Champions League 2024/25

[CVByrne]

The crux of all this comes down to a request from Supporters Group to price the Champions League games at the same Level as Category A Premier League games. This is despite the demand for the two sets of games being wildly different. The club disagreed. 

The club however kept the price for Category A as easentially the level for Season ticket holders. While pricing the games for non season ticket holders around 25% or £18 more than Category A

[Ingers]

Does the urine on your shoes come included in the ticket price, or is it an add on?

and, do you get an actual plastic seat for 97 quid, or just a bit of concrete walkway where there used to be seat?

[Colin79]

It’s not nice to read things like ‘you don’t have to go if it’s too much of a financial burden’ and ‘if you can’t go the tickets will be snapped up by someone that can’ because whilst both of those two statements are factually correct, football is very different from other areas of life/entertainment

I know I’ll never be able to afford a Porsche, I’m not grumpy about that, I’ve always known that. But football is something most working people have always been able to afford, and some of us have dedicated decades to it. The speed of the increases is a worry. 

In an earlier post I touched on the fact that 3yrs ago I was paying £420 for my ST in K7, and £69 for my son (£489 a year) this season I think I’m paying about £1100 for the 2 (admittedly my son has moved into another pricing band). And now I’ll be paying over £500 for both our tickets for the 4 CL games. 

It’s never crossed my mind that I’d ever by priced out of going down the Villa, but I fear it’s not too long before that becomes a serious concern. 
 

 

 

Edited September 5 by Colin79

[Stevo985]

9 minutes ago, CVByrne said:

The crux of all this comes down to a request from Supporters Group to price the Champions League games at the same Level as Category A Premier League games. This is despite the demand for the two sets of games being wildly different. The club disagreed. 

The club however kept the price for Category A as easentially the level for Season ticket holders. While pricing the games for non season ticket holders around 25% or £18 more than Category A

Does Chris Heck’s arsehole taste as bad as I imagine it would?

[JoshVilla]

Part of the problem here is that lately the match day experience at VP (besides the football) is generally not as good as what you'll get at other Champions League teams' stadiums. The facilities leave a lot to be desired, you'll struggle to get a drink/go for a piss at halftime and get back to your seat before the second half kicks off, the service at the kiosks is generally not good enough, the ticketing situation has been a bit of a farce. I think this only makes the cost of the tickets even worse for a lot of people because you're not exactly getting a "premium" experience for a premium price. Yes, you'll see some fantastic football most of the time, but if you're paying not far off £100 for a ticket, you expect that everything else should not be below par.

They've tried to condition us into thinking that the Champions League ticket prices are sensible because other Cat A tickets are X amount - but the problem is those tickets are far too expensive in the first place.

[MrBlack]

2 hours ago, villa4europe said:

what if NSWE employed heck for a short duration to be the villain that they need him to be?

he often strikes me as someone who they all know will upset the masses and they can keep their distance from but ultimately he's doing their bidding

I'm wondering if this is also another firing salvo to the powers that be over the PSR/SCR rules.

As it goes, its a great way of highlighting that the only way we can compete with the existing champions league scum bags is to charge twice the price they do.

"Oh look what's happened. The fans are revolting (and not just because their shoes are covered in piss), and they don't want to have to be price gouged for us to be able to compete.  Maybe you should change the rules so we don't have to do this?"

 

[Rugeley Villa]

Look these are category A matches and you’ve got to expect to pay Cat A prices but the prices for these are Cat A+. It’s a bit greedy I think especially as other bigger clubs are far cheaper . Maybe they are treating it as a novelty because it’s our first time in CL.

[paul514]

When do season ticket holders have to order their CL tickets by?

[Ingers]

15 minutes ago, MrBlack said:

I'm wondering if this is also another firing salvo to the powers that be over the PSR/SCR rules.

As it goes, its a great way of highlighting that the only way we can compete with the existing champions league scum bags is to charge twice the price they do.

"Oh look what's happened. The fans are revolting (and not just because their shoes are covered in piss), and they don't want to have to be price gouged for us to be able to compete.  Maybe you should change the rules so we don't have to do this?"

 

This crossed my mind too - is it an elaborate 'reverse' media stunt to make another point about us being hamstrung?

[rodders0223]

What a sock cooker.

[rodders0223]

12 minutes ago, paul514 said:

When do season ticket holders have to order their CL tickets by?

The club have been kind enough to extend the window to the average time it takes to sell your house and/or kidney.

[Vive_La_Villa]

50 minutes ago, CarryOnVilla said:

how many of the hardest complainers to the tickets price are still going to buy them? 

If you think it’s financially and morally wrong, why would you still buy them? You make good arguments, yet it feels wishy washy when the reality is you’re buying them regardless of what you’re saying. 

 

This is a fair point. If I was that upset about it I wouldn't go. I think some fans need to accept it's not 'our club'.

[R.Bear]

1 hour ago, Paddywhack said:

Imagine being confused by people complaining about the fact it's nearly £400 for 4 football matches.

I can't stand the "you don't have to go, no ones forcing you" line either. This is the football club that I've been following my whole life, season ticket holder for nearly 20 years and I'm really close to being priced out. 

"iT's OpTiOnAl, yOu KnOw?" Get rammed. Boils my piss. 

To play devil's advocate here, we've all been following this football club our whole lives and some people cant afford a season ticket or are otherwise unable to have one. In that respect, you've got it better than most.

