Our Town, Our Turf, Their Prices

Last updated : 13 May 2014 By Tony Scholes

On a personal level it didn't affect me but for the life of me I've not been able to get my head round the fact that during the two weeks of celebrations it hasn't been possible to buy one, never mind the fact that there was precious little promotion merchandise to buy in the fast deteriorating club shop.

It didn't affect me because I'd renewed mine during the early bird period (the bird that gets earlier and earlier with each passing year). It's slowly crept forward from the end of June not too long ago to the end of March and this year, worryingly, they were even available before Christmas.

So when I decided to take a look it was nothing more than curiosity I suppose to find out by how much they had increased the prices, particularly where I sit in the Longside Upper.

I paid £455 for mine. Had we not gone up that would have equated to £19.78 per game. The club boast that season ticket holders always get the cheapest seats. That's not the case, particularly if you work for some selected organisations in the area, but even so it's not a bad price.

With promotion that rises to £23.95 per game and I'm sure we're all delighted to be given another opportunity to watch Premier League football, so again I've no problems at all with that price.

As an aside, my seat was priced at £396 for the last Premier League season so, in five years, it's increased by approximately 15%. The post early bird price that season was £462, 17% more than that year's early bird.

So, I'd assumed something similar might be in place. That would have meant a full price season ticket in the same area would be priced at around £532. I didn't expect it to be much more.

Then I looked and saw £685. Clearly I'd seen it wrong so I looked again and, incredibly, it still showed £685.

By that time it had kicked off on the message board. I bet that went down well with the club. One director recently took to social media to attack our message board posters, another recently, face to face, accused us of being negative, and then there's the media department's oft repeated 'poison' slur, so I was beginning to wonder what their thoughts would be after this latest escapade.

I still hadn't got my head round £685 and it was some time before I realised it included something the club have referred to as a £100 retainer for 2015/16. So badly was it presented that you had to read the smaller print to establish that whilst the £685 stood out like a beacon in front of you.

Basically then they are charging £585 for the season ticket, a figure higher than I envisaged, but asking for a further £100 towards a 2015/16 season ticket. Now that's interesting, asking for a deposit on something you won't use for 15 months when they haven't even told you how much it is going to cost in total when you have to commit to paying for it in full.

I think it is fair to say the reaction, and not just on the message board, has been negative. The Lancashire Telegraph couldn't resist headlining with '50% increase' and 2BR were quick to get my comments this morning.

It is, in my view, a massive own goal by our club and, for good measure, they threw in the news that home fans would not be admitted into the cricket field stand and that of the new gantry that they don't believe will impact on the view for fans at the front of the upper tier of the Longside.

Apparently the decision not to allow home fans in the cricket field stand is because they felt it would dissipate the home support and it would be more beneficial to a good atmosphere inside Turf Moor to concentrate home supporters in the existing three stands.

If that wasn't bad enough they then insulted us further by suggesting it wasn't a financial decision and it was one backed by Sean Dyche.

It's one thing breaking bad news, it's another not even telling the truth about it. If they honestly believe anyone thinks it is not a financial decision then they are living in a world even further removed from the supporters than I actually though they were.

Is it still our Town? Is it still our Turf? One thing is for sure, these are definitely their prices.