West Brom fans have to unite with Wolves supporters after disgraceful Molineux development
West Brom versus Wolves reignited as a derby this season after the two came to blows in the FA Cup at The Hawthorns back in January.
Unfortunately for Albion, their 28-year unbeaten run against Wolves at home came to an end amid disgraceful scenes of disorder and violence in the crowd.
And while not many Baggies fans will be willing to admit it due to the severity of the mocking that took place after our defeat, now is actually a time to unite with Wolves supporters after shameful news emerging from Molineux.
On Thursday (23 May), Wolves confirmed their season ticket prices for next season. As reported by The Athletic journalist Steve Madeley, most adult prices are rising by around 17 per cent – but that’s not the worst of it.
Season tickets for under-14s in the lower tier of the Billy Wright Stand are now 133 per cent more expensive, rising from £105 to an extortionate £245. Under-21 prices have gone up 46.6 per cent – £382 to £560 while in the same stand, adult prices have shot up to £780, which is an increase of 23 per cent.
Wolves’ deluded chairman Jeff Shi had the audacity to defend the decision.
“We do listen to fan feedback, and we understand that price increases are unpopular, but our aim is to ensure our prices are neither significantly higher nor lower than our peers,” he said, as quoted on Wolves’ official website.
“Our ticketing team has thoroughly researched and compared Wolves with other clubs, and I believe our pricing reflects a fair and reasonable balance based on our current position, past growth and future aspirations.”
As expected, Wolves fans are in meltdown about this on social media – why wouldn’t they be?
While Premier League clubs get richer and richer, match-going fans are having to decide whether to stick their heating on in the winter or feed their family. Homelessness and poverty are on the rise while food bank usage is also through the roof.
On 2 March, Wolves announced a net loss of £67.2million in the year ending May 2023 with their accounts citing a £38.6m loss on player trading and the expensive cost of sacking Bruno Lage and his staff in October 2022.
Basically, Wolves spent too much on players and spent too much on sacking a rubbish manager. Now, the fans (or customers, as Shi would call them) are being made to pay for it.
As West Brom fans, it still hurts a bit that we lost to them at The Hawthorns. Even though their squad is undeniably a lot better and they’re playing in the division above us, it’s never nice to lose to them.
But now isn’t the time to be mocking Wolves fans, really. This is an issue that affects all football fans with clubs continuing to rip off supporters.
West Brom are yet to announce their season ticket prices for 2024/25.
Shilen Patel has been well received by fans after he bought Guochuan Lai out of The Hawthorns earlier this year but this will be the first major test of whether or not he really does care about us supporters.
He hasn’t really had much of a chance to show what he’s going to be like as a chairman and owner but it has been a case of ‘so far, so good’ with the American at least turning up to matches on a regular basis.
But regardless of the decision on Albion ticket prices, the developments at Molineux aren’t great for Wolves fans, for the local area, for your friends and family – who unfortunately support them – and for the football community in general.
In other West Brom news, Matt Phillips has sent a message after an announcement this week.
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