Arsenal to increase ticket prices by 6.5% next season

Posted Wednesday, May 04, 2011 by theguardian.com

• Price rise in line with inflation and VAT increase
• 'We thought about this increase very carefully'

Arsenal to increase ticket prices by 6.5% next season
Entrance to the Emirates Stadium will hit Arsenal fans in the pocket at the start of the 2011-12 season.

Arsenal have confirmed they plan to increase ticket prices by a total of 6.5% from the start of the 2011-12 campaign.

The Gunners, who have not won a trophy since 2005, maintain they have given careful consideration to the rise, which is in line with inflation and the 2.5% increase in VAT.

Arsenal's chief executive, Ivan Gazidis, has pledged to "undertake an entire review of the approach to ticketing" at the Emirates.

Gazidis accepts the increase was a difficult call to make having frozen them for some time. "We thought about this increase, the first in three seasons, very carefully. We fully understand fans are facing rising costs in many areas of their lives and their club faces the same issues," he said.

"We have acted responsibly over the years to balance the impact of even inflationary increases on our fans with the rightful demand that we compete at the highest level and we will continue to do so."

The Arsenal Supporters' Trust recently wrote to the board signalling their objection to the proposals. The north London club also announced an additional 500 seats are to be made available for their "Red Members" at Premier League games, up from the current figure of 1,500.

Gazidis added: "We welcome suggestions from our fans to build into our thinking. Among others, the Arsenal Independent Supporters' Association has presented a number of good ideas to us. Some of these ideas are already built into our thinking for next season.

"Others may take a little longer to develop, but we are committed to responding positively to what has been proposed."