Liverpool supporters made their feelings clear in a protest against rising ticket prices
Liverpool fans display a banner in protest to the club raising their ticket prices.
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Liverpool fans made their feelings crystal clear about the club's proposed plans to increase ticket prices by protesting at today's game against Fulham. Fans unveiled a banner at the Kop end at Anfield that read 'No to ticket price increase.'
They also chanted 'Shove your prices up your a***," during the first-half in their clash with the Cottagers. The protest follows an attempt from chief executive Billy Hogan to quell any unrest, writing to all of the club's season ticket holders prior to the game.
Speaking ahead of the game, supporters club Spirit of Shankly said: "SUPPORTERS are angry. And they have every right to be. Liverpool FC has chosen to ignore clear, overwhelming opposition from its own supporters and push ahead with plans to increase ticket prices for the next three seasons.
"The open meeting online, the survey, and countless conversations all point to the same thing: fans do not accept this decision. And if the club’s owners won’t listen, then we make them. This is no longer about consultation. That opportunity has been and gone. This is about action.
"Supporter groups are already organising a coordinated response. We are doing so at speed because time is against us. But the direction is clear: protests will take place. If the club does not value supporter voices, we will make ourselves difficult to ignore.
"The Supporters’ Board has formally informed the club that action is coming. Now it is on all of us to back it."
A flyer held by a Liverpool fan regarding the protest to rising ticket price
A flyer held by a Liverpool fan regarding the protest to rising ticket price(Image: Getty Images)
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Liverpool confirmed last month that ticket prices will rise in line with inflation across the next three campaigns. The Spirit of Shankly then launched a campaign titled 'not a pound in the ground', encouraging fans to spend their cash at local businesses rather than Anfield for the Fulham fixture.
On Thursday, fan group Spion Kop 1906 announced that they will take down their flags and banners from the Kop End for the 'remaining fixtures'.
Hogan said: "Our matchday operating costs at Anfield have risen significantly in recent years - up 85% including Anfield Road (or 57% excluding Anfield Road) over the past decade, with utility costs up 107% over just the past four years and business rates up 286% in that same period."
The American went on to clarify that the three per cent increase would mean that for next season, an adult's general admission season ticket would cost between £1.13 and £1.42 extra per match. Hogan stated that current projections suggest the price of an adult's general admission matchday ticket would rise by between £3 and £4.50 across the full three-year period.
He then justified Liverpool's pricing structure in comparison to their Premier League competitors, adding: "We have frozen general admission season ticket prices in eight of the last ten seasons. Today's cheapest Kop match ticket price is the same price now as it was 15 years ago, despite cumulative inflation across the UK economy of around 45% in that period.
"We are also operating in a league where other clubs have increased prices at a materially higher rate over the past decade. Since 2016/17, our competitors in the top six have increased ticket prices by an average of 17%, where we have increased our prices by 4% over the same period.
"No decision has been made post this three year approach and we will continue to meaningfully engage with our Supporters Board ahead of that time."