Suits me. See ya. Right, now the boring, pedantic, argumentaive, pointless ****er has gone, is there anything left to say on the protest?
LFC and EFC supporters' groups meet with Premier League sponsors to discuss ticket prices Blue Union and Spirit of Shankly hailed positive meeting and are now calling on TV companies and other stakeholders to follow suit please log in to view this image Everton FC and Liverpool FC supporters’ groups met with Premier League sponsors Barclays to discuss their calls for football to be more affordable for fans. Members of Liverpool supporters’ group Spirit of Shankly and Everton’s Blue Union were invited to a meeting with Nathan Homer, Barclays global head of sponsorship, and Andrew McDougall, senior sponsorship PR manager, on Wednesday evening. The two groups have united with fans of other teams around the country as part of the Football Supporters’ Federation calls for money from the Premier League’s £5.1bn TV deal to lead to cheaper tickets and greater support for grass roots football. Back in February, members of the Reds and Blues supporters’ groups gathered outside Barclays on Church Street where they held up a banner reading “£NOUGH IS £NOUGH” to protest against escalating ticket prices, and presented a letter to a Barclays representative outlining their concerns about ticket pricing. In a joint statement tonight, the two groups said they had been championing the Football Supporters Federation ‘affordable football for all’ and ‘twenty’s plenty” campaigns both regionally and nationally, and “welcomed this invitation to meet the CEO of the sponsorship arm formally”. They said: “In light of the unprecedented amounts of money which is now awash in the game, it is vitally important this trickles down to supporters to safeguard the spirit and future of the game. “We thank them for giving us the opportunity to talk about how we go about achieving this in light of our most recent protests against the sponsors and specifically Barclays. “As an aside, we would like to take this opportunity to also make representations to the other TV companies and major sponsors involved within the Premier League cartel. “We will be asking them to meet in due course.” please log in to view this image Following the meeting, Dave Kelly, of Blue Union, said he was pleased that Barclays had committed to a follow-up meeting which would include the Football Supporters’ Federation. He said: “I think it’s great that Barclays, a company that’s intrinsically linked to football and football supporters, agreed to meet with us and it was really refreshing to have such a positive meeting, and that they agreed to another one in the near future. “They said it was refreshing to sit down with fans and listen to what fans think they should be doing. They have given us a commitment that they will look at what they can do with us. “It’s a step in the right direction and the positive thing is they want to work with us on this.” please log in to view this image Roy Bentham, of Spirit of Shankly, said: “We’ve always been open to dialogue with any stakeholders of the beautiful game. “Barclays have been a proud sponsor of the premier league since 2001 and have said they will help us in our collective efforts in making football more affordable from the bottom up. “We welcome their position and we are looking forward to bringing the extortionate cost of being a loyal fan down. “I’d like to also say that those campaigning nationally with ourselves should take a bow. Bringing the sponsors to the table is a big breakthrough for every grass roots supporter of the game in general.” http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/lfc-efc-supporters-groups-meet-9252523
You know the price before you buy the tickets..don't buy the tickets if you think they cost too much. If Allam charges me too much (£50+£35 matches) then I don't go.
The whole pricing issue is far from straightforward. Having categorised games implies that some are a better draw than others. Dropping the price of Prem games means that, come relegation, fans expect them lowered again, just at the time the income from them starts to mean something. Arguably, games against relegation rivals should be dearer as they're more important to us as fans. Cheaper Prem games makes them more attractive, possibly taking custom (and money) away from local lower league clubs, pushing their prices down further. The pricing, like seats, is also designed partly to socially engineer the crowd. It makes it better for Policing, marketing and looks better for TV viewers. It's all a balance. Too dear, and people stay away and watch TV, but eventually, with no noisy crowds it becomes sterile, so people stop watching it on TV too. Too cheap, and it impacts on the lower leagues. If it's £20 for the Prem, how much for Newport or Hartlepool? For me, cheaper tickets need to be in conjunction with the Prem giving a share of the income down to the lower leagues as some sort of subsidy. There's plenty of money in the pot, it just needs dividing up better.
I agree there are many issues relating to the prices and how it affects fans, lower league clubs (+ fans). For me though, it is very simple....if the price is too high (£50 or £35) than my wallet is unaffected.
The whole pricing issue is very straightforward, we need to make the game affordable to the spectators - a subtle difference from supporters. I say we, as it is something that we all share a responsibility in. We (the collective fans - simplistic, but let's start somewhere) want the best for our team, just as we want the best for our kids (I hope), but just what will we sacrifice to keep our club and it's heritage, so that we can move our club into the future - whatever that will be? Football is in danger of becoming Walt Disney, the kids will invent something they can enjoy - it's the way it works. We worry too much about nothing, really.
