply reinforces the feeling that fans are carrying the can for the many failings of Tom Hicks and George Gillett.



Bad News followed closely on the shirt tails of Good ,deception and deceit once again takes up residence at Liverpool FC
I thought this particular letter in the comments section summed it up perfectly .....
User Image 
sherby wrote:
A bar was so sure that its barman was the strongest man around that they offered a standing £1000 bet. The barman would squeeze a lemon until all the juice ran into a glass, and hand the lemon to a patron. Anyone who could squeeze one more drop of juice out would win the money. Many people had tried over time but nobody could do it One day this man came into the bar, and said in a Scouse voice " I'd like to try the bet" the barman said OK, grabbed a lemon and squeezed away. Then he handed the remains of the rind to the man But the crowd's laughter turned to total silence as the man clenched his fist around the lemon and six drops fell into the glass. the barman paid the £1000, and asked the man "what he did for a living? The man replied "I'm Ian Ayre and I'm the Commercial Director of LFC 

Here's some more letters penned regarding the disgraceful ticket increase .....

It was a classic devious trick by Christian Purslow and Ian Ayres – burying bad news beneath the euphoria of the Joe Cole signing.

It’s worth adding that whatever cost is announced (say £43 for a ticket in the Kop for a Category A game) you then have to add £2.50 when you book online (which is far easier than getting through on the phones, and then when you finally do paying a premium rate) for a ‘booking fee’, which we all know is just an extra rip-off added to the ticket price with no basis in real administration costs to the club.

So while the increase is £6 for these games, the real cost is £45.50 now in the Kop for those matches, and a staggering £47.50 elsewhere in the ground.

I was shocked in previous seasons when we attended away games at the likes of Chelsea and Arsenal and thought paying nearly £50 for a ticket – before you’ve even picked up a programme, had a bite to eat or a few pints – was something well-to-do Londoners must be able to afford that would never materialise back home. How wrong I was.

Neil, Wavertree


THINK of how much food, electricity and gas you can buy for the price of a ticket into Anfield these days.

I would love to go the game, but couldn’t justify paying those prices for 90 minutes worth of football, especially being out of work. Stick to your principals and stop going.

If everybody went on strike for a couple of games then the Anfield hierachy would soon lower the prices.

theboyspen


HOW many fans are now priced out of watching their teams play?

It must run into millions.

Next time when a so-called top pro signs and makes millions I hope they think of the rest of us who are again forced into not being able to watch our beloved teams play.

kirkbyexpat

DO the owners and directors know what their fans are going through? Some will not be able to pay their way in life.

Liverpool have lost that great thing they once had, love and respect for their fans. Shankly always said football is a working man’s game. I think he will be turning in his grave, if the fans are daft enough to pay it, more fool them. I do not think when they put in a performance they will give any rebates!

colinbillo

WITH the new price increase there will be no point in building a new ground as I can’t see Anfield being sold out every week next season anyway.

I have been a season ticket holder for more than 30 years and for the last three seasons I have had two with the other being for my son, but I feel there comes a point where enough is enough.

I urge all fans to boycott all the Europa games in protest of these increases – it’s a Mickey Mouse cup anyway and the game will be on the telly so save your money for the bigger games and do not to buy any refreshments, programmess, or anything else on match-days,

We need to get our point across to these greedy people who run are club.

itsaldoomandgloomonhere


WHY don’t Liverpool build a huge stadium? 80-100,000 seater like the Bernabeu, Nou Camp or Old Trafford?

Then they can have all the pricey seats near the front (£45) and further back let in regular fans at the cheaper prices (£20-25).

This would make an intimidating atmosphere for away players, increase merchandise and food sales. If for a lesser game it didn’t fill up, then give tickets away to schools to encourage kids to support the club – this scheme has been used in rugby.

TorbenPiechnik

Well that's pretty much a general consensus of the depth of feeling concerning the ticket rise ... I am fortunate enough to be able to afford to pay these prices but I simply choose not to ... I sold my Season Ticket after finishing so close to the title the season before last  for personal reasons I still however attend matches but this season I will not be attending any home games  ... like I have said this is my decision solely based on taking revenue away from the Clubs harbingers ... I like countless others will still be going to the away games but will be abstaining from visiting Anfield .......

I think Anfield this season is going to be a much quieter place without the regular support from the locals ... the very same fans they are slowly sifting out of the ingredients which have been essential in making Liverpool Football Club what it is Today ... a club for the people who used to play for the people

[TarnRed]

On Monday afternoon, the same day they announced the signing of Joe Cole (a “good day to bury bad news”?), Liverpool FC slipped out a juicy little press release about ticket prices for members (of which I understand there are around 15,000 available per game). The gist of the statement is that prices for 2010/11 are rising by a blended 10.6% for the Kop and 10.1% for the other three stands and that’s prior to the impact of the “progressive” VAT rise in January.

Having previously operated on a “Category A” and “Category B” system, LFC have now added “Category C” on the following basis:

Category A: Arsenal, Chelsea, Everton, Man City, Man United, Tottenham
Category B: Aston Villa, Blackburn, Bolton, Newcastle, West Ham
Category C: Birmingham, Blackpool, Fulham, Stoke, Sunderland, West Brom, Wigan, Wolves



Although the price rises vary by category, the message is clear, Liverpool are joining Man United in the debt driven game of pricing out their core working class support. The Kop now has the dubious privilege of being more expensive than the Stretford End which, when you consider the relative quality of football, is a true injustice.

LFC are in real financial trouble, something it actually gives me no pleasure in writing. In the last accounts (2008/09), the club reported EBITDA of £35m and interest of £40m. The dream of a new stadium was screwed the moment the credit crunch hit, leaving the business enormously overleveraged. Despite a valuable new shirt deal with Standard Chartered, the loss of Champions League income will inevitably impact the top line this season. That leaves Chelsea supporting Chairman Martin Broughton scrabbling around for other ways to boost revenues.

In 2008/09 LFC generated £42.5m of matchday revenue from 27 home games at an average attendance of 42,728. That’s £28.74 per occupied seat. The equivalent figure for Old Trafford is £39.58 per seat and for Chelsea £52.72. With the club up for sale and in dire need of new equity investment, yesterday’s announcement (plus the previously announced 4.6% increases in season ticket prices) look like being just the start….

So now we have the spectacle of both of England’s most famous and successful clubs screwing their core support to pay the debts of unwanted speculators. All the while the Premier League and Football Association stand around being “ownership neutral”. Is this truly the “Best League in the World”?

Article courtesy of Anders Red Blog – a website dedicated to football finance, focussing on Man United and the Glazer’s.

Ticket prices are going through the roof at every club, it doesn't help us with the 2 bell whiffs we have in charge.

My mate is a West Ham fan he's just purchased two tickets for their first home game of the season for him and his kid, a whopping £81 sheer madness.