Southampton Supporters Want Parity On Away Ticket Prices and Allocations
When Saints visited Ipswich Town in the Premier League six months ago, they were given almost 3,000 tickets for
their travelling supporters, which cost £30 for adults. However, Ipswich has now cut that number to 2,000 and is
charging £43 for tickets in the Championship.
The Premier League has an agreement that all clubs must give away 3,000 tickets or 10% of the total capacity,
whichever is less, and that the adult ticket price cannot exceed £30.
Since there isn’t a similar arrangement in existence below the Premier League as it is now, some clubs take
advantage of it.
Two years ago, Southampton took the spirit of the Premier League agreement into the Championship, allowing clubs
to have 3,000 tickets if they wanted them and at £30
When we last played Ipswich in the Championship the normal price for a ticket in the away section was £34, now it
has increased by a whopping 30%.
Two seasons ago clubs in the Championship, although there is no formal agreement in place regarding ticket pricing
& allocation, clubs could agree reciprocal agreements, although some clubs were more open to this than others.
Now the mood amongst Saints supporters is that we should be looking to reach agreements with others clubs and if
they don’t want to play ball and give us reduced allocations and inflated prices, then we should replicate that at St
Mary’s when that club plays there.
That would mean that when Ipswich play at Southampton they should have a reduced allocation of 2,000 and be
charged £43, a little unfair on the Ipswich travelling supporters, whom I would guess would themselves favour a
reciprocal agreement.
They are paying about 10% more to watch their team in the Championship than they did in the Premier League last
season, and as previously mentioned, significantly more than they did in the same division two years ago, especially
now that their own club has increased ticket prices this season.
Although some fans criticise the Saints for their ticketing policy, they have actually been reasonable with their prices
over the last ten years. Sure, it is pricey to watch football, but that is a different matter.
However, it must be emphasised that clubs must show concern for their supporters and come to mutually beneficial
arrangements. This entails clubs refusing to compromise and stating that we will treat you the same way you treat us,
overcharging us and giving us a smaller allocation, and we will do the same to you.
It’s not as simple as it seems; setting ticket prices is not too difficult. However, a rule similar to the one that was
previously in place in the Premier League may prohibit charging an away fan more than a home fan for a ticket in a
similar stand. This could lead to dual ticket pricing in the away section.
and the other half is in the Chapel corner, we might be able to charge £40 for those in the Kingsland but only £30 for
those near the Chapel.
Then there is the ability to split the away section,, when it was in the Northam, the club had the ability to reduce or
indeed increase the away allocation, they could block off in the concourses and in the stands.
This was never put to the test in the Premier League last season; all three thousand were taken and sold by every
club.
We don’t know if Saints can sell the seats to home fans for teams that don’t use the entire away allocation, like we did
in the Northam End, or if there will be an away section with maybe only 1,000 fans and 2,000 empty seats that aren’t
able to be sold to home fans for practical reasons.
It will be interesting to see if the away section can adapt, as it appears to have fixed barriers.
The fans’ sentiment is evident, though, and we should treat them equally, even if it means leaving 1,000 seats empty,
for teams like Ipswich who, to be fair, only seem to be charging us the same amount as they are charging their own
supporters for a comparable seat.
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