In a letter to the Financial Times Alan Evans has some interesting statistics on the increasing cost of watching football, although I don’t agree with the conclusions that he draws from them (and have written to the Pink ‘Un to that effect). Using figures adjusted to 2007 values, he shows that in 1977 a first division ticket cost on average £4.30 while the average wage was £27,554. Thus, ‘Attending top class football was a reasonable weekly outlay for a family of average to low income.’ In 1992 the average ticket cost £11.26 compared with an average wage of £28,508.
In a letter to the Financial Times Alan Evans has some interesting statistics on the increasing cost of watching football, although I don’t agree with the conclusions that he draws from them (and have written to the Pink ‘Un to that effect). Using figures adjusted to 2007 values, he shows that in 1977 a first division ticket cost on average £4.30 while the average wage was £27,554. Thus, ‘Attending top class football was a reasonable weekly outlay for a family of average to low income.’ In 1992 the average ticket cost £11.26 compared with an average wage of £28,508. ‘If we take the average wage for 2008 at £29,993 and compare it with the price schedules of premier clubs for this season, the cost increase is alarming. The average cheapest ticket is £28.’
The conclusion drawn is that ‘most ordinary fans can no longer afford to attend top-flight matches.’ Why, then, has there been a long-run increase in attendances with them holding up quite well in the recession? Part of the answer is that the ‘ordinary fan’ has been changing and the typical football crowd has become more affluent, as indeed England as a whole has become over the years with the population becoming preponderantly non-manual. Alan Evans argues that ‘Such escalating prices risk the permanent alientaion of football’s fan base, an outcome that would inflict deep damage on the game.’ There is certainly quite a lot of complaining about ‘obscene’ wages, but most people do not seem to be voting with their feet (whilst accepting that there is more ‘churn’ in the composition of a football crowd than is generally allowed). As for the idea of players contributing half of a per cent of their salaries to a subsidy fund for cheap tickets for fans on low incomes, I think it is a non-starter, although most clubs reduce prices for the young and those over 60 and some do for those who are unwaged.
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