PREMIER LEAGUE FIT TO BUSTING

The Observer:

‘Richard Scudamore, the Premier League chief executive, told Observer Sport last night that many clubs intended to redouble their efforts by offering 'affordable or very affordable tickets to a very wide audience and thus ensure that Premier League football attracts the widest possible range of people. Clubs already practise stretch pricing and will do even more of that,' he said.

'There's a lot of stomach [among clubs] for pricing the matches according to what people are prepared to pay. Clubs see the sense in continuing in all ways to attract a new and young generation of fans. Every club accepts its responsibility to try to ensure its stadium is always full.'

For over a decade the warnings from IMUSA and other fan groups have been ignored and now there are signs that the football authorities are starting to look a bit panicky.

The Observer :

‘The extent of fans' growing disillusion was underlined again yesterday when there were 27,442 unsold seats at the five Premiership games played. Sunderland had 17,343, Aston Villa 8,887 for the televised evening visit of Spurs and Portsmouth - where 20,288-seat Fratton Park is usually sold out - were 969 below capacity, the second lowest crowd of their time in the Premiership.

Only Charlton v Chelsea sold out. Peter Varney, the Charlton chief executive, said his club only managed to sell all 27,111 seats by letting season-ticket holders buy four rather than two extra for friends, offering priority booking to the 1,500 fans who had not renewed their season tickets, and pricing it at £35, £10 cheaper than last season.

'You'd think a London derby between two teams who had won all their matches, one the champions, would sell itself. But we had to take extra measures to sell out,' said Varney.’

Everton's chief executive Keith Wyness tells the Observer that clubs must try harder:

'This is just good customer relations - something that clubs have generally paid only lip service to. There's a danger that the market is being eroded.'

And therein lies the problem - treating fans as customers, customers will make a choice about whether to go to a game or not ‘supporters’ will go regardless. The people running the game don’t even begin to understand the relationship we have with our clubs. They are incapable of addressing the issue because to treat us any differently would mean dismantling the money making machine that pays their huge salaries.