Burnley, Liverpool & Newcastle United Subsidise December Trips to Manchester

The Premier League's 'away fans fund' of £200,000 per club, per season to assist with the costs of attending away fixtures in the top-flight, is being utilised by three clubs to reduce the price of December visits to Manchester.

Always an eagerly-awaited fixture in the football calendar, Liverpool visit Old Trafford on Sunday 14 December and the Anfield club have subsidised every away ticket by £10. The Reds also say that first-team players have contributed to the fund and have 'directly helped supplement the discount for this game'.

Of course this match would have been a sell-out at the original prices and travel-wise it is a short journey for those based on Merseyside.

The nature of the away fans fund means there will always be a decision to be made as to how it benefits supporters the most but in this instance the Liverpool supporters who manage to get tickets will be those with the most points accumulated from away visits and so their loyalty is being rewarded.

Also facing Manchester United in December are Newcastle United and their trip to Old Trafford on Boxing Day has been subsidised for away fans to the tune of £10.

Much-maligned in many ways as a club, the Magpies have gone beyond the remit of the fund in recent seasons with a number of reciprocal price deals in place that have made a significant difference to the cost of away tickets for their supporters.

New to the Premier League this season, Burnley have opted to use a percentage of their fund money to cut the cost of tickets (available to season ticket holders only) for the match at Manchester City on 28 December.

Again, there is a balancing act to be made as to how best to use the money (in the absence of any kind of league-wide agreement or even legislation on away prices) and Burnley would presumably have taken a large support to the Etihad Stadium anyway.

But, with the original price of an adult ticket being £47 (concession prices ranging from £39 to £28), the discount to £25 (£20 and £15 for concessions) is a substantial one.