Premier League Update: Everton

Just a line to add to the recent article on the Premier League, Everton and Newcastle have a reciprocal pricing deal in place as well which means that Toffees supporters’ travelling to St James’ Park on Boxing Day will pay £25 Adults (saving £11), £10 Over-65’s and Students and £5 Under-18’s.

Southampton, Watford, West Brom: A Dip Into The Premier League

The Premier League doesn’t feature too often on these pages, mainly because game-by-game offers don’t tend to happen too much at that level of the game.

But there are good things happening, particularly with regards to away supporters and either the reciprocal deals that clubs are doing between themselves or the methods used to make the most of the money clubs receive to subsidise away travel and/or tickets.

Southampton, for example, are using the money they have received to subsidise two away trips in five days during the busy festive period so tickets for the matches at West Ham United and Norwich City after Christmas are reduced by 50% across all categories and will cost £22.50 for Adults.

A reciprocal deal between Watford and Sunderland means that Hornets supporters travelling to the Stadium of Light on Saturday 12 December will pay £20 Adults and £10 Over-65’s and Under-16’s. Watford have also reduced the price of official coach travel to the game to just £1.

And a word for West Brom, where the pre-Christmas home fixture against Bournemouth is ‘Kids for a Quid’ for Under-17’s while Adults will pay Category B prices which, at the Hawthorns, means £27 or £25.

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.

A Mention for Stoke City & Liverpool On Season Tickets

It isn’t always here on Affordable Football that we delve into the top-flight of the English game. The nature of the offers we are highlighting means we focus more on the Football League and below as clubs try and attract supporters through the turnstiles.

But two announcements on season tickets have caught the eye this week…

For the seventh consecutive season (and with Premier League football again likely to be on the menu after an excellent win at Aston Villa on Sunday afternoon), Stoke City have frozen season ticket prices at the Britannia Stadium.

"It's evident since my time here, and to someone who's been to other clubs, how much the club takes on board what fans are saying and the economics of the area,” manager Mark Hughes told the Stoke Sentinel and the Potters will be hoping that a good season of home results under Hughes and the price freeze will win back some of the season ticket holders who did not renew last summer, an issue which we highlighted back in September.

http://affordablefootball.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/attendance-worries.html

Liverpool have no such worries about filling their stadium on a regular basis but it is to the credit of the club that, with one eye firmly on the future, they have reduced the price of junior season tickets to £200 in all areas of Anfield whereas previously that price had only been available in one family-specific section of the ground.

Speaking to the Liverpool Echo, managing director Ian Ayre said: “It's always been a big challenge for Liverpool FC as with the crowds we get and the massive demand for seats, we just don't have the capacity, but making the right price and opportunities for kids is important. We have an ageing fan base and it's vital that we encourage youngsters to come to games.”