Slaven in tune with the supporters

At the pre-match press conference on Thursday, 1 October for the game away to Sunderland, a question was put to Slaven Bilic regarding the cost of match day tickets as can be seen within the KUMB article here.

Slaven’s could have side-stepped the question or used well-meaning but insincere platitudes, but instead he took the time to put forth his point of view. The answer given can be summed up with the following short quotation from the answer provided: "So you need fans. Without the fans, it's useless. It shouldn't be a privilege for some people to take their kids - everybody should be able to do that.

So many people are priced out of attending matches as they need to make ends meet and have commitments that require time, resources and finances that mean football gets pushed down the list of priorities unfortunately. Football can be an escape and release for 90 minutes from the world and has such a capacity to bring both unbridled joy and utter despair in equal measure.

When the pricing is right, like the Europa League fixtures, you get bigger attendances and the atmosphere can be heightened. Help with pricing also assists those who put in the miles up and down the country following this club of ours. Their dedication to the cause in my opinion forms part of the backbone of this club. Week after week, month after month, season after season.

The Football Supporters' Federation do not have an official foundation within the overall West Ham United support base (to the best of my knowledge) and have previously come in for criticism and derision for inaccuracies in their support of Leyton Orient Supporters' Trust's previous campaign against West Ham United’s tenancy of the Olympic Stadium but the FSF campaign on ticket pricing is commendable.

The whole emphasis behind the campaign is not to see a reduction in ticket prices for the sake of getting something cheaper, but to try and make a real difference to the lives of many people for the better. However, there is a fly in the ointment for the top flight and it can be found within the rules and regulations of premier league membership.

The Premier League handbook is the rule book in which all member clubs must abide by. Within the handbook is a wide range of rules and regulations governing membership and covers a number of topics from pitch conditions to commercial requirements. Sadly for Mr Thrower there is nothing in the referee and officials section concerning the punishments that should be given to those guilty of poor/incompetent officiating.

However there is a section within what's called Customer (shudder) Relations. Page 178 Section R: Customer Relations Part R. 12 stipulates the following with regards to ticket prices:

A Home Club shall not charge admission prices to supporters of a Visiting Club which are higher than those charged to its own supporters for comparable accommodation and in particular concessionary rates offered to senior citizens and junior supporters shall apply to supporters of a Visiting Club.

Ultimately what this means is the same price charged for home fans must be charged in a comparable seat for away fans. For example, the upcoming Everton home game for adults in the STBL and BML who are non-members and are not season ticket holders will be £45, and concessions £25.

The Everton website does not have any details of away ticket sales but the handbook in the same section as the paragraph I have highlighted above states an away club is liable for the tickets purchased from the home side that the away side is unable to sell to its own fans. If as a club you are not confident of shifting a full away allocation at the Boleyn of roughly 2,900 then you won't want to lumber yourself with such a financial burden.

However, if any campaign like the FSF's current 'Twenty's Plenty' is to succeed, then there will need to be agreement at the highest level of Premier League governance. The support for the idea is spread far and wide and transcends the usual tribal rivalries that exist within football but to go with the moral argument, there needs to also be leadership from those who administer the top flight in this country.

We live in a free market economy where supply and demand see the likes of the upcoming Chelsea home game selling out with Category 1 seats for non members priced at £95 each. For those who can afford it then that is their decision and fair play.

However not everyone can afford higher prices in the lower tier of stands running alongside the pitch at the Boleyn and look to what presumably would be more cost effective areas of the ground. Those who travel to away matches and spend money on everything that entails are the focus of this weekend's campaigning, but there also exists the issue of the cost of matches at home.

Back in April, West Ham United FC revealed the pricing for season tickets for next season, the first in the Olympic Stadium. A reduction in prices is commendable but I wait and see what match by match ticket prices will be.

Affordable family football for all was a slogan used by the club and the co-chairmen on many occasions previously and whilst a headline of £95 for a Cat 1 ticket makes a mockery of such statements, there is scope in the near future to seriously address the situation for both home and away fans.

Hopefully this will be a subject the club take seriously considering the move of home taking place. Those fans who Slaven identifies in his answer during the press conference are just like you and me. The privilege I would feel would be in sharing an away game with as many West Ham United fans as possible, able to attend because of reasonable prices.

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