What a save! Footie prices cut

FOOTBALL fans were cheering The Sun yesterday after learning they would be saving up to £34MILLION next season.

That’s the amazing total supporters of Premiership clubs will be spared from shelling out following our Cut The Cost of Footie campaign.

In a triumph for people power, six of next season’s Premiership clubs will be charging fans less for tickets than they did in the season just gone.

They are led by WIGAN ATHLETIC, who are chopping 33 per cent off prices, and BLACKBURN ROVERS, seeing a 25 per cent cut.

At BIRMINGHAM CITY there is a 20 per cent drop, at both BOLTON WANDERERS and EVERTON it is ten per cent and at ASTON VILLA five per cent

Ten clubs, including giants Chelsea and Arsenal, have frozen their prices.

Just four clubs bucked the trend and raised season tickets prices — Premiership winners MANCHESTER UNITED, Champions League runners-up LIVERPOOL and London clubs TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR and WEST HAM UNITED.

Of those, only Spurs have not recently passed into foreign ownership. Last night Malcolm Clarke, chairman of the Football Supporters’ Federation, said: “We obviously very much welcome The Sun’s saving.

“But the extra £2.7billion that Premiership clubs will receive in TV revenue means every club could let every fan in free and still receive as much money as they got last season.

“So while we welcome The Sun’s £34million saving, it is small beer to the clubs.”

Alan Bloore, who runs the federation’s campaign for fairer prices, said: “When the Premier League put its prices up in the past, prices in the Championship went up too. Now many clubs in the Premier League are reducing their prices, we hope to see the same in the Championship.”

Our campaign highlighted how ordinary fans were being driven away by exorbitant prices.

We won the support of Prime Minister Tony Blair, Sports Minister Richard Caborn, Leader of the Commons Jack Straw — plus a host of fans’ groups, soccer stars and pundits including Chris Waddle and Jimmy Greaves.

Increases within the Premiership had averaged an inflation-busting six per cent over the last four seasons.

Matchday income for the 2005/06 season was £468million and for 2007/08 would have reached £516million.

But instead of a rise of around five per cent, the average cost at the 17 surviving Premiership clubs plus the three promoted from the Championship will now be down around two per cent.

That will mean gate receipts of £482million — a saving for fans of £34million, or an average of £2.50 per match.

The Sun will continue the campaign next season — and will concentrate particularly on four issues.

DESPITE the cuts and freezes we have achieved, season ticket prices are still too high in view of all the extra TV money coming into the game.

SUPPORTERS of popular clubs are unfairly penalised with price hikes at away games.

MEMBERSHIP schemes in which fans have to pay just to get on a waiting list for season tickets are unfair.

FANS wanting season tickets to Premiership games should not be forced to fork out for cup tickets as well if they don’t want them.