Football fandom costing £1,331
Being a fan of a Premier League football team costs blood, sweat, tears and £1,331 a year.
A Virgin Money poll reveals the average fan across all leagues spent £1,080 following their team last season - or five per cent of the UK average annual salary.
However, high ticket prices in the Premier League see fans paying out £251 more to see the footballing elite.
Furthermore 12 per cent of fans spent £3,000 for match tickets alone, and seven per cent claimed to spend between £300 and £500 on club merchandise.
Travel is also hitting fans' budgets - costing £286 for the average fan and £358 for those following the premiership.
Match day costs now stand at £85.19 - a 9.28 per cent rise in the last two years.
Malcolm Clarke, chairman of the Football Supporters Federation (FSF), said: "In the 1991/2 season the cheapest seat at Arsenal was £10. In today's money that's £15.44 or £16.70 adjusted for rising wages. The cheapest seat at Arsenal this season is £32. That goes up to a whopping £46 for the big European and derby matches, as well as [Manchester] United and Liverpool.
"How can football possibly justify more than doubling ticket prices in real terms at a time when the game is swimming in television money? A time will come soon when football will look around at all the empty spaces in the stands and ask itself, 'Where did they all go?' That's a real worry."
Virgin Money spokesman John Franklin added: "2008 will be a real struggle for football fans, regardless of the team they support. While it's true some clubs have made efforts to reduce ticket prices in an effort to attract more people to match days, the majority of regular football fans will be hard hit by the cost of going to games.
"And while 2007 saw some tough financial conditions, the outlook for 2008 is potentially even worse, meaning people's expenditure on football will eat into their disposable income even further.
"Football is a passion and regular fans will not sacrifice their love of the game, even in a tough financial climate."
Comments
Newsletter sign up