‘The Office of Fair Trading is being urged to investigate claims that football fans are being ripped off at the turnstiles. The Football Supporters' Federation (FSF) is concerned about clubs varying ticket prices according to the popularity of the opposition.
‘It says this unfairly penalises fans of big clubs, who are charged more. And it says Premiership clubs charge far more for tickets than their rivals in other European countries.
‘A study conducted by the Liberal Democrats at the start of the football season found supporters of Premiership sides paid as much as seven times more for a season ticket than fans elsewhere in Europe.
‘While the cheapest, Portuguese club Porto, charges £67, some English Premiership clubs charge several hundred pounds.
‘At top German club Borussia Dortmund, it costs five euros (£3.50) to get into the stadium for children, 10 euros (£6.90) for adults to stand and between 15 and 30 euros (£10.30 - £20.70) for a seat.
‘These ticket prices even include free public transport for fans travelling up to 100km (62 miles) to the stadium.
‘The increasing trend for clubs to categorise ticket prices according to which team they are playing can mean wide variations between match prices.
‘For example, fans travelling to Birmingham City to watch the team's clash with Manchester United on 16 October will be charged £45 a ticket. But two weeks later, when the club plays host to Crystal Palace, they will pay just £28.
‘The FSF says this means fans of popular clubs who travel to away matches will be charged more throughout the season.
‘A Birmingham City spokesman explained the difference by saying that "some games are more popular than others."
‘It wanted to have its 30,000 ground at full capacity and the Manchester United was more popular than Crystal Palace, he added.
‘The spokesman had no comment to make on the differences between UK and European club prices, saying only: "We keep our prices in line with British clubs."
‘Liberal Democrat sport spokesman Don Foster also says fans are being ripped off. He has called for the Independent Football Commission, set up three years ago as a self-regulatory body for the sport, to investigate the issue.’
Self-regulation – isn’t it just marvelous?