One thing we have to take into consideration was the fact that
Leeds were once owned by one of the greediest men to have ever been part of
football, and he goes by the name, Ken Bates. Uncle Ken seemed to have a
passion for ripping off Leeds fans, charging ridiculous ticket prices and
spending money made from selling star players on executive suites that have no
benefit to the fans that pay in to Elland Road week in, week out.
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| Uncle Ken loved ripping off Leeds' loyal supporters |
Of course Leeds have now been taken over by GFH Capital, who
have in some ways lowered ticket prices, but I feel more could be done to bring
the crowds back to Elland Road. As important as it is to please the home fans
and after what the whites fans have been through over the past ten years, that
is crucial.
I believe that as well as reducing ticket prices for the
Elland Road faithful, not releasing a new shirt every season and even bringing
back a full sized programme for £3, more fans will come back if bigger away
followings were coming to Leeds. A massive part of a great atmosphere is the
back-and-forth-banter between fans but when you see the away end at Elland
Road, the empty blue seats are nothing but an eye-sore.
The owners, directors or whoever is in charge of the away
allocation at Elland Road should treat the visiting fans how they would want
the thousands of Leeds fans that travel up and down the country on a weekly
basis. Rather than charge £36 a ticket and only get 800 fans through the turnstiles
why not charge £20 and get 3,000 away fans? This in turn will lead to higher
match day revenue, from food, drink and programmes alone. To charge under 16’s
£17 to watch a football game is poor and personally I am not surprised fans
turn their nose up when they see Leeds away on their fixture list.
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| £36 gets you this view from the Elland Road away end |
On twitter and other social media sites you see the terrible
views from the new-ish Leeds away end that people have forked out £36 for. The
seats are wooden and stewards are said to take themselves a bit too seriously
and take the law into their own hands when it isn’t necessary to do so.
I personally went to Reading away this season on the
Wednesday night and I found the experience pleasantly weird. The stewards were
friendly and there were no police to be seen for miles. Tickets were cheap and
the bar staff had shirts from the Leeds United club shop on which was more than
welcoming. As always though, the Leeds fans sang their hearts out in massive
numbers so there was absolutely no difference in the atmosphere and despite the
result was a great day out.
Who are the owners to decide what constitutes a category “C”
and a category “A”? Why not make every game a category “C” rather than putting
every game as “A”. More fans will be tempted to go to the game as it will be
more affordable. A full stadium, especially at Elland Road can prove to be a
difficult place for away teams to come and get anything. The atmosphere
generated from the Kop, or the electric buzz that circulates Elland Road during
cup games could be a weekly occurrence again and the owners wouldn’t lose
money, but would gain more.
It seems the league works on a tit-for-tat basis when
charging tickets and one club will charge a ridiculous amount for an away
ticket and the suffering team will charge the same when the fixtures reversed.
Why can this not be done with cheap tickets rather than clubs trying to price
each other out?
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| A full Elland Road |
A full stadium would, I assume, bring in more revenue than
Sky Sports can provide for the occasional game the Premier League teams aren’t featured
in. The owners should give it a go. Leeds fans are charged ridiculous amounts
for tickets for away games after years of being charged ridiculous amounts for
home games too. Derby away for example cost £33, but who can blame them when
Leeds are charging £36 for their fans to visit Elland Road?
I would rather a full Elland Road, with
back-and-forth-banter, of course with us out singing the away fans as per
usual. I would pay any price to watch Leeds home and away, but if tickets could
be cheaper, I am sure that fans wouldn’t mind 3,000 away fans every other week
at Elland Road.
The clubs are more likely to make money from cheaper tickets
than the over priced ones that have taken over football. Nobody wants to see
empty stadiums, so what’s the excuse?
