Manchester United's Old Trafford ticket price rises a ‘kick in the teeth' – fans' group

New York Times

4 hours ago

Manchester United Supporters Trust (MUST) have called ticket price rises at Old Trafford a 'kick in the teeth' for fans after the club introduced match categorisation for the first time.
The fans' group say that for almost all Premier League games the cost of the cheapest seat available to members is going up by 50 per cent. In March, United announced rises for most season ticket holders of five per cent, although senior citizens faced higher hikes, and now the cost of attending Old Trafford for those buying on a game-by-game basis — around 20,000 people per game — have been revealed.
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There are six category A games — Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham, Newcastle United — and 11 category B games, with the cheapest ticket available for all those matches at £57. Last season, the average ticket price overall, including season ticket holders, was £41.41, according to United. The most expensive seats for those 17 fixtures range from £86 to £97.
There are only two category C games — Wolves and Sunderland — where tickets are priced between £37 and £60. United say the categories were selected by historical demand for tickets.
Category D games are kept for cup fixtures where the level of opponent could come from lower divisions, with prices between £32 to £52.
MUST are angered at the increased cost and what they say is a failure to consult with fans on the detail. Chief executive Omar Berrada recently accepted United made a mistake last season by introducing £66 ticket prices without warning midway through the campaign.
'What I accept is that the way it was rolled out was not good,' Berrada told United We Stand. 'I raise my hand, I'm responsible for that decision. Because if we go back to the actual decision itself and the percentage of people that it was going to impact, it's low.
'We didn't communicate it well. And we did it too quickly, mid-season. So that was a lesson and something that we will try to avoid in the future. What we've done since is engage heavily with the fan advisory board and they've all been good. We've had some robust conversations and they pushed back on a lot of the ideas that we had and the initiatives that we wanted to implement.'
The club insist numbers were presented to the Fan Advisory Board, who requested for further review, and the announcements now made are a reduction on what was shared.
However, a MUST spokesperson said: 'After how last season went, we might have hoped the club would reconsider their plans for this new ticketing model which will see eye-watering price increases for 20,000 supporters per game who buy tickets on a match-by-match basis. This really is a fresh kick in the teeth for Manchester United fans.
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'When the club said they were introducing this new model for members tickets, we urged them to keep the majority of matches at current levels and only apply the highest price category for a small number of the biggest games, and reduced prices for lower demand games. Once again, they have failed to consult any of the fans representative bodies on the details of the decision, and once again they're making choices against the interests of fans and, we believe, the club as a whole.
'The club's stated commitment to fan representation is fine in principle, but once again is not being delivered in practice. The structure is in place, and the Fans Forum and FAB representatives are doing their job, but the club are not adhering to their previous commitment to proper consultation and that needs to change and change fast.
'What Manchester United needs next season is a united fanbase and club, with the team on the pitch supported by loyal and vocal fans roaring it back after the disaster that was last year. These ticketing decisions only push those regular supporters away in favour of occasional visitors and risk pricing out the next generation of younger fans who are the very future of the club. This match categorisation model will do enormous harm and undermine the atmosphere in the ground in a season when the team will need it more than ever.'
United say the average cost of a general admission ticket for the coming campaign, including season ticket holders, will be £46.51 compared to £41.41 last season, and that less than one per cent of tickets overall will be priced at the highest category A point of £97.
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