A new survey has revealed that the economic woes are stopping an increasing number of fans from following their teams across the UK and Europe.
New research released today (September 9th) has suggested that one in four (26 per cent) football fans will have to cut back on the number of matches they attend this season.
As the credit crunch continues to squeeze people's finances, a survey by Virgin Money showed that the cost of following a team has risen by 21 per cent in the past three months alone.
The cost of the average match day is now said to be £106.21, with the overall price rising by 36 per cent since Virgin began compiling its data back in January 2006.
Malcolm Clarke, chairman of the Football Supporters' Federation, commented: "This is very worrying for the football industry because supporters at live games are its lifeblood but it is not at all surprising.
"Leisure activities are always likely to be at high risk in a period of economic downturn. This would be true even if football inflation was at the same rate as ordinary inflation let alone when it's much higher.
"It shows that all those clubs who increased prices beyond the rate of inflation for this season are living in a fools' paradise."
The research also showed that the fans most likely to be cutting back on their attendances this season are from West Ham (43 per cent), Newcastle (39 per cent) and Liverpool (38 per cent).
On the contrary, fans of Bolton (18 per cent), Stoke (19 per cent) and Blackburn (21 per cent) were found to be the least likely to miss more matches than usual.
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21 October 2010
21 October 2010
21 October 2010
20 October 2010
20 October 2010
