purpleronnie Posted 21 June 2013 Share Posted 21 June 2013 Premier League fans descend on London to protest about ticket pricesSupporters groups vent their fury about 'greedy' clubs hiking prices despite signing a £5.5bn television deal Owen Gibson The Globe pub, opposite Baker Street Tube station in London, is normally the gathering point for raucous shows of partisanship ahead of Wembley finals. But on Wednesday there was unity in the air, as well as righteous fury, as rival fans gathered over a pint before a march on Premier League headquarters to protest against ticket prices. Rather than baiting one another, cries of "You greedy bastards, enough is enough", "We hate Sky Sports and we hate Sky Sports" and "Supporters, united, will never be defeated" filled the air as Arsenal fans marched alongside their Spurs counterparts and Liverpool supporters joined forces with Manchester United diehards. "We've had enough. We've just got to let the Premier League know how we feel," said John Bonfield, a Spurs fan from Hackney who said he feels his club simply charge whatever they think they can get away with. The genesis for the march was a couple of meetings organised by more than 15 supporters' groups in the north-west and London, with Liverpool's Spirit of Shankly as the driving force, in the wake of protests against away-ticket prices at the Emirates and elsewhere last season. Organisers said the level of co-operation on show represented a turning point, with anger exacerbated by the new £5.5bn TV deal. "With the TV deal, no football club should have increased ticket prices. They've been able to get away with it because there was no challenge. The challenge starts now," said Stephen Martin of Spirit of Shankly. "We're all here for the common cause. When we play them, the rivalry will always be there. But we can all see the bigger picture. There must be 40 different club tops here today." As well as concern over the specifics of ticket pricing, there was a more general feeling of dislocation among the fans who marched in the sun from Regent's Park to Gloucester Place. They insisted they are aware of the realities of the modern game and do not want to turn the clock back, but say they feel intense frustration that clubs are not prepared to listen to them. An oft-heard argument was that the value fans create in terms of atmosphere, packaged into a TV product worth £5.5bn over three seasons, is under-appreciated. Around half of those marching were children of the Premier League era in their 20s, concerned they will be driven to watch matches on television rather than with their friends inside grounds. "If we keep sticking with the way it is now then eventually dads won't be able to take their kids to the game any more and eventually the atmosphere in the grounds will die. The lad on the other end of the flag has been on the coach with us for every game home and away but he can't afford to get into the ground," said Adam Kearns, 26, a gas fitter from Liverpool who was clutching a banner proclaiming 'If you tolerate this then your children will be next'. "Just because attendances are going up, it doesn't mean fans are happy with the prices," he added. "Football is turning into a business-class sport rather than a dad and lad thing. It's getting to the point when you'll only be able to go to a couple of games a season." The Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore met for an hour and a half with representatives from Manchester United, Liverpool, Spurs and Arsenal supporters' groups as well as the Football Supporters' Federation chief executive Kevin Miles. Outside, the fans filled the pavement and lobbed beach balls around as they waited for them to emerge. The Premier League argues that pricing is largely a matter for individual clubs, and points out that grounds were at 95% capacity last season. But behind the scenes there is an acknowledgement that away-ticket pricing in particular is an issue, with attendances down 10% last season. The Premier League has also promised to do more to encourage more clubs to follow the lead of Arsenal, who are introducing a special cut-price section for teenagers next season to encourage the next generation of supporters. After emerging from the meeting Miles , of the FSF, which is also running its own "Twenty's Plenty" campaign to encourage clubs to cap away ticket prices at £20, said it is the beginning of the campaign and not the end. "The turnout on the march and the position articulated by the delegates who went into the meeting successfully brought home the strength of feeling among fans," he said. "From the Premier League we encountered some sympathy, a restatement of their commitment to price-stretching, and an acknowledgement that local support is important. But this is the start of a process, not the end. The opinions of, and the votes cast by, the clubs will be crucial." http://m.guardian.co.uk/football/2013/jun/19/premier-league-protest-ticket-prices Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AKCJ Posted 21 June 2013 Share Posted 21 June 2013 Fair play, hopefully it doesn't fall on deaf ears. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fox92 Posted 21 June 2013 Share Posted 21 June 2013 I was going to post this the other day. I'm in the group on facebook and I've seen them posting about doing it, asking people to come, then they put the images up. I didn't realise Leicester fans went though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ousefox Posted 21 June 2013 Share Posted 21 June 2013 Didn't know anything about it. Looks great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmt Posted 21 June 2013 Share Posted 21 June 2013 I was going to post this the other day. I'm in the group on facebook and I've seen them posting about doing it, asking people to come, then they put the images up. I didn't realise Leicester fans went though. What's the fb group called mate/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MattP Posted 21 June 2013 Share Posted 21 June 2013 What's the fb group called mate/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/323092401135027/?fref=ts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan LCFC Posted 21 June 2013 Share Posted 21 June 2013 I very nearly went but was a mix up/low on funds. I'll be there next time as it sounded class. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fox92 Posted 21 June 2013 Share Posted 21 June 2013 What's the fb group called mate/ I'm in 'away fans ticket prices' (it's actually a page, not a group), but I'm going to join the group MattP posted below as well... https://www.facebook.com/groups/323092401135027/?fref=ts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ADK Posted 21 June 2013 Share Posted 21 June 2013 Looks good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fox92 Posted 21 June 2013 Share Posted 21 June 2013 https://www.facebook.com/groups/323092401135027/?fref=ts Just been accepted into this group. Must be a few off here in it, if I am correct I believe 1964fox from here approved me. Would like to demonstrate next time actually, sick of ticket prices mainly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdb Posted 21 June 2013 Share Posted 21 June 2013 good on them - i'm falling out of love with football cause of this shite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voll Blau Posted 21 June 2013 Share Posted 21 June 2013 Brilliant to see people waking up in England now. Love the Manic Street Preachers banner that was there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super_horns Posted 21 June 2013 Share Posted 21 June 2013 Hopefully somebody will listen but they won't until people actually stop going to games..or demand their team spend millions to get the top players although I do wonder if most of the wages and transfer feed paid out are from the TV revenue clubs get. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryn Posted 21 June 2013 Share Posted 21 June 2013 Hopefully somebody will listen but they won't until people actually stop going to games..or demand their team spend millions to get the top players. This, there is no incentive for change whilst people continue to buy tickets, continue to buy merchandise, continue to subscribe to Sky. It's a start, mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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