Affordable Fulham

[Thailand Mick]

I see a campaign has started about the affordability of attending games for some of our most loyal fans and I totally agree that pricing them out of going to games for such small gains in relative terms is wrong. Now after such a great season I'm sure the last thing we want at the cottage is a toxic atmosphere among unhappy fans. I've always seen Fulham as a special club with a great community between the fans probably born out of all those years travelling around together even in the dark days. To now here that these same supporters concerns are being ignored is really sad. To reduce 5000 of the cheapest season tickets by 10 pounds a game equates to 900,000 pounds. I think now is the time to show support to these fans and prolong that community feeling. I would suggest something along the line of not buying any products at the ground i.e.food,drink and merchandise in the hope that the club realizes the mistake they are making and the strength of feeling.   

[bill taylors apprentice]

Before Covid I was a long term season ticket holder despite moving 150 miles away in recent years.

As a pensioner of comfortable circumstances the season ticket,train fare, beers and food was not an issue.

But I took a year out to look after a close relative who was seriously ill which means I'm now subject to paying the new prices and cannot take advantage of the cheaper renewal cost.

With a 15 year old daughter who has 2 reasonably expensive sports/hobbies taking priority the current ST prices (plus travel etc) is just too much.

I'm sure many have circumstances worse than mine but I can't justify coming back as a ST holder under the present price structure.

[General]

Clubs who rely too heavily on tourists may be shooting themselves in the foot long term and I worry that's what the Khan's tactics are with fulham.

So many times I've seen photos of fans in the new Riverside stand taking pictures of opposing players, and even when opposing teams score.

I get the Premiership is lucrative and globally attractive to football fans the world over, but they run a real risk if they continue to go down that road at a later date where the local fans no longer have an association with the club and if/when something happens to bring down the quality of the league or other leagues start to compete more readily and the Premier league, or even England becomes less than what it is now, many clubs could risk going bankrupt.

It may seem extreme, but I've seen it time and time again.

The businesses that do best are the ones that prioritise their customers most over the long run.

I understand the club need to increase profit margins to compete at the level they want to, but that should've been accounted for with the hotel, opening up to the public of the Riverside stand and the various commercial ventures going on there as well as the increased capacity.

To be charging 3k for a portion of tickets, even if not all is a disgusting precedent to be setting.

It's a shame. I have definitely started to consider going to games more of a luxury than a passion. As I've said time and again, when tickets get close to £100 a game they're simply not worth it, especially when you take into account how much that can buy. It's not even a question of affordability for me re whether I can or not, it's just not ethical or representative of value for money for me.

I'll aim to go to the odd game, of course, but sparing a thought for parents with kids who are expected to fork out a small fortune to get their kids into the club and sport.

This is a grassroots game after all.

[Free Elvis Hammond]

Is the campaign a Supporters Trust thing? Very worthwhile, price rises like these are appalling at any time, let alone with the economic situation the way it is now

[cookieg]

Who exactly are these "loyal supporters"? Those supporting the club before 1970, those who went to Wembley in 1975, went to Carlisle for Rodney McAree, went to Hamburg, had an ST for 30 years? And who decides who is or isn't a loyal supporter? ST holders get the benefit of the early bird scheme which if it is subsidised by those paying £100 per match or £3000 ST holders then what is there to complain about? My daughter will be watching games for £8 per game. I fully get those who miss a year and can't get the discounted rate which may be there should be something that the club could do for those supporters with a history.

Fans will always be priced out of going to games at some stage, there will come a time when I will have to consider if I can still afford my ST. My uncle started supporting Fulham after the war but eventually decided he couldn't go any longer even with me paying for his ST for several years because he didn't think it right. It happens and will continue to happen.

I've always seen Fulham as a friendly family club. We've always had "tourists", when we had Inamoto a lot of Japanese fans turned up to watch him play and why not? Do we suddenly say to these fans "sorry you can't come in because you're not a loyal supporter?" Maybe many of those fans are still with us now. In the old days supporters would go to Fulham one week and Chelsea the next was that wrong? And why shouldn't casual fans turn up if they want to pay £100 per ticket, good luck to them.

All clubs need new fans coming in and over time the demographics of our fan base will change. Football is no longer a working man's game as it was in the 50s, 60s etc. it's just how it is.

Just my thoughts on this which I appreciate won't be everyone's.

