(Reuters) – Liverpool will nudge up the price of its season tickets next season for the first time in eight years due to rising costs, the Premier League side said on Tuesday, in a decision the club’s Supporters Board called “cruel and unjust”.
The club will continue to freeze prices for juniors and the local general sale, which will remain at nine pounds ($11) per ticket, and it said no more than 17 pounds will be added to the price of season tickets.
“The rise is a result of significant rising costs across the club,” Liverpool said in a statement. “In the past five years, annual operating costs for Anfield have increased by nearly 40% and utility costs have gone up by 100% this season.”
The LFC Supporters Board called the price increase “cruel, unjust, unreasonable and unfair” amid a cost-of-living crisis in Britain, where annual inflation remains above 10%.
“These increases also come at a time when LFC is reporting record revenues, increased sponsorship income and significant increases from success on the pitch,” the Supporters Board said.
The Supporters Board said it had proposed alternatives such as sponsorship deals and stand-naming rights to generate revenue equivalent to the 2% price increase.
Liverpool, now sixth in the Premier League standings, would lose out on Champions League revenue next season if they fail to win that competition or to finish in the top four of the domestic league.
They travel to Real Madrid on Wednesday night for the second leg of their Champions League round of 16 tie, after losing the first leg 5-2 at home in mid-February.
($1 = 0.8227 pounds)
(Reporting by Pearl Josephine Nazare in Bengaluru)
