Admission prices at the football over the years

[Hibernia&Alba]

Just a wee anecdote. I was watching somes eighties highlights on You Tube and had a look on Aberdeen v Rangers 1987, a match which saw Rangers win the league for the first time in nine years. There was an interview with a Hun outside (not a pretty sight) who said he paid £50 for a ticket with a face value of £2.50.

When you think about it, twenty-five years ago you could buy a season ticket for the equivalent price of two games today. Of course the stadia are far better, but the standard in the Scottish game is vastly inferior today. A ten fold increase, or thereabouts, in twenty-five years. At the current rate of increase, we'll be paying around £250 per game in 2037!

[Keith_M]

I'd be interested in what the average SPL wage was in 1987. Footballers wages have rocketed in that time, with TV money being at the root of it. It's amazing to think that Rangers could outbid top English clubs for players.

[Eyrie]

I'd be interested in what the average SPL wage was in 1987. Footballers wages have rocketed in that time, with TV money being at the root of it. It's amazing to think that Rangers could outbid top English clubs for players.

It wasn't just salaries back then. English clubs had been banned from playing in Europe following Heysel and the Huns were able to use that as an incentive.

[hibbybob]

During the Kenny Waugh era I bought a 5 year season ticket.

IIRC it was £40 per season at that time and the deal was £40 up front with a further £120 paid over the next few months. The fifth year was free. That meant 5 years football for £160.

[easty]

And you didnt have to pay £100k+ for a house in Broomie either.....but things change.

[Matty_Jack04]

Season we ended up in play offs 97? It was £5 for a child ticket into the east

[basehibby]

Just a wee anecdote. I was watching somes eighties highlights on You Yube and had a look on Aberdeen v Rangers 1987, a match which saw Rangers win the league for the first time in nine years. There was an interview with a Hun outside (not a pretty sight) who said he paid £50 for a ticket with a face value of £2.50.

When you think about it, twenty-five rears ago you could a season ticket for the equivalent of two games today. Of course the stadia are far better, but the standard in the Scottish game is vastly inferior today. A ten fold increase, or thereabouts, in twenty-five years. At the current rate of increase, we'll be paying around £250 per game in 2037!

:agree: I worked it out one day recently and found that football has gone up at TWICE the rate of inflation CONSISTENTLY FOR 25 YEARS!!!

There can be no doubt whatsoever that it is a complete travesty. Players, agents and stadium building contractors have been the big winners while the fans who actually go to matches have been getting steadily fleeced.

I know that Rod and co have apparently been pinning the prices down over the last couple of seasons but it would take a hell of a lot more than that to redress the balance. It is amazing and a tribute to the loyalty of fans that the support has actually held up over the years and it has taken a massive recession to finally send the numbers southwards.

[Don Giovanni]

I have a photograph of the old main stand wall (South End) with "EASTER ROAD STADIUM" painted above the turnstiles on my bedroom wall. The price of an adult ticket is £10. The year is 1995.

[Don Giovanni]

:agree: I worked it out one day recently and found that football has gone up at TWICE the rate of inflation CONSISTENTLY FOR 25 YEARS!!!

There can be no doubt whatsoever that it is a complete travesty. Players, agents and stadium building contractors have been the big winners while the fans who actually go to matches have been getting steadily fleeced.

I know that Rod and co have apparently been pinning the prices down over the last couple of seasons but it would take a hell of a lot more than that to redress the balance. It is amazing and a tribute to the loyalty of fans that the support has actually held up over the years and it has taken a massive recession to finally send the numbers southwards.

Good post. It's incredible that any of us are prepared to pay the sums we do (especially in the last few seasons).

[oldbiker]

I can remember as a laddie getting a lift over from men going into the game,

You just smiled and asked any bloke going in and nobody batted an eye.

Free fitba and some heroes to watch as well.

[tanfield]

My first season ticket for the 86-87 season was £50 IIRC.

[scoopyboy]

Around 1980 it was the same price for the cinema as it was for a Hibs game.

Now it must be approx twice as much to go to the footy.

[Hibee Hibernian]

4 Bob = 20p in 1968.............
we even had a decent side too.........:cb

[Bobo]

Been looking at some old tickets from the 70's :

1972 FC Besa 80p (North Stand)
1972 Hujduk Split £1.50 (Centre Stand)
1973 Leeds Utd 50p (Terracing)
1974 Juventus £2 (Centre Stand)
1975 Liverpool £4 (Centre Stand)
1975 Hearts £1.50 (Centre Stand) - for the first ever Premier League Derby at Easter Road.... compared to almost £30 for the last Derby at ER.

Given the standard of football now-a-days, I'd say we're definitely being short changed.

[lucky]

In the early 1980s I paid £1to get in and its was the same for the supporters bus to away game in Glasgow. Now we are saying well done for £15 to get in and £10 for the bus to Hampden. Football has ripped us for years but the clock is ticking our sport is going to die then we will rebuild with the fans being the main priority

[Hibernia&Alba]

I remember listening to a debate on the radio about the cost of football a few years back. A guy said something that stuck in my mind. He said that for several decades he always knew that the price he would pay to get into the match would be about double the price he paid for his pre-match pint. Now that's an indication of football ticket inflation!

