Liverpool.com has broken down the complex issue over ticket price increases, and explains why this emotive suggest is not going to end any time soon for supporters
06:00, 16 Apr 2026
Fans of Liverpool display a banner in protest to the raising prices
A breakdown of Liverpool's fan protests, how we got here and where it's heading.
For once, the Kop looked ordinary. There was nothing to marvel at and little for the TV cameras to hone in on. Then again, that was the point.
Such is the magnitude of Anfield’s inspirational aura that, ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League quarter-final tie against Paris Saint-Germain, the dominant topic across all four press conferences was whether the home fans could help engineer an unlikely comeback against the European champions.
Even Luis Enrique was once sucked in by the Kop’s magnetic allure. “I wanted to experience one of the best stadiums in the world as a supporter,” he said, recalling how he once sat disguised in the Kop after retiring as a player.
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Ordinarily, Liverpool fans would do nothing to reduce Anfield’s hypnotic powers. That supporters’ groups have chosen to do so underlines the strength of feeling around a topic that is growing increasingly prominent in Premier League discourse.
Last week, Spirit of Shankly announced hastily arranged plans to protest before and during Liverpool’s game against Fulham, in response to the club’s decision to raise ticket prices. Fliers were handed out before the game urging the club — and in particular FSG principal owner John Henry — to reconsider plans to raise ticket prices.
Where possible, fans have also been encouraged not to spend money inside Anfield, while a banner was unveiled during Saturday’s match that read: “No to ticket price increases.” If there was any doubt about how fans feel, chants of: “Shove your prices up your a—”, plus: “You greedy b------, enough is enough,” got the message across.
A banner reading: "No to ticket price increases" is held up in front of the Kop
Fans displayed a banner in front of the Kop ahead of Saturday's game(Image: Getty Images)
The sign stood out against a muted Kop End, stripped of its iconic flags and banners, a decision made by Spion Kop, another fan group keen to share its concerns with the FSG hierarchy.
In truth, they already know. The club has been in consultation with fan groups for several months regarding ticket prices. Executives made it clear that increases were unavoidable. Supporters made it clear that increases were unacceptable. It’s an impasse with potential long-term implications for one of the world’s most famous sporting institutions.
“Hopefully they come to a solution with the club,” Virgil van Dijk said after the Fulham game. “My opinion is that our fans are the club. They always have been - before my time and after my time. It's important that these things get solved because it benefits no-one.”
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - APRIL 11: Virgil van Dijk of Liverpool during the Premier League match between Liverpool and Fulham at Anfield on April 11, 2026 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)
Van Dijk claimed "no-one benefits" from the current fan protests(Image: Getty Images)
A complex issue
At the heart of the fan protests is FSG's decision not only to raise ticket prices, but to do so for three consecutive years. That is unprecedented in the Premier League.
While club bosses point to the minimal increase in year one, and that further rises will be in line with inflation, fans will undoubtedly feel the impact of a potential 13 percent hike across three years. Hence the decision for Saturday’s banner to be unfurled after 13 minutes.
“None of us want to be protesting,” Spirit of Shankly’s Gareth Roberts explains. “We'd all love to just be doing what we all love to do, which is support the team, see our mates and spend match day in the normal way, really. But this has become necessary.”
What comes after that three-year period is anyone’s guess, and the direction of travel is most alarming for groups like Spirit of Shankly, who canvassed opinion from thousands of fans before taking action last week.
“The way we looked at it was that anything that we do has got to be driven by supporters,” says Roberts. “We wouldn’t want to push anything that isn’t representative of the fanbase.”
A Liverpool fan holds a sign reading "Listen to us John no to multi-year price rises"
Liverpool fans organized a pre-match protest ahead of the game against Fulham(Image: Getty Images)
Ultimately, Roberts, a lifelong Red and a familiar face among Liverpool fans given his media appearances, fears supporters are being priced out of the game. Few who regularly attend games across the Premier League would disagree that prices across the league have spiraled in the last decade.
With the aftermath of the botched Super League still raw to some, and the issues around matchday at Anfield this season following changes to safety procedures that have resulted in long queues, there is a clear undercurrent of frustration among supporters.
That’s even more pertinent given that Liverpool announced record revenue of £703 million ($954M) earlier this year. By Roberts’ calculations, the increased ticket prices would result in the club earnings rising by around £1.2M (£1.6M), a relative drop in the ocean for an organization of Liverpool’s scale. It breeds a sense that loyalty counts for nothing in an increasingly corporatized landscape.
Yet the club views things differently. In the eyes of many Liverpool executives, there is frustration that, despite efforts to appease fan requests, protests have been organized.
FSG chose to freeze concessions for senior and local fans, while also moving the age for junior concessions from 21 to 24. The choice to raise prices in line with inflation up to a maximum of five percent is significantly kinder than hikes elsewhere across the Premier League.
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - MAY 19: Liverpool owner John W. Henry after the Premier League match between Liverpool FC and Wolverhampton Wanderers at Anfield on May 19, 2024 in Liverpool, England.(Photo by James Baylis - AMA/Getty Images)
Spirit of Shankly and other groups want FSG to reverse its decision on ticket price increases(Image: Getty Images)
The club also feels a price escalation of just over seven percent in the next three years is most likely based on current inflation estimates, meaning general admission adult tickets would rise between £3 and £4.50 ($4-6) per person per match over three years. Adult season tickets would increase by a maximum of £67.50 ($91.50), just over £3.50 ($5) per game across three years.
Meanwhile, season ticket prices have been frozen in eight of the last 10 seasons. In comparison, Manchester City’s have gone up by 25 percent in that period, Arsenal’s by 19 percent. Liverpool would also highlight that Everton’s ticket prices across all categories are higher than those of its local rivals, proof that every possible penny is not being squeezed from consumers.
And as outlined in a detailed email to fans from Billy Hogan last week, the cost of maintaining Anfield has skyrocketed over the last decade.
“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,” Liverpool’s CEO explained.
It’s a response that ultimately does not wash with supporters’ groups, who point to the increased revenue from the expanded Anfield Road in recent years. In their eyes, it should be the club, not fans, who swallow those costs, and protests will continue.
Billy Hogan
Billy Hogan explained Liverpool's decision in an email to fans(Image: Getty Images)
What next?
That remains the pertinent question, one that could rumble on long beyond the conclusion of the 2025/26 season.
And given that frustrations are not confined to Liverpool fans, supporters’ groups can show a united front alongside representatives from other clubs. That could even begin this weekend at Everton, another side that recently announced eye-watering price hikes.
But Spirit of Shankly, Spion Kop and other Liverpool fan organizations will primarily use Anfield as the setting to vocalize their resistance. “It's very fluid at this stage but I think there's definitely an appetite to continue,” said Roberts, with an open letter addressed to Henry being discussed, along with fans remaining in the concourse as You’ll Never Walk Alone is sung, plus even a possible early walkout, a tactic previously employed at Anfield just over a decade ago in response to ticket costs rising to £77 ($104.50).
On that occasion, FSG backed down. At this stage, there is no evidence to suggest that will transpire again, with Liverpool honchos adamant that price rises are unavoidable.
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When the Reds next host a game, against Crystal Palace next Saturday, the Kop will again lack its traditional garnishing. Supporters don’t want that, Liverpool chiefs don’t want that, and as Van Dijk explained, nor do the players. But for now, the Premier League’s most famous stand will come to represent the precipice England’s top flight now finds itself at.