Wembley Showdown For Reading & Huddersfield Town

The build-up to Bank Holiday Monday’s Championship Play-Off final between Reading & Huddersfield Town will inevitably focus on the potential financial windfall that is coming the way of the Wembley winners.

Various price-tags will be placed on the ‘richest game in the world’ (I've seen £170m in one report) and that will be the main thrust of the coverage, ahead of what promises to be quite an intriguing battle between the two teams and their respective managers, Jaap Stam at Reading and David Wagner of Huddersfield.

In terms of this blog and its focus, this is a meeting of two clubs who have featured heavily here and on our Twitter page.

With the Royals there has been a general theme of significantly reduced prices for home cup ties over the past few seasons and regular free admission to Under 23 games played at the Madejski Stadium.

Add into that their ‘Twenty’s Plenty’ pledge last summer, which saw away tickets capped at £20 and matching prices for home supporters in the Eamon Dolan Stand (with a £2 membership card) and some worthwhile extra touches on travel to and from the stadium.

Huddersfield, were the main story of last summer in terms of pricing after their decision to offer season tickets for £179 sparked a huge response from supporters.

Home matches this season have been played out in front of increased crowds and in a positive atmosphere helped, of course, by the success that Wagner has had in transforming his squad.

It's impossible to quantify whether the better attendances and upbeat vibe has won the Terriers any extra points on the pitch but the shrewdness of chairman Dean Hoyle in making the offer was that he could clearly see behind the scenes that Wagner was capable of doing something special and looked to add to the feel-good factor by subsidising season tickets from television revenues.

And many Huddersfield fans travelling to Wembley over the Bank Holiday Weekend will be doing so having snapped up £199 season tickets for 2017/18 when they could be watching Premier League football in West Yorkshire.

Positive Vibes As Reading Host Huddersfield Town

Another Saturday, another great occasion at the John Smith's Stadium as over 20,000 watched Huddersfield Town stay on top of the Championship with a 2-1 victory against Queens Park Rangers, a fourth successive home win for the Terriers in the league this season.

Chairman Dean Hoyle, having seen the progress that was made under head coach David Wagner last season, backed his belief in the relatively unknown (in this country) German by announcing in the summer that increased revenues from television money would be used to subsidise season ticket prices.

Adult tickets, priced at £179, flew out of the door and the scene was set for a season of good crowds at the John Smith's whatever happened on the pitch.

Results to date have been better than anyone could have expected and the whole thing looks to be taking on a life its own, success attracting more through the turnstiles and the Huddersfield players reveling in the atmosphere it is creating.

“We had unbelievable support which helped us play as strongly as we did and take the next step,” said Wagner after the QPR game.

An away trip to Reading is up next and if you are a Huddersfield Town season card holder then the cost of your ticket at the Madejski Stadium on Saturday afternoon is £20 for an adult with various reductions for different age groups.

That comes after the Royals took the decision in the summer to cap away prices and implement the 'twenty's plenty' initiative for supporters of away teams who are season ticket holders. These prices are matched for home supporters, with a £2 membership card, in the Eamon Dolan Stand.

The variation of away prices in the Championship has become a topic for discussion in the wake of the £30 cap introduced in the Premier League as it means a number of clubs now charge more than that for matches in the second-tier.

Next Saturday, for example, it is £36 for an adult ticket when Nottingham Forest head to Sheffield Wednesday and £35 for Ipswich fans off to Leeds United.

So, hats off to the Royals for their move. They have always been a club who have featured heavily on our pages with free admission to Under 21/23 games at the Madejski (such as the clash with Chelsea on Monday night, September 19th at 7:05pm) and with reduced prices for home cup ties at the stadium.

Record Opening Day Crowd at Huddersfield Town

After taking the plunge over the summer and offering season tickets at a vastly reduced rate of £179 for Adults, the impact of Huddersfield Town’s initiative was clear to see from Saturday’s opening Championship fixture of the season. 

The visit of Brentford (so, not a local derby or an opponent who would bring a large away following) attracted a record first-day attendance for the John Smith’s Stadium of 18,479 with head coach David Wagner and a number of players commenting on the atmosphere created in a 2-1 victory for the Terriers. 