[Rupert]

I am someone who rarely missed a home game, but in recent years I have not been able to justify the cost of getting to a game, let alone in to it. It happens. If fortune smiles, in a few years from now I will resume my match watching activities, but for now it is a rare and wonderful occasion.

So if the club is relying on this loyal supporter for their future income, they are in a bit of bother. Thank goodness there are others taking up the slack, for whatever reason. Some will stay, some will remain. Fulham will carry on.

[HamsterWheel]

A renewal of an H4 ticket for 2018-19 was £449.
This year its £650.
So yes up a goodly chunk. But still works out at £34 a game.
The Fulham Supporters Trust did state a while back that "The £28 adult match average in the Hammersmith End in 2017-18 was fair".
Inflation since 2018 has been about 20%, so that would change a £28 ticket into a £33.60.

most accept that £30 for away fans is a sensible compromise on pricing. I don't really think that £34 is that bad. Of course I'd like to pay less, but as Fulham are selling out a higher average percentage than any other Prem team, commercially they're getting it right.

[EN1 FFC]

Here is an open invitation to Alistair Mackintosh and the Khans to swap seats for half a season with me and other fans in the other 3 Stands and come and see the poor facilities that the fans have to put up with, from restricted views and poor seating, poor toilets conditions, crowded concourse, expensive poor quality food and drink, health & safety issues. All these have not been rectified for years and still there are price increases of around 18% for next season. Let them do an 'Undercover Boss' experiment and see what the real fans have to put up with while being asked to pay more for the same inadequate facilities.

[wback]

It's a weird mix isn't it, trying to find the right market for these things.

If you're not in that "have kids + mortgage" state of life, stick to home games and live within public transport distance, there's probably a lot of people who find the initial outlay a bit stiff, but then it settles down to a routine thing (£60/month is the same as a cheapish night out, or a top or whatever).

Are there 15-20,000 of those people that the club could attract? Probably, though that doesn't make the other group of people - with kids, or who have to come from further afield and make a day of it, very happy.

When I first started coming to Fulham, it was really, really cheap (maybe £8 for a grownup ticket and kids were a couple of quid?), but the economics of the game are totally different now, and the analysis the club does of who their market is will also have changed entirely.

[KJS]

I don't see an issue with the pricing, very happy with the price I pay for my ST and I choose to pay it no one forces me to do so and if I didn't want to pay it I wouldn't, yes times are hard but compared to the price people choose to pat for Gigs or the theatre football is still relatively cheap. Everyone has a choice so if you are unhappy write to the club personally are say you won't be renewing you ST then if yhwy get enough of the real fans boycotting over cost you may see a reaction, but don't rely on someone else to moan for you!!

I know this will not go down well with a lot of people on this forum but it's my opinion and if you don't like it I really don't care, living within your means is a personal responsibility.

[Free Elvis Hammond]

All clubs need new fans coming in and over time the demographics of our fan base will change. Football is no longer a working man's game as it was in the 50s, 60s etc. it's just how it is.

It's true, that is how it is - but it doesn't mean we have to accept it. The only reason prices have increased so much above inflation is greed. Media companies and owners/investors can only ever have so much of the pie, but if you can make that pie as large as possible you have more revenue (in the case of broadcasters) or a more valuable asset that lets you access cheaper credit (in the case of owners)

Obviously that's a structural problem, and there's no single club that could just opt out even if they wanted to. But it's worth fighting back, even for marginal gains

The game is still brilliant. It's not like we're out there waving flags for Starbucks or Matalan or something

[Burt]

Yup this is an FST initiative:
https://www.fulhamsupporterstrust.com/news/2023/05/affordablefulham/

Over the past few weeks we have been inundated with messages expressing a range of emotions, from concern to anger, about the recent season ticket price rises substantially above inflation and the apparent trajectory towards even greater rises in future seasons.

One of the most consistent and striking features of the messages we have received is a very real fear that our long term loyal supporters risk being priced out of attending, with the impact this will have on the sustainability of our fan base and the treasured family ethos of our Club.

We have tried hard to persuade Fulham to change their approach, including an open letter to Shahid Khan, a number of meetings with the Club and the Chairman's representatives, interviews in the written press and television and also this opinion piece in response to an interview with Shahid Khan in the Times. Sadly the Club have been unwilling to change the pricing model for next season.

