The Championship season is right around the corner! With that in mind we at The72 decided to take a look at the cost of being an away fan, in the opening weekend of Championship football.
As we all know the price of championship football is not as cheap as it once was. However the price for away fans often differs from the price the home fans are paying! The table below shows the cost of an away ticket, as well as the coach travel to the stadium. The matches are in order of their ticket price (Highest to lowest)
| Match | Ticket price* | Club travel price | Total price* |
| Bristol at Sheffield Wednesday | £39 | £28 | £67 |
| Burnley at Leeds | £37 | £16** | £53 |
| Forest at Brighton | £32 | £20 | £52 |
| Derby at Bolton | £28/£33 | £21 | £49/£54 |
| Huddersfield at Hull | £27 | £13 | £40 |
| Wolves at Blackburn | £27 | £18 | £45 |
| QPR at Charlton | £26 | £23 | £49 |
| Ipswich at Brentford | £25/£30 | £21 | £46/£51 |
| Middlesbrough at Preston | £24 | £20.50 | £44.50 |
| MK Dons at Rotherham | £23 | £16 | £39 |
| Reading at Birmingham | £20 | £15*** | £35 |
*All prices are for Adult ticket, excludes booking fees + Postage fees **Available from Burnley football supporters’ club ***Available from Star-Reading travel services.
As seen in the table above there is a significant difference in opening day prices, with the most expensive (Bristol at Sheffield Wednesday) being almost double that of the cheapest away day (Reading at Birmingham).
This is not the first time concerns have been raised over the extremely high ticket price for a Championship opening game. Due to this extremely high price, as well as high coach travel costs it has provoked a boycott of Bristol City fans.
Bristol City fans to boycott season opener against Sheff Wed in protest over £39 ticket price http://t.co/nkWF1NorjE pic.twitter.com/FvuInMdDJq
— talkSPORT (@talkSPORT) July 23, 2015
Can a team justify such high prices for championship football?
Well according to Dejphon Chansiri, Sheffield Wednesday chairman, yes. In a recent comment to the Sheffield Star he is to have said ” If we are to achieve our ultimate aim of promotion, we must embark on this journey together…As our costs increase, so too must our revenues across the business” he also went on to say “my responsibility is providing necessary funds to finance the players”.
It is in no doubt that Sheffield Wednesday aim to progress and achieve big things in the Championship- however at the cost of the dedicated away supporters. Can you really put a price on travelling fans, wanting to see a game of football?
The huge difference in price for away ticket prices is surely a deciding factor on which games you, as an away supporter, can afford to attend. More to follow in the coming days on the remaining fixtures and their ticketing prices!
We would like to hear your views on ticket prices in the Championship! Tweet us: @FBL72 or on your dedicated FBL72 club page.
