West Brom have done it before and can do it again – When Albion fans boycotted away ticket prices and won
West Brom fans are threatening to boycott their trip to Coventry City on 22 November after learning of the extortionate ticket prices for away fans at the CBS Arena.
Albion announced earlier this week that adult tickets are priced at £45, £40 for 18 to 21 year olds and for under-18s, £35.
No Championship club charges away fans more than Coventry, who, under the charge of Frank Lampard, are currently unbeaten and three points clear at the top of the table after 12 games.
With 34 league goals scored by the Sky Blues this season, it’s unlikely there’s a stadium in the EFL where entertainment value is guaranteed to be so high.
However, for the price that away tickets are going on sale for, it seems a hard sell for any football fans in the current economic climate, plus the fact that Ryan Mason’s West Brom side aren’t in the best form right now.
Coventry’s prices ‘reek of pure greed’
But this isn’t about how badly West Brom are playing and how well Coventry are doing – it’s bigger than that.
In a country where the prices of necessities like food and utilities are skyrocketing, the last thing football fans want during their release from everyday life is their loyalty being exploited by yet more greedy, rich people.
West Brom fans are understandably raging about Coventry’s ticket prices.
Jeff Astle‘s daughter Dawn Astle has also hit out at Coventry. After seeing what the league leaders are charging, he said on X: “Surely this can’t be right? If it is right, my god, this reeks of pure greed.”
And she’s right.
If I were to try and get tickets to go to Coventry versus West Brom with my three-year-old daughter, it would cost me £80. Yes, £80 for one adult and one toddler ticket.
Not that I would take her to an away day, but the point still stands and shows just how utterly absurd Coventry’s prices are.
And what’s made things worse is how a lot of Coventry fans on social media are somehow defending the prices, as though they’re acceptable and are using the price of everything going up as justification.
Well, Coventry fans, here’s some justification to show just how much of a rip-off these ticket prices are:
- Sheffield Wednesday fans heading to The Hawthorns this weekend are paying a maximum of £32, while Under-12s tickets are £7
- Premier League away ticket prices are capped at £30 for adults
- That’s 33% less than what Coventry charge adults and 15% less than what they’re charging children
- Coventry fans are also being ripped off and told to pay the same prices as the away fans
- It’s £8 more than what they cost last season
- Swansea fans are being charged the same on Boxing Day, when they’ll have to make a 300-mile round trip on a Bank Holiday, the day after Christmas
West Brom fans are now understandably planning a boycott for the trip to the CBS Arena, something which they have done before with Bolton Wanderers – and won.
- Read more: New West Brom mini club shop spotted away from The Hawthorns ahead of Christmas shopping rush
West Brom boycott on Bolton in 2019 resulted in free tickets
Bolton were in full-on crisis mode in 2018/19 and tried to rip off everyone heading to the University of Bolton Stadium in a desperate bid to make as much money as possible.
Albion fans threatened to boycott their game at Bolton in January 2019 when they were told to stump up £32 to sit in the away top tier.
After pressure from both West Brom and Bolton fans, former Wanderers chairman Ken Anderson offered both sets of supporters a buy-one-get-one-free deal for season ticket holders of the two clubs.
Will Coventry follow suit? Probably not.
Any blocks of tickets not sold by West Brom will ultimately be offered to home fans, and with Coventry flying high and the fact it’s a local derby, there’s a good chance the Sky Blues will sell the tickets to their supporters for the same price.
Albion and Bolton fans came together seven years ago for the good of the footballing community.
It needs Coventry supporters to get on board to stop letting their club rip people off when times are hard, to really enact a change.
They can do that by refusing to buy any tickets released to them that the Baggies fail to sell.
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