Brighton fans will be supporting the Football Supporters Association’s nationwide ‘Stop Exploiting Loyalty’ campaign before the Albion welcome Wolves to the Amex Stadium.
Two weekends of protests have been organised around the country to raise concerns about the way in which football clubs are exploiting supporters through ticketing prices and practices.
The past year has seen Spurs announce they are to withdraw OAP concession tickets from 2026 onwards. At the same time as that penny pinching from lifelong Tottenham fans, Daniel Levy awarded himself a £3 million bonus.
Wolves were criticised for huge increases in the cost of season tickets for 2024-24, with one category increasing by 176 percent. Giving our visitors more reason than most to protest this Saturday.
Nottingham Forest increased season tickets by 20 percent and rewrote the rules on youth tickets, meaning an 18-year-old could see their seat jump from under £190 to £850.
West Ham also attempted to remove all Under 18s tickets in the summer. They were forced into a rethink when Irons fans boycotted a pre-season friendly against Celta Vigo, leaving around 60,000 seats inside the London Stadium.
And then Aston Villa decided to milk the cow of their first Champions League campaign in 41 years by charging fans £97 to watch the visit of Bayern Munich. A 55 percent increase on Villa’s Premier League prices.
Brighton fans have it lucky in comparison when it comes to ticket pricing. The average increase in the cost of an Amex season ticket for 2024-25 was ‘only’ 6.1 percent.
Prices had gone up by four percent in 2023-24 after several seasons of freezes in the aftermath of Covid, totalling an average 10 percent rise between 2022 and 2024.
In contrast to Villa’s approach to the Champions League, the Albion also made European football as accessible as possible.
Season ticket holders paid £75 to watch all three Europa League group matches against AEK Athens, Ajax and Marseille. Villa supporters are paying more than that for just one of their four home games.
With Brighton supporters relatively well treated, there was a lot of debate over whether Seagulls fans should join in with a protest against ticket pricing and exploitation.
But not everything is perfect at the Albion. Having to pay to share a season ticket and only with a person who has themselves paid to become a MyAlbion+ member remains a deeply unpopular policy, as shown by the number of empty seats at every home game so far this season.
The club have now taken to email season ticket holders who do not show up, share their ticket with a MyAlbion+ member or list it on the exchange, telling them to do so.
A more effective way of getting people into the stadium, spending money on food and drink, creating an atmosphere and not leaving it looking two-thirds full to the television cameras than an email would be reducing the costs involved.
Costs which give the current policy a certain feel of exploitation. Is it still #Clickbait to say that?
In discussions over whether Brighton fans should support the Stop Exploiting Loyalty campaign on North Stand Chat, several Albion fans brought up the club’s initial stance on the controversial Premier League PPV which lasted less than in a month in lockdown.
Paul Barber OBE infamously emailed one supporter, saying: “Unfortunately, fans always want everything for free.” Of a fan base who, less than two decades earlier, had dipped into their own pockets to sign Rod Thomas for £25,000 from Chester City.
And then donated to the Forty Note Fund which helped keep Brighton alive when playing at Withdean and fighting endless planning battles for a new stadium at Falmer nearly left the club bankrupt.
Fan power won the day when it came to Premier League PPV in October 2020. 19 clubs out of 20 (well done Leicester City) had voted to charge supporters to watch matches which had for the previous five months been included in existing TV packages when stadiums were shut due to Covid.
But the idea was quietly dropped when hundreds of thousands of pounds were instead donated to food banks around the country by supporters who saw that as a better use of £15 than paying to watch Brighton 0-0 West Brom.
Ultimately though, the reason Albion fans are joining in with the Stop Exploiting Loyalty protests is to show solidarity with clubs like Spurs, West Ham and Saturday’s visitors Wolves, who are being hugely exploited by their owners.
Just because an issue does not have a big impact on us, does not mean we should not support it. After all, Brighton would not be here today without support from across the football world.
Firstly, in the battle to save the Albion from Bill Archer, Greg Stanley and David Bellotti. Most notable was Fans United, when fans of clubs from across Europe turned up to the Goldstone Ground at the suggestion of a Plymouth Argyle supporter.
Once that war was won, supporters of other teams also protested and lobbied to help Brighton gain planning permission to build the Amex, including ramping up the pressure on deputy prime minister John Prestcott when the initial decision was placed in his to-do tray.
Albion fans’ Stop Exploiting Loyalty demonstration is being organised by the good guys at Dogma, who have put participation in the protests into the context of what Brighton fans went through when battling to rid the club of Archer, Bellotti and Stanley.
Writing on their website, Dogma said: “BHAFC’s very existence can be attributed to the actions taken by supporters, including supporters of other clubs.”
“Fans United – as both a concept, and a tangible day of action – was conceived by a Plymouth Argyle fan, with fans from numerous clubs making the effort to spend an afternoon in Hove to lend their support.”
“We should be proud of this aspect of our history, and whilst the situation we find ourselves in 27 years later is markedly different, we believe it is still important to stay true to the ethos and spirit of that day: fans united will never be defeated.”
“We may not necessarily feel exploited as BHAFC fans – although not everything is perfect – but we recognise the struggles and concerns of our fellow Premier Leagues fans and wish to stand with them as an act of solidarity.”
“Please stand with us to show yours too.”
The demonstration will take place at 1pm opposite the Prince Albert pub in Trafalgar Street. It is being organised in conjunction with Wolves 1877 Supporters Trust, with Brighton fans standing alongside Wolves counterparts.
If you wish to take part, please look for the large FSA Stop Exploiting Loyalty banner.
