Season ticket prices frozen, are they worth it?

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YorkshireSquare
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Season ticket prices frozen, are they worth it?

Post by YorkshireSquare »



The Leeds Utd Supporters Trust is concerned about a price increase for new season ticket holders ahead of the 2018/19 campaign. The club announced a freeze on season ticket prices for existing holders, but slapped on an increase for anyone planning to buy one ahead of next season. The trust has demanded clarification from the club on the new “three tier structure” that is said to penalise new members, along with those that cannot commit to the financial outlay before a deadline of March 30.

The Trust welcomes the decision to freeze season ticket renewal prices for existing season ticket holders, however it also has a number of concerns, as highlighted by comments from our members. The Trust notes that the proposed pricing structure creates a three-tier pricing structure that not only differentiates renewals and new applications, but further seeks to set a new price for those who were driven to buy season tickets either ahead of or during the 2017/18 season. The Trust wishes to ask the club for clarification on the decision to introduce this new pricing bracket, and why fans who chose to support the new ownership at Leeds United are paying a penalty for doing so.

Some fans bought half-season tickets on the understanding they would be able to take advantage of renewal prices for the 2018/19 season, but they now fall into a different renewal bracket, and the Trust claims those fans were kept in the dark about this at the time of purchase. It pledged to take up all these matters with the club on behalf of the supporters. Fans currently have until March 30 to stump up the money for a new season ticket and take advantage of the price freeze. But should they be in a rush to renew their season tickets in light of the standard of performances this season?

After five years of mid-table obscurity, Leeds finished seventh under Garry Monk last season and optimism abounded ahead of the 2017/18 campaign. The club sold top scorer Chris Wood to Burnley, which was a blow, but the money was reinvested in several new signings, including Pontus Janssen, Adam Forshaw and Samuel Saiz. Leeds were being talked about as dark horses to win the Championship, and fans handed over their hard-earned willingly, delighted at the prospect of witnessing a promotion tilt.

Fast forward six months and they are 11th in the table, winless in their last nine games and 80/1 with some bookmakers to be promoted. Betting sites will have odds for the games, check them out and you will see that the situation is not expected to get much better in the weeks ahead. They have won just six out of 16 home games, and 13 Championship teams have a better home record than Leeds this season. They have a home win percentage of 38%, compared to 61% last season.

A lack of discipline keeps letting the team down – there have been four red cards in the past seven games – and the results have been poor for weeks now. You cannot accuse the club of not trying to rectify the situation: they sacked Monk in December and axed his replacement, Thomas Christiansen, this month after he failed to spark an upturn in results. Despite selling Wood, they have made a loss of £11.5 million on their transfer dealings this season. But the strategic decisions have not paid off, and it is only fair that the club is not whacking up its prices.

But it seems unfair to penalise those who want to lend their support during a slightly dark time by becoming season ticket holders for next season. A freeze across the board would send out a better message to hard-working fans.
Clive
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Re: Season ticket prices frozen, are they worth it?

Post by Clive »

If Heckingbottom is the best he can do as a manager then it's not worth renewing.
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