To put the figure into some sort of context, 13,397 watched the same teams play in early May. Neither side had anything but pride to play for that day (Brentford running out 5-1 winners) but Wagner’s methods and results had been bearing fruit and generating optimism that merely surviving in the Championship was not the limit of Huddersfield’s ambitions. 

Chairman Dean Hoyle shrewdly capitalised on that with his season ticket initiative, explaining at the time of its launch that it would essentially be underwritten by the increased television revenues coming into the club should it not succeed. 

Saturday’s evidence points to it succeeding in a big way.

A relatively quiet week ahead on the affordable football front although many clubs are offering £10 adult tickets in the opening round of the League Cup and there are a number of replays in the FA Cup extra preliminary round (such as AFC Liverpool against West Didsbury & Chorlton on Wednesday evening where admission is priced at £5 for Adults.

An Incredible Few Days For Huddersfield Town

Huddersfield Town's £179 Season Card offer, made available by chairman Dean Hoyle for 2016/17 with the Terriers set to bag increased television revenues for next season, was always set to be a popular initiative but the club have found themselves blown away by the demand from supporters.

The tickets went on sale last Thursday (17 March) with fans arriving at the ticket office from 4:15am onwards to make sure of their seat at the John Smith's Stadium for next season.

Fast forward to the close of business on Monday and 11,000 had been shifted, in person, on the phone and online.

Having initially discounted prices to £179 for adults, £69 for 8-17 year-olds and £23 for under-8's, Huddersfield set a target of 10,000 sales but with that figure having been and gone, Mr Hoyle has extended the deal to the next 4,000 people who buy.

“The speed of sales is a record for the Club; unprecedented, even for the £100 Centenary offer back in 2008," he told his club's official website on Tuesday.

“It’s been an amazing few days at the Ticket Office and I’d like to thank everyone who has already bought their Season Card."

Huddersfield's offer has been made under the #WagnerRevolution as their new head coach makes his mark in West Yorkshire.

I think the £179 offer would have been hugely successful anyway but results like Saturday's 4-1 away win in a local derby at Leeds cannot do it any harm!

From Bradford City to Huddersfield Town, Affordable Football in West Yorkshire

Bradford City's season ticket initiative has been featured many times here on Affordable Football since I started the blog in July 2013 and rightly so.

Attendance figures this season have once again shown the success of the Bantams offer and how it has proved itself relatively resistant to events on the pitch (although City have moved up the League One table in recent weeks and are threatening to overtake my own Sky Blues in the play-off places).

And, across West Yorkshire, Huddersfield Town have taken the plunge and announced their season ticket prices for 2016/17, the headlines clearly being made by an Adult cost of £179 for a whole campaign of what should be Championship football with the Terriers, despite some inconsistency, responding well to the methods of new head coach David Wagner.

8-17 year-old tickets are priced at £69 and it is £23 for Under-8's. 

And that is it, simplified, low prices across the board with chairman Dean Hoyle telling the Huddersfield Daily Examiner that an improved financial situation and extra cash from TV rights mean it is time for everyone, himself, the club and supporters, to 'step up'.

“We will use £1m of that extra money to re-engage with the fans through unbelievable savings on season-cards – initially for the first 10,000 bought, and we expect a big take-up.

“And the other £1m will be put back into the football costs – and maybe more if we get a better take-up on the tickets than we expect."

The prices are obviously what catch the eye (dare I say they could even have been pitched a little higher for a season of Championship football) but it also the honesty that the club have shown in making the offer that appeals.

A Fiver Finale At Huddersfield Town

Great entertainment on offer at the John Smith's Stadium on Saturday afternoon as Huddersfield Town and Derby County drew 4-4 in the Championship.

The Terriers have secured their place in the division with a strong run-in to the campaign, going unbeaten throughout April to date and upsetting play-off contenders Ipswich Town as well as sharing the spoils with the Rams.

And there should be a relaxed atmosphere at the ground next Saturday (25th April) for the final home match of the season, against mid-table Blackburn Rovers, for which Huddersfield have reduced prices in all home areas to just £5 if tickets are purchased in advance of matchday.

A (Very Quick) Cup Update

Just to follow up the previous post about this weekend's FA Cup 4th Round matches...

Huddersfield Town have also priced adult tickets at £10 with concessions (under-18's and seniors) at £5 for their game against the winners of Tuesday night's replay between Oxford United and Charlton Athletic.