Spirit of Shankly’s Gareth Roberts said the campaign for affordable Premier League tickets will continue despite Liverpool announcing a price freeze next season.
Liverpool FC’s announcement that they would be freezing general admission and season ticket prices ahead of the 25/26 season comes after pressure from supporters’ groups across the country.
On Monday, Liverpool posted: “The club held meaningful engagement discussions with its official Supporters Board on ticket prices and is grateful for its important and significant contribution to those discussions.
“As well as adult prices remaining the same, junior tickets will also continue to be frozen at £9 for the 10th season in a row, and are the same price as local tickets, which have been available to those with a Liverpool postcode since the 2016-17 season.
“The latest price freeze comes despite significant increases in Anfield matchday operating costs and continued rises in the cost of football operations in general.”
It means the most expensive general admission ticket for Liverpool home games will remain £61, after an increase of £1 ahead for 24/25 season.
Meanwhile, season tickets at Anfield will remain capped at £904.
It comes after months of campaigning by supporters across the country, particularly the Stop Exploiting Loyalty campaign, whose banner has been spotted at Premier League games.
Liverpool supporters’ group Spirit of Shankly (SOS) gained prominence for their local campaign which saw coasters printed with information highlighting the spiralling costs of attending football matches.
#StopExploitingLoyalty pic.twitter.com/PBaxjXmj2m
— Spirit of Shankly (@spiritofshankly) November 30, 2024
Spirit of Shankly’s Gareth Roberts, a vocal figure behind the push for ticketing reforms, said: “For the ordinary fans, this is a small victory and a step in the right direction.
“This season we’ve come together with clubs that would ordinarily be our rivals.
“We’re putting our rivalries aside on the day that our teams are playing each other to protest about this.
“Don’t price out those passionate fans, don’t end that culture of passing down a love for your club through families, because that’s potentially what clubs are risking by continually putting the prices up.
“I think some of it did land undoubtedly and we’re really pleased that the club have listened.”
The Reds are the first Premier League club to announce ticket freezes for next season and Roberts is hopeful this will start a positive chain reaction.
Roberts said: “I think Liverpool is an important one because it means that fans of other clubs now can pressure their owners and say, Liverpool can do it. Why can’t you?
“Maybe Liverpool doing this changes the mood music a little bit and fingers crossed that is the case because one of the key things about this campaign is this isn’t just about Liverpool.”
Liverpool’s priciest season ticket does remain below the league average of £1119.64.
The most expensive season tickets in the Premier League are at Fulham, where fans can pay more than £3,000 for a seat at Craven Cottage.
Despite welcoming the news, Roberts insisted the campaign for affordable tickets does not stop with the freeze.
“Nationally, there’s already a letter being sent to the Premier League proposing that all the clubs sit down and start talking about ticketing policies.
“In the Premier League now, any away ticket is capped at £30. We’d like to see something similar across the league for home tickets.”
Roberts hopes fans can continue to put their rivalries aside for what he sees as the greater good.
“We think stuff like concessions for children, over 65s etc should be untouchable.
“If the clubs came together and said, ‘prices are off the table and we don’t compete over that and we’re going to all agree that that’s an area we need to agree on to protect football culture in this country’, we can keep it affordable for fans.”
Costly tickets could impact England’s unique matchday experience.
“It feels like the Premier League, as a collective, are killing the Golden Goose,” Roberts added.
“This is what differentiates English football to football in other parts of the world. They want to see the blood and thunder.
“Our argument is that you should keep the Kop and other places in the ground cheap.
“Keep it accessible, make it accessible to normal people. And just let that culture live on.
“If you price everyone out it’s just this transient crowd of a different 60,000 people every week of your life and you become a bit more of a tourist club…you’re a spectator rather than a supporter, and I think some of that aspect is starting to creep into the English game.
“And so part of our campaign is about protecting that too.”
(Featured Image courtesy of Spirit of Shankly)