[DMR1875]

I still cant believe we have to pay so much to be depressed! Over 30 years of watching the Hibs, I keep saying no more! but go back. Why? It's memories when you were a kid. Bus..Hibs game... chips, bus hame for your pocket money.
Now £30 a ticket, so over £100 for a family of 4 then travel, food, and drinks!

I must admit I cannot justify that for 90 minutes.

Its the players and there agents that are causing this. TV money too, they are using us.

How about every team charges £10 a ticket £3 for kids, let the players know this in advance for future contracts. So if they want to move south, fine. Then we all, SPL football fans get to go to the games , then all the teams would be on a on a level playing field with wages. The more fans at the turnstile then the more your team can spend next again season. No debt for clubs.

[Hibernia&Alba]

When was it that prices jumped so steeply, not just at Hibs, but generally? Mid-nineties, or was it later?

[KWJ]

When was it that prices jumped so steeply, not just at Hibs, but generally? Mid-nineties, or was it later?

£20 to £30 seemed to go past in a blur for cat a games.

[monteddie]

I have a photograph of the old main stand wall (South End) with "EASTER ROAD STADIUM" painted above the turnstiles on my bedroom wall. The price of an adult ticket is £10. The year is 1995.
Not sure what year but my first season ticket cost all of 18 quid,it was for the enclosure under the old main stand,it was 1 quid more than the main terrace.
It was the first season myself and hoggy where allowed to go to go to games alone,clues to the year might be the purple track suit,1982 I think
:flag:

[Purple & Green]

I'd be interested in what the average SPL wage was in 1987. Footballers wages have rocketed in that time, with TV money being at the root of it. It's amazing to think that Rangers could outbid top English clubs for players.


From what I can remember of discussions with Hibs players of that era, under Kenny Waugh basic wages were £90 a week. When Duff and Gray came in that rocketed to £500 a week. I also seem to remember that one of our strikers of that era was on £600 a week basic, and £1000 a goal.

[Phil D. Rolls]

What I tend to do is compare admission prices with the prices of other products. Take beer, it was 40p a pint in 1979, and admission was £1.20. You couldn't get into the ground for the price of three pints of beer nowadays.

[ancient hibee]

Six shillings for the ground to see us play Real Madrid-price caused a sensation and a few grumbles.


First season ticket 1969 I think was £9 for the centre stand-mind you it did cause some discussion in the Ancient Hibee immediate family.

[Sumner]

Even in recent times, late 1990's/early 2000s it was £16
to watch Franck Sauzee, Russel Latapy & Kenny Miller
.. now £25 to watch much worse standard of player.

[HUTCHYHIBBY]

I was looking at old ticket stubs a few days ago - Hibs v Celtic Scottish Cup Semi at Hampden in 89, £3 for the terracing!

[Hillsidehibby]

My old man used to say that in his day a pint, a haircut and getting into the football were all the same price.

[JohnScott]

What I tend to do is compare admission prices with the prices of other products. Take beer, it was 40p a pint in 1979, and admission was £1.20. You couldn't get into the ground for the price of three pints of beer nowadays.

I have my ticket stub from the 1979 Rangers Scottish Cup Final: £1.50


Hibernia&Alba
When was it that prices jumped so steeply, not just at Hibs, but generally? Mid-nineties, or was it later?

It went nuts after Bosman in 95 but Hillsborough in 89 was also a factor as clubs had to start re-building crumbling stadia.

[blackpoolhibs]

I think Hibs and the rest of the Scottish clubs must be worried now, as the ceiling has been reached for many imo.

[fat freddy]

i remember going to see newcastle and leicester city at the sports direct stadium (i think it was called st. james pk. back then) around about 1976...30p to get in the gallowgate end....beat that for value.

[Pete]

When people in charge at certain clubs have been asked about radical price decreases the answer has always no. Its almost as if they have been insulted and declared that cut price tickets do not bring more fans through the gates.
I think they're arrogant, only thinking in the short term and basically wrong. Maybe one or two games a year has no impact but they should try and look at it as a long term strategy...but this would mean loss of immediate income so they're scared. The motherwell example also get trotted as the argument against this but it wasn't done for long enough as it takes years to re-build a fan base.
Something like this has to be done as its not worth the money any more. The world has changed and while english football might be immune to it scottish football certainly isn't. The game has to change or die and to be honest, it would be better off without the old firm.

[jgl07]

When people in charge at certain clubs have been asked about radical price decreases the answer has always no. Its almost as if they have been insulted and declared that cut price tickets do not bring more fans through the gates.
I think they're arrogant, only thinking in the short term and basically wrong. Maybe one or two games a year has no impact but they should try and look at it as a long term strategy...but this would mean loss of immediate income so they're scared. The motherwell example also get trotted as the argument against this but it wasn't done for long enough as it takes years to re-build a fan base.


