1 week Ago
Manchester City have frozen ticket prices for the 2025-26 season, following fan protests over ticketing issues. City said the decision came following a consultation meeting with fan engagement group City Matters, and related to general-admission season tickets and Premier League match-by-match tickets. Advertisement “The club would like to thank City Matters representatives for the feedback they provide on a range of topics relating to ticketing,” City said, “and for sharing a broad range of perspectives from the fans they represent.
” Earlier this month, many of the club’s supporters boycotted the opening of their Premier League fixture against Leicester City. Many fans gathered outside the Etihad ahead of the match with the banner “MCFC — For the love not the money”, while hundreds did not enter the stadium for the first nine minutes of the match, causing them to miss Jack Grealish’s opening goal after one minute and 49 seconds in the fixture. The protest was jointly coordinated by the 1894, Trade Union Blues and MCFC Fans Foodbank, who said that high prices and a lack of engagement from the club on their ticketing policy was behind their dissatisfaction.
Urging the club to “do the right thing”, their joint-statement at the time read: “We urge the club to take note and change direction. Season ticket prices must be frozen or reduced, general admission prices must be reduced, the next generation of fans must be able to obtain season tickets and loyalty must be rewarded.” In March, City announced a global partnership with third-party ticket resale platform Viagogo.
The club said standard match tickets would not be sold on the platform, which would instead be used for hospitality tickets for men’s and women’s matches. “I want to be honest, I don’t know the reasons why [fans are protesting],” Guardiola said after the Leicester match. “This is a football club that depends on its fans, from Maine Road, from a long time ago.
Football clubs belong to the people and if the people don’t agree with something they can legitimately express concerns with the club. And the club is open, listening to them, arriving in agreement so everybody can be satisfied.” A massive victory for City fans Analysis by Sam Lee This is something that City fans have been pushing for a lot over the past few months.
Last season’s price rises sparked some of the more serious protests from fans in recent years and that has continued throughout the season, following the controversial introduction of a parking charge for disabled fans and, more recently, the presence of more and more away fans in home areas of the Etihad stadium. Advertisement Fan groups have joined together to make their feelings clear on these various issues, and open letters addressed to chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak have been sent, designed to put pressure on the club not to raise ticket prices. The club said a meeting would be held with fans but even that caused friction, with more letters and messages being published to ensure that was held.
Last week, fan representatives met with the club to share their views and today, they have received very welcome news that they will consider a massive victory. (Matt McNulty/Getty Images).
