As our game becomes ever more dictated by the world of finance, the average fan is increasingly becoming priced out of supporting his/her football team.
Over the last few seasons there has been increasing pressure on Football League clubs to make football more affordable for supporters. Below, we take a look at Season Ticket prices for League 1 clubs for the forthcoming 2015/16 season to see what teams are offering the most affordable prices for supporters for the upcoming campaign.
In looking at Season Ticket prices in League 1, we have focused solely on the cheapest prices offered by clubs for a full paying adult as of 2nd June 2015 with prior early bird offers that have already ended before 2nd June excluded from our guide.
Offering the most affordable football next season, and the biggest plaudits for their pricing has to go to Bradford City who have slashed their already reasonable Season Ticket prices by £50.00 to just £149.00. Bradford City fans will be paying just £6.50 per game for 23 league matches with their Season prices a full £60 cheaper than the next League 1 club. Like most clubs, Bradford’s offer is only available for a limited time and is available until 5th July. The club has targeted sales of 15,000 Season Tickets by the time the season kicks off on August 8th and already, the Bantams have reached the 7,000 mark. We take off our hats off to you Bradford and well done for offering the most affordable prices in League 1.
Coming 2nd in the cheap charts is the Cod Army, who are offering Fleetwood fans Season Tickets for a respectable £209.50 in sections of Highbury, working out at just over £9 a game. Fleetwood celebrated their best ever league finish last season with a respectable 10th place finish and the club will be hoping that attendances keep on rising by offering these very reasonable prices. Town fans will have to be quick to snap up this early bird offer however with the deadline of 11 June seeing prices rise after this date.
In total there are 9 League 1 Clubs who are offering supporters tickets for under £300 including relegated Championship sides Wigan Athletic at £250 and crisis-club Blackpool who will be hoping fans can be kept in their seats and off the pitch with prices for adults at £295. For teams who are offering Season Tickets under £300, Coventry City must be mentioned who have reduced their Season Ticket prices by 25% from last season. In a bid to get more fans into the Ricoh Arena next season, where attendances slipped from 27,000 to just 7,000 in the latter stages of the season, the club has set adult Season ticket prices at just £249 or £11 per league match. The club has set a target of 6,000 Season Ticket sales with 1,000 already snapped up by City supporters who will be hoping for a marked improvement this campaign.
Like many clubs, Crewe Alexandra have chosen to initially freeze their Season Ticket prices but Alex fans only have until Wednesday to grab their seasonal passes into Gresty Road for £290 before what the club calls a slight rise being put on prices as the season gets nearer.
Other teams to have announced a price freeze on their ticket prices include Peterborough United whose fans will be hoping for a marked improvement on last year’s disappointing campaign and for the third season in a row, Barnsley have kept their prices the same in the hope of getting more into Oakwell to cheer on a Lee Johnson charged promotion campaign.
Despite managerial changes and discontent emanating from the stands, Sheffield United announced today that their Season Ticket sales have already passed the 12,000 mark: a fantastic effort so early on from the Blades faithful who will be hoping their investment is matched by an improvement on the field that finally sees them promoted at the 5th attempt.
Recently relegated Millwall are offering the most expensive Season Ticket prices for adults with fans expected to cough up £412. If fans were lucky enough to take advantage of the early bird scheme which ended on 1st May then supporters would have collected tickets for £333 but no doubt many Lions fans chose to wait to see what league their club would be in before making the decision to snap up a Season Ticket.
Without question, the most affordable way for fans to watch their team in the upcoming League 1 campaign is to purchase a Season Ticket with even Millwall’s prices offering fans a chance to watch all 23 games for under £18 a match. Every club on release of their Season Ticket prices stated that a concerted effort had been made to make football more affordable for supporters and this is reflected in other incentives clubs have attached to purchasing Season Tickets. In many cases, supporters are not just paying for 23 matches but are also being treated to special promotion offers such as a Free Programme subscription like at Rochdale or Free entry into Under 21 matches which Colchester United are offering their supporters in return for their commitment to buying a Season Ticket.
Thousands will be snapping up Season Tickets throughout the close season driven by hope and expectation that next season will be THE season where fortunes change and everything comes together for their club. We hope regardless of your team, your investment is rewarded and appreciated by every Football League Club up and down the country.
Here is a complete list of all 24 League 1 Clubs and their cheapest offered Season Ticket price for an adult as of 2nd June 2015, excluding earlier prices that have since expired:
| Bradford City | £149 |
| Fleetwood Town | £209.50 |
| Coventry City | £249 |
| Wigan Athletic | £250 |
| Gillingham | £275 |
| Rochdale United | £277.50 |
| Crewe Alexandra | £290 |
| Scunthorpe United | £294 |
| Blackpool | £295 |
| Bury | £300 |
| Colchester United | £322 |
| Burton Albion | £323 |
| Walsall | £330.50 |
| Doncaster Rovers | £339 |
| Port Vale | £345 |
| Peterborough Unted | £350 |
| Southend United | £350 |
| Swindon Town | £365 |
| Barnsley | £370 |
| Shrewsbury Town | £375 |
| Chesterfield | £380 |
| Sheffield United | £380 |
| Oldham Athletic | £395 |
| Millwall | £412 |
