Matt Maher: Aston Villa's excuse for more price rises simply does not stack up

What had been rumoured for months, ever since a plea from fan groups for a price freeze met with stony silence, was finally confirmed on Thursday afternoon.

For the second season running, the cost of an adult season ticket is going up by five per cent. The same applies to the price of a single matchday ticket.

“This is consistent with several other Premier League clubs,” read a Villa statement.

That’s true, yet it is also the case several other clubs have this year bucked the trend of continually asking supporters to stump up more cash.

While 19 out of 20 clubs put their prices up 12 months ago, six have so far confirmed freezes for next term, Wolves among them.

The latter, of course, came after a major backlash to this season’s planned prices but at least those running the show at Molineux, while it took them a while, recognised the need to listen to their supporters.

It is difficult to say the same about Villa. The new price rise comes despite a three-month long consultation with the club’s fan advisory board (FAB) which Thursday’s statement told supporters was designed to “make sure your voices are heard.”

Yet many members on the FAB would dispute that fact. Certainly, on the price of season tickets, they were ignored. The clear message given to the club at the meetings was supporters wanted a freeze.

A statement released in February by several groups represented on the FAB, including the Villa Supporters’ Trust, described it as “crucial for the long-term spirit of the club.”

So much for spirit. Instead, prices are going up again and the club’s excuse is a familiar one.

Their statement explained: “Our pricing strategy reflects careful consideration, ensuring we can create as strong a team as possible – one capable of challenging at the top end of the Premier League table and remaining competitive in European football – while continually working within the parameters of both Premier League and UEFA profit and sustainability rules.”  

That argument remains, to use a technical term, complete garbage.

Everyone is aware of Villa’s battles to comply with PSR. The fight to be in line with this season’s Uefa cost control rules is already believed to be lost, for which the club will be fined.

Yet the notion either situation can be helped by adding another five per cent on the price of a season ticket simply does not hold water.

Villa could charge all 30,000 season ticket holders and extra £100 and it would just generate £3million. The latest rises won’t even bring in that much. Even if all existing season ticket holders accept the hike and renew, the additional funds wouldn’t cover even half of the sum paid to Marcus Rashford during his loan spell from Manchester United. 

It has surely escaped no-one’s attention Villa had the fourth highest spend in the Premier League on agents’ fees over the past two transfer windows. If you want to boost the balance sheet, maybe start looking there before going cap in hand to the fans.

The most important point is while the figures involved from the club’s perspective are relatively tiny in the grand scheme, for supporters they are significant. For some already pushed to the limit by previous increases, the latest rise might be the one which finally forces them to decide enough is enough. There's little joy in your club having a "strong team" if you can't afford to watch it.

This is the fourth straight year Villa have put up prices and while the club might claim it has tried to keep the rises to a minimum over the past two seasons, the hikes in 2022 and 2023 were considerable and some fans are still feeling the pinch.

A change in price zones around Villa Park, with a reduction in the number of cheaper seats, has also had an impact. One season ticket holder who made contact shortly after Thursday’s announcement claimed the cost of his ticket had risen by more than 50 per cent in the space of just three years, from £532 to £803.

Throw in Europa League ticket prices which, while down on the eye-watering figures Villa charged for the Champions League, still look high (it was cheaper to get into Tottenham’s knockout matches than it will be for Villa’s) and it becomes easier to understand why the latest rises risk further eroding supporter goodwill.

Fans are entitled to say when it comes to helping raise revenues, they have already more than played their part.

There is, of course, another way of looking at it. Let’s suppose, for the purposes of the argument, the increases really are vital to helping Villa comply with PSR?

In that case, it might not say much for the value of those new sponsorship deals so highly trumped by departing president of business operations, Chris Heck.

The American has borne the brunt of fan criticism over the past two years but an often abrupt manner did not help his cause, he was often only carrying out the instruction of the club’s billionaire owners, Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens.

Whether Heck’s replacement, Francesco Calvo, is able to rebuild bridges with the fanbase remains to be seen.

Thursday’s announcement was not all bad. Prices for supporters aged under-21 are being frozen, while the removal of a 20 per cent charge on ticket resale is an error rectified.

That at least proves Villa aren’t completely tone deaf. Overall, however, the picture is of a club not listening anywhere close enough to its supporters.