{"id":389,"date":"2016-02-10T23:21:16","date_gmt":"2016-02-10T23:21:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/?p=389"},"modified":"2016-02-10T23:21:16","modified_gmt":"2016-02-10T23:21:16","slug":"liverpool-climb-down-over-ticket-prices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/liverpool-climb-down-over-ticket-prices\/","title":{"rendered":"Liverpool Climb Down Over Ticket Prices"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>There\u2019s no point in protesting, they said. They\u2019ve already got your money, they said. Fenway Sport Group won\u2019t care if you walk out of Anfield, they said.<\/p>\n<p>Well they were wrong.<\/p>\n<p>A huge section of Liverpool fans, led by lads from Spion Kop 1906 and the Spirit of Shankly, made their feelings clear to FSG when they walked out of Anfield after 77 minutes of the game versus Sunderland over the weekend. Though the \u00a377 tickets grabbed the headlines, it was about more than just the most expensive ticket in the ground.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_305\" style=\"width: 543px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-305\" class=\"size-large wp-image-305\" src=\"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/P1000398-533x400.jpg\" alt=\"Shankly Statue\" width=\"533\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/P1000398-533x400.jpg 533w, https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/P1000398-267x200.jpg 267w, https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/P1000398-65x50.jpg 65w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 533px) 100vw, 533px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-305\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shankly Statue<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The complaints and issues raised were about the rises to ticket prices across the ground. It was about season tickets rising to \u00a31029 and supporters sitting in the Anfield Road end and the Centenary Stand having to pay more despite nothing being improved in their section of the ground. It was about disabled fans being asked to pay more when they\u2019re already being stretched beyond their means. It was about the club wanting to line their own pockets at the expense of the fan.<\/p>\n<p>More than anything else, though, it was about supporters being asked to pay more money when they\u2019re already paying more than they should have to to follow the team they love.<\/p>\n<p>Credit where credit\u2019s due, though: FSG listened. In a remarkable statement issued by the club on behalf of principle owner John Henry, chairman Tom Werner and president Mike Gordon the trio not only apologised for the stress the proposed ticketing had caused but also promised to freeze things as they are for the next two seasons.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-partner=\"tweetdeck\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">John W Henry, Tom Werner and Mike Gordon issue a message to fans detailing changes to <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/LFC?src=hash\">#LFC<\/a>&#8216;s ticketing structure: <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/IVo8IxzEL4\">https:\/\/t.co\/IVo8IxzEL4<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Liverpool FC (@LFC) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LFC\/status\/697496374045233152\">February 10, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>More than that they also promised to end categorisation, something many thought they\u2019d never see. No longer will fans be punished financially for wanting to see the Reds take on Manchester United or Everton. You\u2019re heading to the ground to see Liverpool, regardless of the opposition, so you shouldn\u2019t have to pay more if it\u2019s a different team on the other side of the pitch.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019ll also be improved access for younger fans and the \u00a39 tickets promised won\u2019t just be in the category C matches but across every game in the league.<\/p>\n<p>Tonight you can feel proud to be a Liverpool fan.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s still plenty of work to be done, of course. Access remains an issue, as does the way tickets are distributed and how fans apply for cup matches and so on. All of that is to say nothing of the fact that prices are still too high, even if they\u2019ve been frozen for a couple of years.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_272\" style=\"width: 543px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-272\" class=\"size-large wp-image-272\" src=\"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Banners-On-The-Kop-533x400.jpg\" alt=\"The Kop in full flow\" width=\"533\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Banners-On-The-Kop-533x400.jpg 533w, https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Banners-On-The-Kop-267x200.jpg 267w, https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Banners-On-The-Kop-65x50.jpg 65w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 533px) 100vw, 533px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-272\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Kop in full flow<\/p><\/div>\n<p>But Fenway Sports Group have allowed Liverpool Football Club to lead the way on ticketing in such a manner that fans of other clubs will now be asking questions of their owners. Will Arsenal fans ask why they must pay for the most expensive ticket in the country? Will United respond to their fans about the Auto Cup Scheme they operate that is viewed as extremely unfair?<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s no way to know right now, but it could be an interesting couple of weeks ahead. Will Liverpool now change their stance on the \u00a330 cap on away tickets?<\/p>\n<p>This shouldn\u2019t be the end of the matter but, rather, just the beginning. There\u2019s a long road ahead to make football more affordable for fans across the country.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-partner=\"tweetdeck\"><p>\nResponse from ourselves <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SpionKop1906\">@SpionKop1906<\/a> to LFC announcement and owner apology <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/VSAdFprequ\">https:\/\/t.co\/VSAdFprequ<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Spirit of Shankly (@spiritofshankly) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/spiritofshankly\/status\/697498950195146752\">February 10, 2016<\/a>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Tonight, though, you should raise a glass to the lads at Spion Kop, to Jay McKenna and all involved with Spirit of Shankly, to the Liverpool Supporter\u2019s Committee and the ticketing group. You should say thank you to all of the Liverpool fans who dared to stand up and say \u2018enough is enough\u2019 even when others were telling them not to. But don\u2019t forget to toast FSG too. It\u2019s not easy to admit you\u2019re wrong and harder still to do something to fix it.<\/p>\n<p>A long road lies ahead, but every journey begins with a single step. Tonight Liverpool FC took a leap into the unknown. Let\u2019s applaud them for it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There\u2019s no point in protesting, they said. They\u2019ve already got your money, they said. Fenway Sport Group won\u2019t care if you walk out of Anfield, they said. Well they were wrong. A huge section of Liverpool fans, led by lads from Spion Kop 1906 and the Spirit of Shankly, made their feelings clear to FSG when they walked out of Anfield after 77 minutes of the game versus Sunderland over the weekend. Though the \u00a377 tickets grabbed the headlines, it was about more than just the most expensive ticket in the ground. The complaints and issues raised were about the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":273,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/389"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=389"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/389\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":390,"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/389\/revisions\/390"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=389"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=389"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=389"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}