Arsenal fans rage over ticket prices

Cape Town - A recent study has revealed that Arsenal sells the most expensive tickets in the Premier League, and the club's fans say they have had enough.

The study, the Price of Football, was conducted by the BBC and revealed that the club’s most expensive season ticket costs a whopping £2013, while a single fan would have to pay up to £97 for a matchday ticket.

The top echelon of the season tickets cost more than double the amount of the Manchester United equivalent and more than four times those on offer at West Brom.

The ever-increasing ticket prices have caused unrest amongst supporters and the Arsenal Supporters Trust (AST) is taking up the fight.

"The ticket price increase this season has created on-going bad feeling amongst the fanbase, made worse when we see the club sitting on such a large unused cash pile," ESPN quoted the group as saying.

"Will the board consider the difficulty fans have with keeping up with ever increasing costs of attending football and confirm there will be no increase next year?"

The Arsenal board and majority shareholder Stan Kroenke will have to tackle difficult questions from shareholders at the club’s annual general meeting on Thursday.

The Price of Football report, which indicated that the average price of a matchday ticket has increased at twice the rate of inflation, has also caused a reaction from the government. Sports Minister Helen Grant issued a statement warning clubs to not take their fans for granted.

"I can see why fans are cross," Grant told BBC News.

"I'm cross, and I feel that clubs really must not take their fans for granted. To take a family of four to a Premier League match now, you're talking about £130. That is just not affordable for most families, so clubs really do need to look at this.”