WITH the new Premier League season just around the corner, it has been a busy week for football supporters’ groups across the country.

Up and down the country, the fight for fair ticket pricing and increased involvement in non-sporting matters that affect fans and club culture continues. 

The new season brings new hope for all clubs on the pitch, but supporters are regularly met with new obstacles at this time of year as clubs look to make capital out of these community assets.

“Our loyalty is being exploited,” said the Tottenham Hotspur Supporters’ Trust (THST) as they pushed back against the club’s sly increase in ticket prices.

“Ticket price increases are not an economic necessity for the ninth-richest club in world football.

“They are a choice: a choice the club’s board has chosen to make against the backdrop of a cost-of-living crisis with prices already sky high.

“We, therefore, call on all Spurs fans to join us in telling the club: enough is enough.”

Earlier this week Newcastle United announced that the membership ballot for their opening game of the season at home to Aston Villa would see seats randomly allocated with prices anywhere between £44 and £74 for adult tickets.

A family with two adults entering this ballot could see close to £150 exit their bank account if they are successful, and that is before you factor in child tickets which would raise the cost to over £200.

“This potential difference in price between categories is significant and is a huge financial worry for many fans during a cost-of-living crisis,” said the Newcastle United Supporters Trust (NUST).

“It is imperative that the club puts Newcastle United fans first and maintains the integrity and uniqueness of our St James’ Park atmosphere.”

Given Newcastle’s ownership group consists of a sovereign wealth fund, Tory donors the Reuben brothers, and Amanda Staveley’s private equity firm PCP Capital Partners, it is no surprise that among this capital and privilege, there is no initial consideration for working-class fans when it comes to things like ticket prices.

The Ruben brothers’ contributions to Conservative coffers no doubt came in handy during the Saudi-led takeover of Newcastle in 2021.

David Conn of the Guardian revealed six months later that Boris Johnson’s government “worked for months” to encourage the Premier League to approve the takeover.

There were also reports that Staveley’s home in Mayfair was used as the headquarters for Theresa May’s successful 2016 Conservative Party leadership campaign.

It is something Staveley and the Tories have since denied, although a Conservative Party spokesman admitted: “Conversations took place in Amanda Staveley’s home.”

Earlier this year, the Athletic revealed government emails ahead of the takeover spoke of the “risk” that the Premier League blocking the deal may harm Britain’s relationship with Saudi Arabia — ie, access to its wealth.

Is it any wonder these owners do not understand supporters’ concerns or consider the impact on them when announcing ticket-buying procedures and prices?

Most clubs in working-class areas have always, to some extent, been chaired or owned by members of the establishment or local businesspeople, but in recent years the scale of this has increased as top-level football became intertwined with global capitalism and geopolitics.

Club owners are no longer custodians boasting merely of a high-profile local asset and the status that brings, with a few cushioned seats in a VIP area. 

The new level of owners are instead using these clubs for their own ends in the global arena of late-stage capitalism, whether political, financial or, usually, both.

Football stadiums at the top level are becoming corporate meeting places. They are arenas where events are held, merchandise is sold and where any diehard fans who can still afford to go are seen as part of the product, with their vital contribution to the atmosphere for TV coverage.

These stadiums are becoming less and less community hubs for fans and families to gather and experience together the ups and downs of following a football club.

Kick-off times are inconvenient for away supporters, public transport is often underprepared, understaffed or non-existent, and the overall matchday cost comes in at hundreds of pounds each week.

The corporate crowd brings their money, takes some photos for social media (free club PR), watches a bit of the game and then goes home probably not knowing the result.

If clubs can make money in this way to benefit fans, then fair enough, but at the moment most are also trying to fleece loyal supporters on top of this.

Whether it is Tottenham trying to sneak up prices without anyone noticing, or Newcastle thinking the difference between multiples of £44 and £74 going out of a fans’ bank accounts is negligible, Premier League clubs are out of touch with their fans, in many cases purposely so.

Elsewhere, Nottingham Forest raised the cheapest adult season price by £80 and did away with a pricing band for supporters aged between 18 and 23, with any fan over the age of 20 now being charged adult prices.

“It’s such a huge increase and I don’t really understand how they can justify it,” 21-year-old Forest fan Archie Bestwick told BBC Radio Nottingham after the price of his season ticket went up from £150 to £640.

On top of the issue of unnecessary price increases, pricing out young fans seems counterproductive and nonsensical.

Another example of the prioritising of commercialisation and corporate, hospitality aspects of the matchday experience can be seen at Aston Villa, where The Terrace View project with its “enhanced facilities” has taken precedence over other issues.

What fans really want is more affordable season tickets, including for those on the waiting list, and improvement in amenities across the stadium that don’t merely consist of new stalls selling overpriced “street food.”

Like those at Newcastle and Tottenham, the Aston Villa Supporters Trust has voiced its concerns, saying: “We believe the club has abused its relationship with fans, alienated season ticket holders and members.”

There has at least been a small win to report. Following pressure from the NUST, Newcastle added the option for fans to enter the members’ ballot at various category levels rather than not knowing how much their tickets would eventually cost.

The actions of club owners and the increasing price of attending football matches show how important these supporters’ groups are, and how vital it is they continue to hold their clubs to account.

It might sometimes feel like they are fighting a losing battle, but the small wins that help retain some semblance of these football clubs as local institutions, as meeting places for communities rather than days out for corporates and political and financial tools, show the battle is worth fighting.