Aston Villa fans are somehow more angry at matters off the pitch than they are on it, despite the club’s horrible run of form.
Unai Emery’s men haven’t won in eight games in all competitions, and last time out, Aston Villa were outclassed by Chelsea in the Premier League.
Villa host Brentford this evening, and while supporters should be feeling excited about the chance to end their winless run, the build-up to the game has been dominated by matters off the pitch.
Throughout this campaign, Chris Heck and the Villa hierarchy have shown their true colours with their pricing of tickets.
First, Aston Villa fans were angered by Champions League pricing, as in some areas of the ground, some loyal supporters have had to pay £97 to watch their team in Europe’s elite competition.
Meanwhile, fans have also protested over the Celtic ticket release, with the club giving fans till only December 6th to reserve their seat for a game that doesn’t take place until January 29th.
Their lack of contempt for the fans is clear, especially over the Christmas period, and now they’ve somehow given them another reason to feel angered.
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Aston Villa’s tickets for December’s clash vs Brighton clash are Category A
Villa’s Head of Business Operations Heck explained the reason behind the ticket pricing, claiming there was less money coming in from the Premier League’s TV deal.
Instead, he decided to make up the revenue from fans’ pockets by inflating the ticket prices, and this has constantly felt like a slap in the face for loyal supporters.
The latest reason why fans are annoyed is because, for their home clash against Brighton on December 30, the club are charging Category A ticket pricing.
| CATEGORY A | 1888 | Zone 1 | Zone 2 | Zone 3 | Zone 4 |
| ADULT | £92 | £78 | £72.50 | £67.50 | £55 |
| OVER 66/ UNDER 21 | £92 | £78 | £54.50 | £50.50 | £41.50 |
| ARMED FORCES | £92 | £78 | £58 | £54 | £43.50 |
| UNDER 18 | £92 | £78 | £37 | £34 | £28 |
| UNDER 14 | £92 | £78 | £22 | £20 | £16.50 |
For any game in the top-flight the above prices are disgusting, never mind when it’s a team like Brighton, and fans have made their opinion on the matter heard on X, formerly Twitter.
“Something really needs to be done about all of this before it gets ever worse. Do think the pricing is also impacting match day atmosphere,” one supporter wrote.
While another agreed that the atmosphere has been impacted, writing: “Yeah definitely, every league atmosphere this season has been very flat. Juventus on Wednesday was awful.”
“Don’t worry all the people who tell us we need higher ticket prices to compete will sell it out,” a third responded. While a fourth said: “Absolutely scandalous. How far are we going to let it go? We need to do something about it or we will end up like a big 6 tourist club.”
“I’m going tomorrow and then that’s it for league games for me personally because the prices are ridiculous. My dad has already stopped going as have many of his mates but it seems Villa don’t care about the real fans who have been here years!” another exclaimed.
“Yep 95 quid for me and my daughter who’s an under 21 member, scandalous,” a sixth added while a seventh replied: “Stay at home and watch the darts, it’s significantly cheaper.”
Aston Villa will lose loyal fans if they don’t take action
Supporters are rightfully losing patience with the ticket pricing, directing their anger towards Heck, who doesn’t have the fan’s best interests at heart.
It’s ludicrous that fans are being charged over £90 to sit in some areas of the ground, with the cheapest adult ticket coming in at £55.
When times are hard for some families over the festive period, there’s no way they can sacrifice their Christmas and go fork out hundreds to watch Villa play Brighton.
Realistically, Villa have lost touch with their fanbase this season and without making serious changes to their ticket pricing, they risk losing thousands of loyal fans through pure greed.
