Manchester United have been accused of exploiting fans after taking the mid-season decision to raise matchday ticket prices to £66 per game, with no concessions for children or pensioners.
It comes as the club confirmed the cost of paying off former boss Erik ten Hag and his staff was £10.4m, while the cost of paying a release clause to bring in his replacement Ruben Amorim was £11m.
United have put the raised prices on their website, having told their fans’ forum of the move on Tuesday.
The club privately say the decision will only affect a small number of supporters as 97% of available tickets have already been sold.
However, the remainder will be subject to the increase.
In an open letter to United chief executive Omar Berrada, the 1958 fans’ group described the decision as “clear exploitation of our loyal fanbase”.
The 1958 group, which led protests against the Glazer ownership before Ineos agreed a part-purchase of the club last December, said it was planning a joint protest with Everton supporters before Sunday’s Premier League game between the clubs at Old Trafford.
United allow season ticket holders to sell back to the club any individual tickets they do not intend to use.
“The club will then resell the ticket at a higher price,” said the 1958 group. “This is ‘corporate touting’ at its finest and simply unacceptable.”
Manchester United Supporters’ Trust also criticised what it called an “offensive” move it says was taken without any fan consultation.
“We have objected to this action in the strongest possible terms,” the group said, adding it was “seeking urgent discussions with the club to get them to listen to fans’ concern at this policy”.
United argue they need to generate as much money as possible in order to stay within the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules, while bringing in players they hope will make Amorim’s squad competitive.
Manager change costs topped £20m
In their first-quarter financial results released on Tuesday, United revealed they had spent £8.6m as part of a redundancy programme that has led to about 250 employees losing their jobs.
Critics have pointed out this sum is tiny compared to the amounts ploughed into the first team, who have slumped into the bottom half of the Premier League and won just seven out of 18 competitive games in all competitions – form that triggered the dismissal of manager Ten Hag.
In addition to paying off Ten Hag and his staff they appointed Amorim after paying a release clause to Portuguese club Sporting.
A longer version of the first-quarter accounts was released to the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday, revealing the full cost of sacking Ten Hag and meeting Amorim’s release clause.
United are not the only club to have increased ticket prices this season.
Even though the Premier League has agreed new TV deals worth £6.7bn for its UK market alone over the next four years, almost all clubs have confirmed increases, leading to widespread protests and the Football Supporters’ Association launching a ‘Stop Exploiting Loyalty’ campaig
Source: BBC
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