Putting up prices is a tough sell at any time, let alone during the current cost of living crisis. But while Frank Lampard’s side are still striving to put things right on the pitch, Everton’s season ticket confirmation for 2023/24 appears to have been made with their supporters in mind.
Cynics might argue that costs have again increased and they’ve been fixed before we know what division the team will be playing in – after the joint lowest equivalent points total in the club’s history last season, Everton currently lie precariously just one point and one place above the Premier League’s relegation zone – but the logic behind an earlier announcement this time around comes from the club listening to the needs of match-going Evertonians through their Fan Advisory Board and Fans’ Forum, so it’s those who inhabit the stands who have asked for this and received their wish.
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This comes through a desire from the fanbase for a clearer idea over what costs will be and with it an increase in time to prepare financially. Unfortunately, all of us are having to bear the brunt of spiralling costs for most of our everyday items including food, fuel and energy bills and, whether we like it or not, the same applies to all football clubs, including Everton.
The increase in season ticket prices for 2023/24 is below the level of inflation and the ECHO understands that if the cost had remained fixed at the current level then the Blues would have been making a loss on matchdays next term.
Everton have pointed out that their average season ticket price ranks as the third lowest in the Premier League (with just newly-promoted Nottingham Forest and Brentford – who came up the previous year – below them). They also say they have a long-standing commitment to keeping the cost of watching the team low and fair pricing in what is one of the most deprived local authorities in England andm while all the other clubs’ price structures are not yet known, even with these increases, the Blues’ prices for next season would still be in the cheapest five in the Premier League based on this season’s numbers.
It should be noted that 2023/24 is also scheduled to be their last season at Goodison Park, the club’s home since 1892. Everton are set to move into their new 52,888 capacity stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock on the Liverpool waterfront in 2024/25 and, while Blues chiefs have protected themselves from the skyrocketing construction costs that saw the bill for Tottenham Hotspur jump by around two-and-a-half times their early estimate of £400million to an eye-watering £1billion through an agreement with Laing O’Rourke brokered by chief executive Denise Barrett-Baxendale to lock in the price of a development believed to be in the region of £500million, the switch should be a game-changer both on and off the field.
The move will help some of those currently on the season ticket waiting list to finally start watching Everton on a regular basis at a venue that, when full, will be comparable to the highest average gates in the club’s history to date (51,603) during the 1962/63 title-winning campaign. But when existing season ticket holders come to transfer to seats at the new stadium – and virtual views will be available before they are physically built – it must be taken into consideration that someone who at present sits in the centre of the Bullens Road Stand, is going to find that a similar spec in the new stadium is likely to be a more premium position. Although loyal but long-suffering Evertonians don’t need hectoring from members of the press who do not pay to attend matches, irrespective of the personal opinions of this correspondent or anyone else in the media, they still face the prospect of dealing with a delicate balancing act when it comes to the cost of tickets going forward.
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