Liverpool owners scrap rise in ticket prices as Anfield chiefs open up on reverse decision

Liverpool fans at Anfield protested following their outrage at plans to rise ticket prices

Owners, Fenway Sports Group, have tonight published an open letter in which it announced prices would be frozen for the next two seasons including 2017-18.

The decision will cost Liverpool £4.2m in potential revenue and represents a U-turn on plans to make the dearest ticket in the new Main Stand next season £77.

Those tariffs prompted a furore with 10,000 supporters leaving Anfield in the 77th minute of Saturday’s game with Sunderland and the mass exodus has prompted a rethink from FSG.

In a 937-word open letter signed by principal owner John W Henry, FSG president Mike Gordon and Liverpool chairman Tom Werner insisted they were not motivated by greed, but admitted they had got it wrong.

Some of the initiatives announced last week including £9 tickets and 20,000 half-price tickets for 17-21-year-olds.

"We would like to apologize for the distress caused by our ticket pricing plan for the 2016/17 season,” they wrote.

"We believed by delivering a vastly improved seat offering in what will be the newest stand in English football, concentrating the price increases on those tickets typically purchased by fans least sensitive to affordability, and for LFC to begin repaying the £120million advance from FSG for the new Main Stand that these increases were supportable even in the context of growth in revenues from the new Premier League TV deal.

"However, the widespread opposition to this element of the plan has made it clear that we were mistaken.

"A great many of you have objected strongly to the £77 price level of our most expensive General Admission (GA) seats and expressed a clear expectation that the club should forego any increased revenue from raising prices on GA tickets in the current environment.

"We believe we have demonstrated a willingness to listen carefully, reconsider our position, and act decisively.

“The unique and sacred relationship between Liverpool Football Club and its supporters has always been foremost in our minds. It represents the heartbeat of this extraordinary football club.”

The highest match-day price for a General Admission ticket remains at £59 and the highest season ticket price will freeze at £869.

At the other end of the scale, the lowest GA prices ticket will be £9 and the lowest season ticket price will be £685.

There is a removal of game categorisations, so regardless of the opposition, supporters will pay the same price for match day tickets.

And the £9 GA seats will be offered for every Premier League match with an allocation of 10,000 tickets across the season.

In addition, the other initiatives announced last week will remain, including 20,000 half-price tickets for 17-21 year-olds and 1,000 free tickets for local school children.

Supporters’ groups welcomed the announced with a statement from the Spirit of Shankly, stating: “Today’s announcement has to be seen a positive step in repairing the relationship between owners and supporters.”