A Manchester United fan group says the rise in season ticket prices facing some of the club’s older supporters is “a complete dishonor.”
United announced on Monday that most prices will rise by around 5% for the third year in a row, and prices under the age of 16 will freeze, but some seniors are facing bigger hikes.
A 50% discount on some of these fans is halfway to 25% overall, tracking the state pension age of 66.
Fan Group 1958 stated that it effectively corresponded to a 57% increase in the club’s “the most loyal generation of fans who have supported the club for decades.”
In a statement, he said: “This is the first step to reducing the amount of season ticket holders.
“We’ve always campaigned for clubs to alienate fans during games. We’ve cut 50% OAP concessions to 25% for those who’ve had that.”
BBC Sports’ Manchester United Club Page sought response to the announcement. Some of the people called The Price raise “cynical” and “inhumanity,” but one fan said he was “grief” and could no longer afford to go.
The Manchester United Supporters’ trust (must have been required) said it wanted a “urgent discussion” with the club and hoped that the senior discount cuts would be phased out for more than one season.
“It’s not surprising that the impact of this policy change is a major price rise for older fans and that they are causing such a huge concern,” he said in the statement.
Announcement of the price change, United CEO Omar Bellada said the club “worked hard to come up with a fair and reasonable pricing package,” and the new changes are being made to offset “continuous rise in operational costs.”
United have recently implemented a number of cost-saving measures, and co-owner Ir Jim Ratcliffe said these are “necessary to bring Manchester United back to a stable footing.”
United have consulted with the fan advisory board and season ticket prices remain lower than they were adjusted for inflation-based inflation, comparable to other clubs in the northwest of England, with prices frozen for the 11th season in a row until 2022.
The club said it removed the anomaly and that United can maintain concessions on all senior tickets as the cuts in senior discounts benefited from a 50% cut and others benefited from a 25%.
