Swansea City in mid table as cost of day out at football soars

A TICKET for the match, £35; a programme, £3; a pie, £1.80; watching the Swans in the Premier League — priceless. The Jack Army are a passionate bunch but as JASON EVANS reports, going to the Liberty can be an expensive day out.

THE cost of going to watch live football is revealed in a new survey — and despite the billions of pounds pumped into the game by television, it is far from a cheap day out.

The average cost of the cheapest adult ticket in the top four divisions of English football has risen by almost 12 per cent in last year — despite the tough economic times.

However the price of the cheapest Swansea City ticket has remained the same at £35 — although it is still one of the most expensive in the top flight.

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The survey combines the cheapest ticket price with the cost of those match day essentials of a programme, a cup of tea and a pie, to come up with a "cheapest day out figure" — for the Swans that comes in at £42.80, the fifth most pricey in the Premier League, behind Chelsea, Liverpool, Reading and West Ham.

However, Swans fans score with reasonably priced season tickets for the Liberty — the cheapest will set you back some £429, a mid table performance, while the most expensive is £499 which is the third cheapest in the league.

Swansea City vice-chairman Leigh Dineen said: "As a club we strive to make a trip to the Liberty Stadium as cheap as possible, bearing in mind the current financial climate.

"Since our move from the Vetch Field we have worked hard to provide value for money for our supporters, which I think we have done successfully.

"As a board we are very much supporter-led and everything the football club makes in terms of profit is ploughed back into the club to improve the team, training facilities, youth development, stadium and supporter experience.

"It's a philosophy that has proved successful over the last 10 years as the club's current Premier League status and latest financial accounts prove."

He said that with the club's season tickets, the vast majority of adults could watch Premier League football "for as little as £22.50".

And Mr Dineen added that the survey figures were "a bit misleading" as they did not take in to account discounts such as the early bird scheme which meant under 16s could renew season tickets from £79.

The survey of the cost of going to 166 clubs across 10 divisions of British football was produced by the BBC — the Welsh Premiership was not included.

Phil Sumbler, chairman of the Swansea City Supporters Trust, said it was important football remained affordable for as many people as possible.

He added: "Some of the prices charged can't really be justified — if you look at the most expensive ticket at Arsenal it is £126, that is more than £1 a minute.

"It is a difficult to balance the cost of match tickets with that of season tickets — hopefully if the plans to expand the Liberty go ahead the club could afford to cut the price for match day tickets.

"We need to make sure that football is affordable for everyone."

Swansea City have sold more than 16,500 season tickets this year, while less than 2,000 match-day tickets are available per game.