So today we are launching our #AffordableFulham Campaign For Fair Pricing across a range of platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, as well as on our web site and by email. Through this campaign, we will be sharing some of the messages we have received from supporters explaining the direct impact on them of the price rises as well as a range of analysis to inform the debate.

If you are a user of these social media platforms, please spread the word and join in the discussion using #AffordableFulham. We are keen to hear from as many of you as possible with the aim of persuading the Club that success on the field and financial sustainability off it go hand in hand with a commited, loyal fan base which is achieved through fair and affordable ticket pricing.

We will share more information over the coming weeks and months and we look forward to your participation and feedback.

[Sammyffc]

Who exactly are these "loyal supporters"? Those supporting the club before 1970, those who went to Wembley in 1975, went to Carlisle for Rodney McAree, went to Hamburg, had an ST for 30 years? And who decides who is or isn't a loyal supporter? ST holders get the benefit of the early bird scheme which if it is subsidised by those paying £100 per match or £3000 ST holders then what is there to complain about? My daughter will be watching games for £8 per game. I fully get those who miss a year and can't get the discounted rate which may be there should be something that the club could do for those supporters with a history.

Fans will always be priced out of going to games at some stage, there will come a time when I will have to consider if I can still afford my ST. My uncle started supporting Fulham after the war but eventually decided he couldn't go any longer even with me paying for his ST for several years because he didn't think it right. It happens and will continue to happen.

I've always seen Fulham as a friendly family club. We've always had "tourists", when we had Inamoto a lot of Japanese fans turned up to watch him play and why not? Do we suddenly say to these fans "sorry you can't come in because you're not a loyal supporter?" Maybe many of those fans are still with us now. In the old days supporters would go to Fulham one week and Chelsea the next was that wrong? And why shouldn't casual fans turn up if they want to pay £100 per ticket, good luck to them.

All clubs need new fans coming in and over time the demographics of our fan base will change. Football is no longer a working man's game as it was in the 50s, 60s etc. it's just how it is.

Just my thoughts on this which I appreciate won't be everyone's.

I 100% percent agree with you. I was in the cottage many times when we had ross mccormack upfront when we were terrible and the cottage was hardly ever full, pretty empty. Where were these supposedly loyal fans then?

The issue is, we have many ' when in the premier league ' loyal fans who are trying to hijack the movement of the real fulham fans who have been priced out

[SuffolkWhite]

£34 for a Premier league game is as much as I want to pay tbh, but I feel is fair.

I have said before on here that fans living outside of London also have to add on transport costs which can be expensive and inconsistent with strikes this year.

Sharing my ST next season has saved me a good £600 in further expenses overall.

The rate of inflation and cost of living will impact on most, but I get to see Fulham for 10 games at home next season which is better than the odd game tickets at £60-£65 a go.

I think there was a team in the Bundesliga that were going to experiment with free entry to games......????

[Andy S]

I go to games with two sons and a grandson. We all have a great afternoon out. Is it worth the money? Well yes of course it is because it is not just about the event but every aspect of the club. The sad bit is due to ULEZ the cost is not just about the season ticket it will be about the £12.50 per time that has to be paid to come in to London. It will be about the cost of fuel and everything else associated with getting to a match. Let's be honest as I live outside London I have a choice of football teams to watch. I hope that Fulham can keep the crowd levels as high as they need as people living outside of London in future will not be prepared to travel in to town every couple of weeks on the current prices much less if they increase over th next few years

[andrew G]

I am astonished anyone says the prices and the dramatic rises are fair.
They aren't and as a long term strategy it is definitely a shot in the foot for an owner that goes on and on about protecting the heritage of the club. That just is not so. Too many poeople are complaining about this massive price increase and for people that take families, so have four of five tickets the increase is staggeringly hard to justify in these hard times. After 60 years of being begged to attend, The owner hasn't got a clue. The ground is already different and 40 to 50% of the pople around me are not regulars and/or have only recently started attending.

It is, or rather was , a club, I know seem to be subscribing to a frachise. When they let Marco slip there fingers and we struggle again on the pitch, see wha schemes they have to dream up to try and fill the ground.

This is just not right what is happening. And that is my opinion.

