Trickle-down Effect

Most will now have seen Virgin Media’s advertising blitz promoting their “Twenty’s Plenty” offering with the Football Supporters’ Federation (FSF), and with it providing muchneeded exposure for the organisation and its campaign to reduce away ticket prices.

- Kevin Rye

The aim, according to the FSF website, is “to persuade football clubs at all levels of the game to recognise and reward the amazing contribution of away fans by getting together to agree a general price cap on away match tickets of £20 (£15 for concessions)”.

I remember when the idea was first brought to the Premier League group of supporters’ trusts that I chaired for Supporters Direct. It was welcomed then as being something of which they could make positive use. So it has been over time and, with the campaign’s growth in profile, the Premier League finally stopped focusing on initiatives such as the Away Fans Fund – money set aside for clubs to pay for various initiatives such as free coach travel or even subsidised away tickets (although it remains in place). Instead they helped persuade the clubs that a league-wide cap of £30 for all away tickets for the next three seasons was the right thing to do.