I was pleasantly surprised to read this morning that Charlton have the 'honour' of offering the cheapest season ticket in England's top four divisions. BBC Sport's 'Price of Football' study can be found here. What didn't make for such good reading was that buying a season ticket has increased around twice the rate of the cost of living. Shocking!
I was interested to see that on the clubs website it is claimed those £150 tickets in question have now completely sold out. The Club stated "Season tickets priced at just £150 for adults in Zone 6, which is situated in Block A of the East Stand, proved extremely popular and have now completely sold out". No great surprise there. I remember, however, when the new pricing structure was announced being more than a tad concerned about the impact of those cheaper seats (situated in block A of the graphic above) with no discernible way for the club to manage the movement of those ticket holders who may attempt to 'sneak' into other neighbouring blocks to gain a better view (I couldn't blame them). I had visions of numerous matchday issues with people sat in the seats of others. I'm not sure if that has proved the case, but all I do know is block A is not full to capacity on a matchday, meaning there has undoubtedly been a migration to other area by some.
I sit in block E, and along with Block D, enjoy the most expensive view the Valley has to offer at £520. I also have a junior ticket for my boy priced at £75 which I think is truly outstanding value. I try not to think too deeply as to whether I've received value for money down the years (I certainly did during those heady Premiership days).
Does it annoy me that there is a £370 difference in the cost of my seat over someone who has paid for Block A, but whom could feasibly sit in the spare seats around me? Yes, it does a bit, if I'm honest. But that's life. We all have choices.
The release of this report, which I note has already been heavily featured on radio and T.V, will reflect well on Charlton and the new ownership. Another small positive step forward...
The other thing about block A is that it might just be required for away supporters in a cup game, where, if I remember correctly, the club has to offer, if needed, a certain percentage of seats, which is more that the Jimmy Seed stand can hold. So if Charlton got a home tie against a club with a big London fan base, st holders in block A would have to move for that game, and the low price might be intended to reflect that possible, highly conditional, inconvenience.
ReplyDeleteExcellent point, Brian. Thanks for making it.
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