The Guardian:
Any hopes Arsenal supporters might have had that the move from Highbury to the Emirates Stadium and its extra 21,500 seats would lead to lower ticket prices have been quickly dashed.
Season-ticket prices at Highbury have doubled in the past four years and fans are going to have to part with even more money long before the 60,000-seat stadium opens in August 2006 as Arsenal look to reduce the £375m debt built up by the development.
Existing season-ticket holders will be able to choose their seats in the new ground from next April, but they will have to pay a 15% deposit for that right at a time when they also have to find more than £1,000 to renew for the final season at Highbury. Anyone buying a season ticket for the first time will have to pay the whole amount up front.
The club has 35,000 supporters on its season-ticket waiting list and those with spare cash will be able to jump the queue with expensive corporate-type packages being offered on contracts of up to four years and secured by a 50% deposit.
"We have asked to meet Keith Edelman [the Arsenal managing director] to discuss the ticketing policy," said Paul Matz, the chairman of the Arsenal Independent Supporters' Association. "We are looking for a substantial reduction at the bottom end of prices. Fans have paid more and more to watch a successful team in recent years but we were assured that the new stadium would contain a number of cheap seats and that may not now be the case.
The chairman of the Football Supporters' Federation, Malcolm Clarke, is concerned that clubs are pricing supporters out of the market.
"Crowds are ageing," he said. "Youngsters are being put off by high prices, a lack of competitiveness and varied kick-off times. Arsenal have a habit of hitting their fans hard and they have to be careful otherwise they will burst the bubble."