Quique Sanchez Flores and Alan Pardew weigh into ticket price row
Thursday 11 February 2016 16:38, UK
Watford manager Quique Sanchez Flores says he does not understand why English football is so expensive and wants fans to be able to watch the game for free.
His remarks come after the cost of a Premier League ticket came under scrutiny this week after Liverpool supporters staged a protest during their game against Sunderland.
And Crystal Palace boss Alan Pardew admits he fears the Premier League's future could be undermined if clubs continue to raise their admission prices.
Liverpool have subsequently frozen match and season ticket prices for next season while Fenway Sports Group, the club's owners, issued an apology to their supporters in an open letter on Wednesday.
While Watford are yet to reveal their pricing structure beyond this term - their most expensive ticket for their next home league match against Bournemouth is £42 - Flores wishes supporters across the land did not have to pay to watch their team.
"I want to say that I would like the fans to pay as little as possible," said Flores, whose side play Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Saturday. "It is an amazing love that the fans feel for their team but unfortunately football is not cheap, it is expensive.
"Sometimes the situation of the families is not so good, so if you are talking with me about what I think, I would like them to go for free, and if not free, cheap. I don't understand why football is expensive for the people because the football is great for the fans.
"But football is more and more of a business and it is difficult to think that it will ever be free."
Crystal Palace are among several clubs to have raised some ticket prices, but Pardew has urged club owners to wake up to reality as they risk alienating their own supporters.
And with Selhurst Park remaining one of very few English stadiums currently retaining a traditional football atmosphere with few tourists and corporate partners watching, Pardew has emphasised the importance of the fans.
"The owners of the football clubs need to really consider carefully that they don't lose the core supporters that we have," he said. "Because if they think it's just the product on the pitch that makes the Premier League what is it, it isn't.
"It's the atmosphere. It's the drive from those core supporters that makes the atmosphere and the game unfold the way it does. You won't have those dramatic finishes, those edgy games, those really conflictual games that we have without those fans."
The Premier League has also weighed in on the argument, but admitted it is unsure how it can help clubs resolve the issue.
"There is absolute agreement from the 20 clubs that something needs to be done to help fans with costs," a spokesman said.
"At the moment there is not a consensus on what form that help will take. That is what we are working on, but it is going to be something meaningful for the start of next season."