[Mickeyboro]

A renewal of an H4 ticket for 2018-19 was £449.
This year its £650.
So yes up a goodly chunk. But still works out at £34 a game.
The Fulham Supporters Trust did state a while back that "The £28 adult match average in the Hammersmith End in 2017-18 was fair".
Inflation since 2018 has been about 20%, so that would change a £28 ticket into a £33.60.

most accept that £30 for away fans is a sensible compromise on pricing. I don't really think that £34 is that bad. Of course I'd like to pay less, but as Fulham are selling out a higher average percentage than any other Prem team, commercially they're getting it right.

You don't go from zero to season ticket overnight. You have to allow access for youngsters to come and see the team with their family, decide they like it and become fans.
Season tickets happen later in life when you have disposable income.
We need family tickets and affordable entry level tickets so that the 'Fulham habit' is established and not lost. Tourists are short-term gain, long-term pain.
I am a H5 ST holder and I back the FST.

[RaySmith]

I doubt the club will have much trouble selling tickets for whatever price, while we're in the Prem.

If we go out of it it it will be a different matter, and they'll be looking to those long term loyal fans, some of whom may have disappeared.

[cookieg]

A renewal of an H4 ticket for 2018-19 was £449.
This year its £650.
So yes up a goodly chunk. But still works out at £34 a game.
The Fulham Supporters Trust did state a while back that "The £28 adult match average in the Hammersmith End in 2017-18 was fair".
Inflation since 2018 has been about 20%, so that would change a £28 ticket into a £33.60.

most accept that £30 for away fans is a sensible compromise on pricing. I don't really think that £34 is that bad. Of course I'd like to pay less, but as Fulham are selling out a higher average percentage than any other Prem team, commercially they're getting it right.

You don't go from zero to season ticket overnight. You have to allow access for youngsters to come and see the team with their family, decide they like it and become fans.
Season tickets happen later in life when you have disposable income.
We need family tickets and affordable entry level tickets so that the 'Fulham habit' is established and not lost. Tourists are short-term gain, long-term pain.
I am a H5 ST holder and I back the FST.

Surely "affordable entry level tickets" can be bought by anyone? Are Fulham supporters from America not allowed in because they are "tourists"? And who decides who is allowed a ticket and who isn't?

[Whitestone]

Who exactly are these "loyal supporters"? Those supporting the club before 1970, those who went to Wembley in 1975, went to Carlisle for Rodney McAree, went to Hamburg, had an ST for 30 years? And who decides who is or isn't a loyal supporter? ST holders get the benefit of the early bird scheme which if it is subsidised by those paying £100 per match or £3000 ST holders then what is there to complain about? My daughter will be watching games for £8 per game. I fully get those who miss a year and can't get the discounted rate which may be there should be something that the club could do for those supporters with a history.

Fans will always be priced out of going to games at some stage, there will come a time when I will have to consider if I can still afford my ST. My uncle started supporting Fulham after the war but eventually decided he couldn't go any longer even with me paying for his ST for several years because he didn't think it right. It happens and will continue to happen.

I've always seen Fulham as a friendly family club. We've always had "tourists", when we had Inamoto a lot of Japanese fans turned up to watch him play and why not? Do we suddenly say to these fans "sorry you can't come in because you're not a loyal supporter?" Maybe many of those fans are still with us now. In the old days supporters would go to Fulham one week and Chelsea the next was that wrong? And why shouldn't casual fans turn up if they want to pay £100 per ticket, good luck to them.

All clubs need new fans coming in and over time the demographics of our fan base will change. Football is no longer a working man's game as it was in the 50s, 60s etc. it's just how it is.

Just my thoughts on this which I appreciate won't be everyone's.

I 100% percent agree with you. I was in the cottage many times when we had ross mccormack upfront when we were terrible and the cottage was hardly ever full, pretty empty. Where were these supposedly loyal fans then?

The issue is, we have many ' when in the premier league ' loyal fans who are trying to hijack the movement of the real fulham fans who have been priced out

The Cottage hasn't been 'pretty empty' for matches this century so I'm unclear why you would make that comment. For the record in that first season with Ross McCormack when as you say "we were terrible" we averaged over 18,000 at the Cottage. Thats a significant number of loyal fans who continued to support the team out of the Premier League IMO. The club have seriously underestimated their fanbase with the ridiculous % increases this season. As for the Riverside prices. That's just plain greed and is an embarrassment to the club, judging by the negative press.