English Ticket Prices “Destroy The Basis Of Football”

Pep Guardiola has promised to “take care of Arsenal fans in Munich with a good price” after travelling Bayern Munich fans boycotted the first 5 minutes of their Champions League clash with Arsenal in protest over ticket prices.

When the German visitors eventually took their seats they unfurled a banner which read “£64 a ticket but without fans football is not worth a penny.”

The protest is sure to put Arsenal’s pricing structure under further scrutiny but recently released figures suggest they aren’t alone when it comes to Premier League clubs charging over the odds to watch their superstars in action.

Champions League
All four English participants in this season’s Champions League dominate the top of the charts when it comes to most expensive ticket prices, even though Chelsea’s semi-final tie against Atletico Madrid in 2013/14 is the only last-four appearance by any English side in the last 3 years.

Arsenal’s cheapest season ticket comes in at a whopping £1,014, while supporters happy enough to sit in the clouds at the Nou Camp can watch a season of football at the European Champions for as little as £73.88.

Bayern Munich’s cheapest season ticket is only £40 more expensive than what they paid last night for a seat at the Emirates.

Loose Change
Chelsea top the table for a single match ticket with the cheapest seats at Stamford Bridge charged at £52, whereas supporters in Lisbon can watch Benfica if they can scrape together £6.72 from their coat pockets.

Arsenal have yet to respond to last night’s protest but will come under increasing pressure after the supporters’ group who organised the protest released a damning assessment of ticket prices in England in the run up to their visit to London:

“This kind of a price structure makes a stadium visit impossible for younger and socially disadvantaged fans. It destroys fan culture, which is the basis of football. In England, this development has already taken place.”