Black Scarf Movement applauds Swansea City's
"True to 22" initiative
9 July 2015
Swansea City have announced that for the coming season, they will subsidise the price of away tickets for all Premier League fixtures, meaning their fans will never pay more than £22 to see their team play away from home. Concessions are capped at £15, and £10 for kids.
Given the efforts of many supporters groups and bodies up and down the country, campaigning for fair treatment of fans who travel the length and breadth of the country to support their team, it's fantastic to see a Premier League club stepping up and doing something positive. At the Black Scarf Movement, we applaud this initiative and truly hope it's the catalyst which will see other clubs follow suit.
Through meeting with the Premier League with groups from other clubs, we helped helped secure the current away fans initiative which was rolled out to all clubs, and at present Arsenal choose to use these funds to reduce each away ticket by £2.50. We've also spoken with Arsenal about introducing reciprocal price deals with other clubs whereby a maximum price applies for both fixtures. To date these requests have been rejected but we are trying again with Spirit of Shankly and the Arsenal Supporters' Trust for this season's matches with Liverpool.
Back to Swansea's initiative, their Vice-Chairman Leigh Dineen says "The club was very proactive on its Away Supporters Initiative (ASI) last season, but we believe our ‘True to 22’ pledge has taken it to a new level. We worked hard on reducing away ticket prices for our supporters last season through reciprocal deals with other clubs. Unfortunately, we were unable to finalise deals with all the clubs for different reasons. Therefore, while we introduced other away fan benefits, we felt it would be more beneficial to our supporters if we took the step of guaranteeing them cheaper tickets for all our away games, whether there was a reciprocal deal in place or not."
Swansea Supporters' Trust Director Huw Cooze commented "As a fan-owned club, we are well aware of how expensive it is to follow the team to away games, especially with the increasing transport costs. But this ‘True to 22’ pledge means an adult can now watch every one of our away games in the Premier League for a total price of £418. That’s more than £250 cheaper per adult than the amount we believe it would cost this season without our subsidy.’’
Again, well played Swansea. It's refreshing to see a club which recognises the value of its core support, and is proactive in giving these supporters a helping hand.
Without the fans, football is nothing.
Up The Gunners
Swansea City have announced that for the coming season, they will subsidise the price of away tickets for all Premier League fixtures, meaning their fans will never pay more than £22 to see their team play away from home. Concessions are capped at £15, and £10 for kids.
Given the efforts of many supporters groups and bodies up and down the country, campaigning for fair treatment of fans who travel the length and breadth of the country to support their team, it's fantastic to see a Premier League club stepping up and doing something positive. At the Black Scarf Movement, we applaud this initiative and truly hope it's the catalyst which will see other clubs follow suit.
Through meeting with the Premier League with groups from other clubs, we helped helped secure the current away fans initiative which was rolled out to all clubs, and at present Arsenal choose to use these funds to reduce each away ticket by £2.50. We've also spoken with Arsenal about introducing reciprocal price deals with other clubs whereby a maximum price applies for both fixtures. To date these requests have been rejected but we are trying again with Spirit of Shankly and the Arsenal Supporters' Trust for this season's matches with Liverpool.
Back to Swansea's initiative, their Vice-Chairman Leigh Dineen says "The club was very proactive on its Away Supporters Initiative (ASI) last season, but we believe our ‘True to 22’ pledge has taken it to a new level. We worked hard on reducing away ticket prices for our supporters last season through reciprocal deals with other clubs. Unfortunately, we were unable to finalise deals with all the clubs for different reasons. Therefore, while we introduced other away fan benefits, we felt it would be more beneficial to our supporters if we took the step of guaranteeing them cheaper tickets for all our away games, whether there was a reciprocal deal in place or not."
Swansea Supporters' Trust Director Huw Cooze commented "As a fan-owned club, we are well aware of how expensive it is to follow the team to away games, especially with the increasing transport costs. But this ‘True to 22’ pledge means an adult can now watch every one of our away games in the Premier League for a total price of £418. That’s more than £250 cheaper per adult than the amount we believe it would cost this season without our subsidy.’’
Again, well played Swansea. It's refreshing to see a club which recognises the value of its core support, and is proactive in giving these supporters a helping hand.
Without the fans, football is nothing.
Up The Gunners