Price of Football study: Ticket prices rise at almost three times the rate of inflation in a year

Also shows prices have gone up at twice the rate of cost of living in three years

Arsenal supporters (Getty Images)

Football fans have been hit in the pockets again, a survey into the cost of football has revealed.

The average price of the cheapest tickets in English football have risen at almost twice the rate of the cost of living since 2011 and at nearly three times the rate of inflation in the last year.

The BBC's Price of Football study looked at clubs across Europe to work out who offered the cheapest day out, with the price of season tickets, individual tickets, programmes, pies, teas and adult replica shirts included.

The BBC have been running the survey since the 2011-12 season and data shows an increase for fans almost across the board.

In the 2011-12 season the average price for the cheapest match-day ticket was £21.20 – that has rocketed to £28.80 this season; while the average price for the most expensive ticket has also increased by just over seven pounds, from £49.60 in 2011-12 to £56.85 this season.

Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle United were both offering £10 tickets three seasons ago and the Toon still offer the cheapest individual but the price has increased to £15.

Hull (£16) and newly-promoted Leicester (£19) are the only other clubs in the top flight to offer a single ticket for under £20.

Chelsea fans have seen the biggest price increase for a ticket with cheapest ticket prices rocketing from £23.50 to £50; the most expensive ticket remains at £87.

Arsenal fans have actually seen prices decrease for individual tickets from £35 to £27 for the cheapest and £100 to £97 for the most expensive since 2011-12, and the most expensive is down from £126 last season, but their season ticket prices are by far the most expensive in the division, though it does include the Champions League group stages and four other cup ties.

The cheapest season ticket at the Emirates will set you back £1,014, a higher price than the most expensive tickets at all but two other clubs. In fact, that ticket is more expensive than the most expensive prices at Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund and while it’s beaten by Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus, among others, those clubs offer season tickets at £300 or less.

Arsenal’s most expensive season ticket (£2,013) is only bettered by AC Milan but season tickets for the San Siro range from £162.69 to £3,597.92.

Chelsea (£1,250) and Tottenham (£1,895) are the only other two clubs to break the £1,000-barrier for their most expensive tickets. Those two, along with Arsenal and Liverpool are the four clubs who do not offer a sub-£700 season ticket.

London clubs are generally more expensive, while West Brom offer the cheapest ‘most expensive’ season ticket at £449.

The best value for money comes at last season’s title winners Manchester City. Last season the club won 17 of their 19 matches at the Etihad, drawing one and losing one, scoring a league-leading 63 goals in front of their home fans.

The cheapest season ticket to watch Manuel Pellegrini’s buccaneering squad is just £299, the cheapest in the whole division; their most expensive is £860. Manchester United prices range from £532 to £950.

Across the Premier League, the chepeast season ticket has increased 8.7 per cent since 2011-12 from £467.95 to £508.55.

"Three times the rate of inflation is completely unacceptable from an industry that's got megabucks going in at the top," Malcolm Clarke, chairman of the Football Supporters’ Federation, said.