The fact is that Motherwell cut prices and brought in expensive players. It had no measureable effect on attendances.

They continued it long enough to put themselves in administration. If they had continued it for longer it could have forced them into liquidation.

Setting the price the same as a cinema ticket is not going to work. Maybe a price freeze for two or three seasons is the way to go?

I suspect that there will be downward pressure on wages in the Football League in England and this could have an impact on wages in the SPL. There is a need to drive costs down.

The way to attract crowds is to improve the standard of play and win a few matches at home!

[Lucius Apuleius]

Somebody remind me what our ratio for wages to income is please?

To drop admittance prices means dropping salaries dramatically with the consequences of that in terms of player standard. Is this what we want. Other option is finding new revenue streams. Don't see many of them being suggested either.

[Steve-O]

I stil have my ticket for the 3-0 game at Tynecastle in 1999, £19 and I recall thinking that was pretty expensive back then.

[Frazerbob]

I stil have my ticket for the 3-0 game at Tynecastle in 1999, £19 and I recall thinking that was pretty expensive back then.

Worth every penny! :flag:

[Hibernia&Alba]

I stil have my ticket for the 3-0 game at Tynecastle in 1999, £19 and I recall thinking that was pretty expensive back then.

A decade or so before, you would have been looking at a couple of quid. The mid to late nineties was when the prices went mad; as John Scott said, post Hillsborough and post Bosman. It's amazing really there was no widescale revolt by fans at the time. The rate of increase in prices was incredible.

[Iggy Pope]

Just a wee anecdote. I was watching somes eighties highlights on You Tube and had a look on Aberdeen v Rangers 1987, a match which saw Rangers win the league for the first time in nine years. There was an interview with a Hun outside (not a pretty sight) who said he paid £50 for a ticket with a face value of £2.50.

When you think about it, twenty-five years ago you could buy a season ticket for the equivalent price of two games today. Of course the stadia are far better, but the standard in the Scottish game is vastly inferior today. A ten fold increase, or thereabouts, in twenty-five years. At the current rate of increase, we'll be paying around £250 per game in 2037!

Strongly agree that UK football is vastly over-priced, but a better standard in 1987? Not for me. Football in Scotland and all over the world is better now than it was in 1987.

[Pete]

The fact is that Motherwell cut prices and brought in expensive players. It had no measureable effect on attendances.

They continued it long enough to put themselves in administration. If they had continued it for longer it could have forced them into liquidation.

Setting the price the same as a cinema ticket is not going to work. Maybe a price freeze for two or three seasons is the way to go?

I suspect that there will be downward pressure on wages in the Football League in England and this could have an impact on wages in the SPL. There is a need to drive costs down.

The way to attract crowds is to improve the standard of play and win a few matches at home!

Expensive players equals big contracts that must be serviced somehow. What Motherwell did was gamble and they got it wrong, totally over-estimating their immediate fan base. It would take years to re-build a fan base by having prices that would encourage people to just go along. Before Sky people just went to games to watch an honest game of football and attendances were better even though they were stuck in pens. The attendances in the forties, fifties and sixties were huge because it was just something you did...and the populations in areas around football grounds haven't decreased significantly. The facts are that some SPL clubs can reach a national cup final and struggle to sell 15000 tickets which is absolutely crazy when you look at their historic attendances and catchment areas. Of course, Sky and the premiership have ensured there would be no rush for 50000 tickets for Easter Road or 25000 for Fir Park like there was in the forties but I think live attending fans will eventually come back.

Football has become more and more of a drain on peoples finances and feels like something you have to budget for like council tax or utilities. If you step back and think about it walk up prices and season tickets are silly money. It's all too heavy and the more people spend the more they expect in return...which is probably why we see so much anger at games.

I think we need to get real and start charging people something like £10 and £5 for kids. This would be considered reasonable for lots of people and would take away the "budgeting" element when you and your mates/family go and see some football. No heavy stuff, no worrying about money...you just go and see the match and you know it isn't going to hit you in the pocket. It becomes less about expecting a product for your investment and returns to being a sport that you pay a reasonable fee to go and watch.

I know it sounds like pie in the sky but in an ideal world these ideas and pricing policies could be integrated into a new league without the old firm, or a re-structured league with them included. Sure, there are obstacles like club debts, player contracts and the transitional period involved but what choice do we have? Price freezes are not good enough if the price is already way out of your league and it wouldn't matter if Hibs were playing Barcelona in the European cup final...if it cost £20 to get in and I only had £15 I wouldn't be going.

Something radical has to be done to change the game in this country. Lowering prices long term in Scotland would re-connect communities with their local football clubs and go some way to getting it back to the way it was...more about sport and less about business. Sure there would always be the English leagues to attract our top players but teams like Crawley and Doncaster are already outspending us so what's the difference? We're never going to be part of that pyramid or feel the drip down effects of their top league so we might as well market ourselves as being totally different and go down the other route.

...maybe too radical for many but we should at least be looking to move in that direction.