A banner reading: #stopexploitingloyalty at Manchester United vs Arsenal
A banner reading: #stopexploitingloyalty at Manchester United vs Arsenal
You have to admire the gall of Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his executive team at Manchester United. Just days after Ratcliffe gave an interview in which he criticised the “shocking” way United had been run in recent years, accusing those in charge of presiding over a “cock-up”, he and his football operations team announced a rise in ticket prices – for a third successive year at Old Trafford.
In simple terms, match-going United fans are paying the price and footing the bill for the financial blunders made by previous regimes placed in charge by reviled majority owners the Glazers.
A week after thousands of United fans embarked on a mass demonstration before the 1-1 draw with Arsenal at Old Trafford, protesting at the proposed ticket price hike and the way their loyalty is being exploited for profit, Ratcliffe and cronies have gone ahead with the increases anyway.
The rise of five percent may not be as high as was feared and is in line with inflation, while United have listened to fans and decided to freeze prices for under-16s. But the bottom line is that supporters are still being asked to fork out even more money to watch arguably the worst United team since the one that was relegated to the second tier in the 1973-74 season.
Given how lamentably United have performed this season and how Ratcliffe has laid bare the mistakes of the past that have led the club to the stage where he has been forced to take drastic measures like culling 450 staff, it is jarring that fans are being asked to dig even deeper into their pockets.
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Not only that, fans who have had season tickets for years around the dug-outs at Old Trafford are being moved, against their will, so those seats can be sold for even more money – at premium rates – to allow United to make even more money from them. Profit above the loyalty of supporters.
The big clubs these days do not want season-ticket holders or 'legacy fans' as they are often referred to in the modern game. They want 'tourists' or 'day-trippers', those who are happy to pay inflated prices for tickets, as well as spending hundreds of pounds on merchandise, because the motivation of owners nowadays is maximising revenue and profit, rather than ensuring they look after the very supporters whose enduring loyalty has made these elite clubs what they are today.
Manchester United fans protesting ahead of the Premier League match against Arsenal
Manchester United fans protesting ahead of the Premier League match against Arsenal
United are the epitome of that avaricious approach, as outlined by their latest announcement on increased ticket prices and new guidelines for next season. As well as the price hike, United have increased the minimum number of games season ticket holders must attend from 15 to 16 of 19 Premier League games, will impose a £10 charge on fans selling their tickets back to the club less than two weeks before a game, and have raised car parking charges by 15 percent.
All of these measures, necessary in the eyes of the United hierarchy to address the financial mistakes of the past, will serve only to further alienate supporters from those running the club and see further protests from fans who are fed up with having their loyalty exploited for profit.
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