Aston Villa supporters are accustomed to pre-season optimism coursing through their veins. Even if increasing competition and financial obstruction have influenced summer recruitment, making this season’s challenges tougher, the confidence in Unai Emery and Villa’s football department remains unerring. And the respect appears mutual.
For Villa’s Premier League curtain-raiser against Newcastle
United this Saturday, it will cost £77 ($105) for an adult ticket in the Holte
End. This is not a hospitality or a premium seat, but a standard ticket in
Villa’s most famous stand. For anyone over 66, the price is £58. In other parts
of the stadium, including the Trinity Road Stand and Doug Ellis Upper, the cost
can be up to £82.
The surrounding areas of Villa Park, in Aston, are among
Birmingham’s most financially deprived areas, according to a factsheet provided
by Birmingham City Council. A 2021-22 census indicated 58.6 per cent of
children lived in poverty.
The #StopExploitingLoyalty campaign objects to rising costs
across the Premier League and English Football League. Over the past year,
small-scale protests have occasionally taken place outside Villa Park and fans
have threatened to hold walkouts during games. None, though, have had a
transformative effect on Villa’s stance or put sufficient pressure on the club
to magnify the issue.
Costs for the Newcastle match feel particularly steep,
although the £77 charge has increased within the five per cent cap, in line
with season ticket prices. For context, Newcastle is now a Category 3 fixture
(the most expensive Premier League games) after being in a lower bracket
previously, so the climb in price against this opposition is noticeable.
A considerable number were, and are, willing to forgo the
swell in costs — around 26,000 supporters are still registered on the
season-ticket waiting list — but Villa’s ticket pricing is a bottleneck issue
for fans who cannot afford it anymore.
Generally speaking, ticket prices have risen in line with
inflation and in tune with Premier League sides across the board, but Villa’s
situation has grown acute. They came under widespread criticism for their
Champions League prices last season, with the cheapest seat costing £70
If you compare Villa to other teams or, more specifically,
those at the top end of the table, the difference with most is striking. The
most expensive ticket for an adult anywhere within Anfield is £61, with the
costliest in the Kop, Liverpool’s equivalent to the Holte End, £45. Moreover,
Manchester City’s most expensive tickets are between £40 and £60.
The increases have kept coming for Villa fans. Season-ticket
costs have risen by five per cent for the 2024-25 campaign, with Villa’s FAB
requesting a cap on the increased percentage. Aston Villa Supporters’ Trust
also asked for the club to freeze prices, in line with some other top-flight
clubs, such as Liverpool, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Manchester City, who
belatedly announced costs would be staying the same following supporter
protests.
Villa, however, defended their pricing through a club
statement in May: “Our pricing strategy reflects careful consideration,
ensuring we can create as strong a team as possible — one capable of
challenging at the top end of the Premier League table and remaining
competitive in European football — while continually working within the
parameters of both Premier League and UEFA profit and sustainability rules.”
It is worth noting that Villa remain without a training
ground sponsor, training kit sponsor and stadium naming partner, which
would make a greater difference to the spreadsheets than increased matchday
revenue in terms of meeting financial regulations.
Internally, there has been some acceptance that Villa’s
business departments have ridden on Emery’s coattails at times.
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