Man City protest against increasing ticket prices ahead of Premier League game v Southampton
The demonstrations were part of a league-wide movement organised by the Football Supporters’ Association.
Manchester City fans staged a protest on Saturday to raise their objection to increasing ticket costs.
The protest, staged an hour before City’s Premier League clash against Southampton at the Etihad, is part of a nation-wide set of demonstrations organised by the Football Supporters’ Association across this weekend and next. Of the 20 top-flight clubs, 17 have signed up to the protest, with fans calling on Premier League owners to ‘stop exploiting loyalty’.
It comes after 19 sides in the division raised prices last summer, with West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur among the clubs to remove concessions ahead of the 2024/25 season, while Aston Villa this week admitted they could raise prices further on the £94 charged for Champions League tickets.
City have also become swept up in the increases, with the club failing to sell out for last month’s Champions League game against Inter Milan, while fans previously held up a banner ahead of the Arsenal match in March that read: “Record profits but record prices. Stop exploiting our loyalty.”
City supporters continue to raise objections to those price increases, with the MCFC Fans Foodbank Support organising Saturday’s protest on behalf of the FSA.
“Supporters say far too many club owners and executives see regular match goers as a resource to be bled dry rather than valued,” the FSA said via a statement.
“The actions over the next two designated #StopExploitingLoyalty weekends are a direct response to the range of rises and attacks on concessionary pricing bands at so many clubs. As well as matchday activities fan groups are raising the #StopExploitingLoyalty campaign at upcoming supporter engagement meetings with their clubs.”
FSA chair Tom Greatrex added: “The Premier League and its clubs really need to listen to this message - clubs must cherish and reward supporter loyalty rather than exploit it.
“Fans feel clubs often care more about attracting one-off visitors who'll pay through the nose for a ticket while spending fortunes in the club shop, when they should be looking to reward those who go week in, week out, win or lose.”
The FSA also wrote to all 20 clubs explaining they had reached a ‘a critical crossroad’.
MCFC Fans Foodbank Support, who collect food ahead of every home Premier League game, were joined at Saturday’s protest by City’s Disabled Supporters Association, Solid Citizens campaign group, 1894, various fan podcasts, while Southampton supporters also joined in the demonstrations.
City supporters have also been enraged in recent news that City do not plan to reintroduce season tickets and will continue with the controversial Flexi-Gold scheme. The protest also comes after this week the Premier League expressed their objection to the implementation of an Independent Regulator for football.
City fans have already forced the club into U-turns this on decisions regarding the scrapping off disabled parking and when payment was taken ahead of the Champions League game against Feyenoord.
Meanwhile, speaking earlier this year, chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak explained explained the reasoning behind the increase in ticket prices came from the need to find new ways to ‘generate capital’, but admitted he he hopes to find a long-term ‘solution’.
“We need to find ways to generate capital and revenue,” he said. “Every pound coming out from that revenue has been reinvested in the team and continues to be reinvested in the team.
“So, we have to again, carefully tread. We're talking very closely to our fan base to make sure that we're able to strike that balance in an appropriate way. It's a balance. I recognize some of our fans obviously are not satisfied on the pricing side of it. We have to find solutions for them. That is our job.