Sky Sports' Johnny Phillips: Why all chief execs should be like West Brom's Mark Jenkins

This is the fundamental issue that all supporters need to be engaged with.

Clubs can harp on about “match day experiences” all day long, and it is great to see the touches and efforts made to make going to the match as enjoyable an experience as possible. But it means nothing if fans are going to be treated unfairly when it comes to the cost of admission.

Jenkins reached his conclusions when he spent time away from the club and attended The Hawthorns as an ordinary fan. “I went to the ticket office, bought my tickets, got to the ground, watched the match and went home thinking ‘Have I had value for money?’ And I have to say I didn’t think I had.”

This is what every chief executive the land over should be doing.

If those in the boardroom took to the stands to answer this ‘value for money’ question then there would be a few more Damascene conversions taking place.

Finding the right ticket price is a balancing act, but let us examine a few key issues that need to be at the forefront of thinking. The division a team plays in reflects the price.

Tickets to Premier League matches cost a lot more than League Two. This is because the ‘product’ is better, more expensively assembled and demand is higher.

Clubs at the top know they can fill their stadiums so it is a seller’s market. But this overlooks the fact that ticket revenue at the top is far smaller as a fraction of turnover than it is at the bottom. The astronomical earnings from television rights in the Premier League negate the need to maintain high ticket prices.

Top flight clubs should be held to account if they hike prices for no good reason. Nowhere was this better demonstrated than at Liverpool in February 2016. Anfield could sell out three times over but when the club announced their prices for the 2016/17 season, including a top price £77 ticket and some season tickets disappearing over the £1,000 mark when the new Main Stand would be open, supporters didn’t buy the spiel.

The ticket price hike would have changed a £35million revenue stream into a £39m one. That would have been a £4m rise in earnings taken directly from supporters who already contributed considerable sums every season.

Yet Liverpool earned £146.1m from television rights over the same period. Fans know where the money comes from in the top flight these days.

In the 77th minute of the next home fixture, against Sunderland, more than 10,000 of them staged a walkout. The protest received national coverage and – to their credit – the American owners recognised their folly, reconsidered and aborted their plans. The social and economic environment has to be considered too. This is not the baby boom generation.

These are uncertain times, with no sign of an upturn in fortunes for a once industrial heartland that has gone through some tough experiences.

Only last month a leaked government report forecasted a 13 per cent downturn in growth for this region over the next year. Clubs have a responsibility to be aware of these external factors and the economic climate their fans are living in.

Most professional clubs are a part of the fabric of their community, often contributing to a feel-good factor when things are going well. Supporters bounce off this and engage accordingly.

But communities can never be taken for granted because they will be needed when things aren’t going well on the pitch too. At the very worst moments, when clubs go into administration, it is often the supporters who pick up the pieces. It is not a one-way street.

Fill your stadium. Be it a 6,000 or 60,000 capacity, that should be the aim of any chief executive.

A ticketing policy that facilitates the best chance of a full house is the most progressive one. Even if it means cutting admission prices significantly, the extra benefits of bigger crowds are obvious in terms of other extra revenue created on the day.

West Ham United’s move to the London Stadium has been an unmitigated disaster but the one thing the board got right was their ticket prices. By making so many season tickets available cheaply they achieved the ambitious aim of full or near-full houses at home games. Although the tragi-comedy that has unfolded means there are now more people attending who protest against the board each game.

Families, and particularly children, must be incentivised to attend matches. Most clubs already do this, but it would be pretty short-sighted not to encourage youngsters into the stadium when they are the key to the future support.

Getting kids into the habit of going to the match at a formative age can reap lifelong benefits. For families, it can often be the only long period of time spent together all week. That goes beyond just turning up and paying to get in. It is where bonds with clubs can be formed through association.

In today’s society, football fans generally have an expensive time of it. Everything costs money; travel to games, tickets, television subscriptions, merchandising and more.

Only this week a professor of mathematics at Cardiff University announced that to complete the 2018 World Cup Panini sticker album it would cost, on average, an eye-watering £773. For a sticker album.

We can do without much of the peripheral tat when it comes to following our team, but a match ticket is a fundamental part of it.

As Jenkins appears to have acknowledged, it is time to help fans out.