MUST also agrees with Sir Alex Ferguson’s comments that this is not an
exclusive problem to Manchester United as it actually affects supporters of
all Premier League clubs and indeed down through the leagues too. However
it is of little comfort to our members to know that supporters of other
clubs are also having their loyalty exploited to an equal or even worse
degree because, if they want to watch their team, loyal supporters have no
choice but to pay the price. When you compare the price of tickets for the
big English clubs like United & Chelsea with their European counterparts
like Barcelona & Bayern Munich it is obvious that supporters in this
country are being taken for granted and ripped-off.

Everyday we are hearing more and more stories of how long term hard-core
supporters, many having given over 30 years of support to their club, are
being ‘priced out’ of football. It is of little consolation to these United
supporters to hear that there are excess applications for tickets
(something we’d like to see hard evidence of following the phantom season
ticket «waiting list» that is still being touted around and the swathes of
empty seats often visible at Old Trafford «sell outs»). Is Manchester
United (or more likely the Glazers) really sending out a message to loyal
United supporters saying «we have 10,000 excess applications per game so
your previous loyalty is now irrelevant, pay the increased prices or we’ll
replace you with someone who will»?

This is a situation that needs to be addressed immediately and it’s
refreshing that Government ministers are taking on board the hardships that
are being faced by premiership supporters up and down the country. The
first step is recognition of the problem and we are grateful to the new
sports minister for having the courage to highlight this issue but now we
need action before more damage is done to the hard core of support at our
clubs. There is an increasingly urgent need for the Government to put in
place regulation of football ticket prices to prevent loyal supporters
being exploited by what are effectively monopoly suppliers. This has been
done in many industries where consumers are at the mercy of a single
supplier and certainly that is the case in football where a Manchester
United supporter is hardly likely to switch to Manchester City (albeit an
inferior «product») because the tickets are cheaper.