Aston Villa fans protest against “disgusting” ticket prices

When Nick Sanders resigned from Aston Villa's supporters' council after the club announced “abhorrent” prices for Champions League tickets, he posted a message in a fan WhatsApp group saying he couldn't imagine what his father would think if he were still alive.

Sanders' father was a season ticket holder for Villa from the 1970s until his death in 2009 and passed the passion on to his son, who has been a regular visitor to the club since 1994, when he was six years old.

In the 30 years since, Villa fans have seen relegations, promotions, cup finals and finally reached a point where they were at odds with their club. After the low point of relegation from the Premier League in 2016, aggressive spending has enabled Champions League football for the first time, but also price hikes that fans believe are at odds with their values ​​and out of touch with the locals.

The situation reached a fever pitch on Wednesday when there was a fierce backlash after ticket prices for the club's four home games in the Champions League group stage against Bayern Munich, Juventus, Celtic and Bologna were announced, ranging from £70 to £97 for season ticket holders.

“When I look at the prices for it, I find it disgusting,” says Sanders I.

That was it for him. He sat on the Fan Advisory Board – the groups set up by clubs after the failed split from the Super League to give fans more influence over how the clubs were run. However, many now suspect it was just another box-ticking exercise.

At a meeting towards the end of last season, members of Aston Villa's FAB advised the club not to price Champions League tickets any higher than Premier League Category A matches (which cost between £55 and £92). This advice was ignored.

“Compared to other English clubs competing in the Champions League this year, and also to UEFA's own price cap on away tickets, today's announcement is unrealistic,” the Aston Villa Supporters' Trust said in an angry statement.

“Loyal Villa fans who have waited 40 years to celebrate this momentous season are being punished and exploited at the expense of the club's compliance with PSR, ESR and publicly known revenue targets.”

Sanders sent a resignation email. “I said I was disgusted with the way ticket prices were going and that was the turning point.” Then he wondered what Dad would have thought.

He has heard what the fans think. Sanders runs the podcast avillafan.com, which collects the opinions of fans and then reports them back to the club. Numerous people have contacted him to complain about what is happening at the club.

“I spoke to a family last night – two adults, two children, aged 11 and eight. If they sit in their usual seats for the four Champions League games, it will cost them £1,264,” he says. “It's crazy.”

“The man I spoke to said he has to make difficult decisions. He has a good job, but mortgages are going up, travel costs are going up and parking isn't cheap. The only way he can afford it is to work overtime, which isn't guaranteed at work, or cancel things like his son and daughter's swimming and soccer games to have the money he needs.

“What happens when you have lifelong fans who have attended home and away games, who have increased the prices of season tickets over the last five or six years and are now out of the running and have to decide whether to stop their children's sports teams from bearing the costs?”

I has read several reports on the Internet from fans who are considering cancelling their season tickets at the end of the season due to the costs.

Sanders added: “I'm a teacher and I work with a lot of underprivileged children. And the most important thing for me, and I said this in my resignation letter, is that I feel it's time to go because I work with children every day who love Villa, who live 20 miles down the road and can't even afford a Villa shirt, let alone come to a home game.”

Sanders points out that the club is charging a premium that does not reflect the matchday experience. At the first home game of the season against Arsenal, the toilets at Villa Park were overflowing and some fans arrived to find their seats were not there and there were long queues.

“The facilities at the first home game of the season were nothing short of a disgrace,” says Sanders.

“An hour and a half before kick-off, there were massive blockages in the toilets, stuff was running over the edge onto the floor. People had to lift their children out of the air.

“They think we pay more money for the season ticket, the facilities, the food, everything, it's a matchday experience and it was nothing short of a health and safety issue.”

The club introduced a new contactless entry system that saw fans queue for over an hour and then long queues forming in the arenas at half-time.

Aston Villa emailed its fans saying the club was “aware of the issues” and “will spend the coming weeks ensuring they do not impact fans' match experience in the future.”

The email continued: “Regarding the difficulties in accessing the stadium, we will be working on solutions to ensure that every single fan can efficiently use our updated ticketing technology upon arrival at Villa Park.

“Solving the problems with public toilets and queues in the reception halls is our top priority.”

But there is a significant gap between what happens on the pitch – the performances of high-profile coach Unai Emery and Villa's star players – and what happens off it, according to Sanders.

“On the pitch we are so successful. Unai Emery is the messiah at Villa Park. I have never been so excited to go there. Off the pitch we are miles behind. There is so much that needs to be sorted out.”

“I think the fans will have had enough at some point. We don't live in London. There is a lot of poverty there, especially in the area around Aston. Children can't afford a shirt – it costs 80 to 100 pounds.”

“I don't think people will vote with their feet. We love the club so much that we won't miss these games because it could be the only opportunity we get.”

“There has to be a common position on this. It's not just about Villa. We've had messages from fans of Newcastle, West Ham, Spurs and Leeds United. They all say they've had enough and want to fight it with their fan groups.”

Villa have a huge fan base and games will be sold out, but fans from all clubs complain that the owners are exploiting that loyalty. Sanders fears where the price hikes that have swept football will lead.

“95 pounds for a single game of football is unjustified, especially when you are playing against Bologna and Celtic, who are not exactly the best teams.

“Our concern is, if that's the price for the group stage and they know people will be forced to pay it, what will they do if we get through the play-off round and are knocked out by Real Madrid or Barcelona? Will they raise the price to £120? Where does it end?”