Following Manchester City as a match going fan seems to get more expensive every season despite the huge increase in money seemingly flowing into the game through TV deals and sponsorship.
Ticket prices go up. Travel costs go up. Food and drink costs go up. Merchandise goes up but for most of us wages do not. So many of us match going fans have to make accommodations and find ways to save money to fund tickets and travel. As game costs escalate, we reduce the merchandise costs and stop paying £3 for a soft drink inside the stadium.
Those rising costs lead me to think again that sponsors should sponsor fans not clubs to help reduce costs. Think how much more positively we’d all view BT if they reduced each ticket price by £10 through sponsoring fans rather than by investing in glossy adverts showing Pogba’s latest daft haircut.
I’ve said before I think players should sponsor fans too – maybe by buying seats or ravishing gifts on certain seats. That might help close the gap between the players and the supporters.
We all have seen instances when a poor defeat away from home gets refunded by the players but how about a long-round, a European trip gets funded or partially funded by the clubs or players, before the game has been played.
Anyway, following football as a match going fan has plenty of rewards and we tend to build our lives around the football calendar. Not booking holidays during the season other than in those boring international breaks. But if like me you are paid monthly then September is already beginning to look daunting in terms of cost.
September sees a minimum of three home games and a maximum of five if we drawn at home in Carabao Cup and Champions League. We get to supplement that with at least one away trip to another country – Wales.
So six games in September means a lot of miles and a lot of expense. Get saving now Blues!
Fixtures
Sat 1st September Newcastle Home
Sat 15th September Fulham Home
Sat 22nd September Cardiff Away
Sat 29th September Brighton Home
Champions League first group games 18/19 September (draw not untill 30 August)
Carabao Cup 3rd Round Week Commencing 24 September (draw date not yet fixed)