Southampton 'turned down' Pompey ticket proposal for south coast derby at St Mary's as major supporters' group speaks out
The Portsmouth Supporters’ Trust has voiced concerned over both ticket and travel arrangement costs for next month’s south-coast derby against Southampton at St Mary’s
Southampton ‘turned down’ a reciprocal pricing arrangement proposed by Pompey that would have seen away fans pay less for their match-day tickets at both of this season’s south-coast derbies.
That’s according to the Portsmouth Supporters’ Trust (PST), who have said they are ‘incredibly disappointed’ with the St Mary’s outfit’s decision to instead increase the cost of entry into their away end when the two sides meet for the first time in the league since April 2012 next month.
Any Pompey fan aged 18 or above will be expected to pay an extra £10 on the price of their ticket due to Saints’ decision to make the game on Sunday, September 14, a ‘Category A’ fixture.
As a result, an adult will have to fork out £40, with equivalent Stoke fans visiting St Mary’s today for their respective Championship fixture charged £30. Anyone aged between 18-25 or 64+ will pay £35 (normally £25). Meanwhile, any disabled Blues fan, including children, could be charged as much as £50 and be situated in some sections of the home end.
Portsmouth Supporters’ Trust respond to Southampton price hike for south-coast derby
In light of Southampton’s refusal to bring down the price of tickets for next month’s fixture, a statement issued by the Trust said Pompey would now consider their own pricing structure for away fans when Saints travel to Fratton Park in January.
PST added that they would continue to work with the Football Supporters' Association to campaign for a £30 cap for away ticket prices in the Championship
A statement released on Friday night read: ‘We encouraged Portsmouth Football Club to offer Southampton a reciprocal pricing arrangement, whereby the clubs would jointly agree a lower matchday ticket pricing structure for visiting fans. This strategy has been used successfully by other clubs in the Championship to bring costs down for their travelling fans.
‘This offer was put forward by Portsmouth Football Club, but disappointingly Southampton Football Club opted to turn down the proposal. As a result, Portsmouth fans will pay more when they travel to St. Mary’s in September, and Southampton fans will pay more when they travel to Fratton Park in January.
‘We understand that Portsmouth Football Club are now considering the ticket pricing for January’s home fixture in light of Southampton’s refusal to bring prices down for the September fixture.’
PST ‘disappointed’ by £22.50 charge for ‘club-managed’ travel arrangement
As well as voicing their concern at the increased price of a match ticket for next month’s game, the Trust also expressed disappointment at the £22.50 fee all Blues supporters will be charged to be transported to St Mary’s on the day.
Last month it was announced that all 2,700 Pompey fans in attendance will make the trip to Southampton as part of a ‘club-managed’ travel arrangement that will also be in force when Saints supporters travel to Fratton Park in the new year.
Three different pick-up points at Fratton Park, Lakeside North Harbour and Winchester Park & Ride have been organised, with fans transported directly to the ground via coaches.
According to the PST, the £22.50 fee is disproportionate to the length of the journey, and with supporters effectively paying £60,750 for a mandatory transport arrangement, they believe the game has ‘become an opportunity to squeeze the loyalty of supporters for more money’.
Clarifying that Pompey will not profit from the use of the match-day coaches, the Trust said: ‘The Pompey Supporters’ Trust entered into constructive dialogue with the club and Hampshire Police around the policing, travel and ticketing arrangements for the South Coast Derby, attending four meetings in total with a view to finding the best possible solution for supporters.
‘In these meetings, we spoke out against the use of “club-managed travel” as we feel this causes unnecessary inconvenience to supporters. We respect that the two clubs nonetheless jointly-chose to implement this strategy, understanding that they took this decision with safety in mind.
‘We were assured that, to mitigate the inconvenience to fans, supporters would be given a range of pick-up locations, and that coach costs would be kept to a minimum. We’re pleased that three pick-up locations were agreed, to minimise the unnecessary journey times some fans would need to make as a result of the mandated coach travel.
‘We are, however, disappointed with the £22.50 cost of coach travel to fans, which is disproportionate with the length of journey. Fans will travel 21 miles from Fratton Park, 18 miles from Lakeside North Harbour and just 11 miles from Winchester Park & Ride. Fans are being charged almost the same for these short, enforced trip as they as they would on the official club coach travel for far longer journeys to Bristol City (125 miles, £25), Millwall (76 miles, £26), QPR (78 miles, £26) and Watford (82 miles, £26).
‘We’ve been assured that Portsmouth Football Club will not profit from these coaches, and indeed are helping to subsidise the cost to supporters. But with 2,700 Portsmouth supporters cumulatively paying a total of £60,750 to travel to their nearest away fixture of the season, it doesn’t feel like fans have been protected from unnecessary added expense for what has become a mandated part of their day.’
The statement added: ‘The South Coast Derby is the most anticipated fixture of the season for Portsmouth and Southampton fans. We’re disappointed that, for some, it has become an opportunity to squeeze the loyalty of supporters for more money.’
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