So rather than complaining, be happy you get to go to more Villa games than 99.9% of fans.

[Okonokos]

2 minutes ago, R.Bear said:

To play devil's advocate here, we've all been following this football club our whole lives and some people cant afford a season ticket or are otherwise unable to have one. In that respect, you've got it better than most.

So rather than complaining, be happy you get to go to more Villa games than 99.9% of fans.

But can we be worried that this is just a sign of things to come in the future? It's quite clear what road the game is going down. This is just the start.

[OutByEaster?]

54 minutes ago, CVByrne said:

The crux of all this comes down to a request from Supporters Group to price the Champions League games at the same Level as Category A Premier League games.

No it isn't.

55 minutes ago, CVByrne said:

The club however kept the price for Category A as easentially the level for Season ticket holders.

All of the season ticket prices are above the Cat A price, some not by much, some only by a pound, but they all are - and for non-season ticket holders, they're well above it.

The crux of all this is that ticket prices for football are becoming ridiculous and that the club are using fan loyalty to price gouge.

It's precisely why we need governmental oversight, I think it's probably also true that season ticket holders, myself included, have failed to appreciate just how appalling the price for Cat A Premier league games at Villa Park really is.

[rodders129]

Political soap box disclaimer, please avoid if it’s boring

For me seeing the prices being pumped up is just another depressing example of the growing inequality in this country.

I read the Uk now spends more than anywhere else in Europe subsiding the cost of structural inequality in favour of the rich. In the 70s the UK was one of the most equal ‘wealthy’ countries in the world but today its second behind only the US. It’s no coincidence we have the American ball breaker presiding over this.

If you’re in the top 5% in Britain today you’re laughing. Life has never been so good, but for the rest it’s managed decline. Public services underfunded and on their knees, cost of living surging, inflation outstripping wage growth, family homes surging in price beyond all measure of normal wage.

Im a mid level public sector worker with a couple of kids. I’ve checked out on material spending. Just taking pleasure from the simple things in life that don’t cost, keeping my car running as long as I can and trying to have a basic couple of weeks camping each year for the kids. I can’t keep up with where things have moved to and refuse to play the game of slogging my guts out for scraps only to service the system for the top %.

I really feel for the fans and families who’ve been going to VP for years though. This country is elbows out now and an unforgiving place financially. 

[blunther]

3 minutes ago, OutByEaster? said:

It's precisely why we need governmental oversight, I think it's probably also true that season ticket holders, myself included, have failed to appreciate just how appalling the price for Cat A Premier league games at Villa Park really is.

Yep this - I genuinely can't believe it's £72.50 for a ticket to watch loads of our matches this season for my seat. Having a ST has insulated that from me I guess. It's a shocking price, and I'm amazed that people put up with the absolutely appalling facilities at that sort of price. £72.50 and the lower holte toilets where I am have been flooded >50% of games for the entire last season. I literally have to choose what footwear I'm going to go to the villa in based on what copes best with walking in piss. This isn't a new, one-match thing. I've got emails from Lee Preece from last september regarding it, and it's been brought up at the FAB meeting and they said they'd look into it over summer. They don't care if we have to walk in piss as long as they get that £72.50.

[markavfc40]

1 hour ago, Paddywhack said:

This is the football club that I've been following my whole life, season ticket holder for nearly 20 years and I'm really close to being priced out. 

 

Just this line alone should make anyone going with the narrative "it'll sell out anyway/no ones forcing you to go" etc,etc to step back and give their heads a wobble.

There will be thousands of fans who have been going to VP for the last 20+ years, through loads of shit and very little shine, seen us win the grand total of f all, seen us relegated on 17 points and spent a pretty penny buying tickets to often be surrounded by thousands of empty seats and going to many matches where you'd have done well to give your ticket away. Their reward for all that is either having been already priced out or on the verge of being. That disregard for supporters shouldn't be a price any fan should be willing to see paid for success. An advance payment for success by the way because at present our success amounts to a 7th and a 4th place finish.

[R.Bear]

58 minutes ago, Colin79 said:

football is very different from other areas of life/entertainment

Only in the minds of football fans it is. To everyone else, its a business like any other. This is where the delusion of football fans lays.

Taylor Swift or Oasis tickets cost more than some local band playing a shitty venue. The better the product, the more expensive it is. Their fans are even more psychotically loyal than sports fans.

Say you're a big Armani fan. You see a suit you like but its too expensive, do you go into the shop and demand it be cheaper because youve been an Armani fan for decades? No you don't.

This is business whether anyone likes it or not.

[Vive_La_Villa]

4 minutes ago, markavfc40 said:

Just this line alone should make anyone going with the narrative "it'll sell out anyway/no ones forcing you to go" etc,etc to step back and give their heads a wobble.

There will be thousands of fans who have been going to VP for the last 20+ years, through loads of shit and very little shine, seen us win the grand total of f all, seen us relegated on 17 points and spent a pretty penny buying tickets to often be surrounded by thousands of empty seats and going to many matches where you'd have done well to give your ticket away. Their reward for all that is either having been already priced out or on the verge of being. That disregard for supporters shouldn't be a price any fan should be willing to see paid for success. An advance payment for success by the way because at present our success amounts to a 7th and a 4th place finish.

This is a good post. They don't give a shit about fans that have invested years of their time and money to the club through some pretty miserable times. Many of these fans finally get to see their club in the Champions League yet could be priced out of it.  Pretty sad.