bluekipper.com - Everton Season Tickets

On The Day The Manager of The People's Club Called The Team's Performance ' Rubbish',
the season ticket prices go up.

Michael Dunford

After the outcry regarding the average ticket rise for next season of 25%, Chief Exec Michael Dunford has felt it necessary to go public again with the reason's why the decision was made. You can still have your say on this very emotive issue, by going to our Season Ticket Special Debate. It's all one way traffic though, is there any Blues out there who agree with the Chief Exec ?

Michael Dunford says: "There’s been an increase in both match ticket prices and season ticket prices across the board. The simple commercial fact is that we need to generate more money through what is our second highest form of income generation, gate receipts. It’s second behind the money that we receive from the Premier League but well over £10 million of our money each year comes from gate receipts. We’re only bringing our prices up now to just about the average price of admission in the Premiership so it’s not as if we’re hiking them up above anyone else. They are still sensible, they still bare comparison with all the other teams that we are competing against. I think a lot of supporters in fairness, and people will disbelieve me when I say this, but last season when we announced the prices a number of them suggested that we increase them even more. I accept they’re probably in the minority. I think this season has been disappointing compared to last season, that’s a fact but for us to run the company, and it is a business, we have to look at all areas of increasing income and saving costs. All those areas are being looked at at the moment by the Board and the Executives at the club to ensure that every penny goes into the coffers to make Everton a prosperous club.
Historically we have lagged behind a lot of our competitors but the Board have always tried, in recent years, to peg price increases down to a minimum and that has eventually caught up with us. In hindsight maybe we should have put 5 or 6% on over the last five, six, seven years but the Board have always been mindful of trying to keep the prices down. If you look at the prices of our competitors who I quoted in the matchday programme, we’re behind the likes of Blackburn and Bolton. We feel we have to, as a business, adjust our price scale accordingly. Unpalatable as it unquestionably is, I know on the back of a disappointing home defeat on Saturday a lot of supporters will be concerned about the price increases but I make no excuses for it. It’s regrettable, certainly, but the economic situation in football generally, and specifically I’m only interested in Everton’s financial position, means that the Board have had to consider all areas of generating additional income and gate receipts is an obvious target. The fact of life is that we need to generate more money. This is only one area where we are looking to generate cash. Generate more cash and save cash - that’s how any business becomes a success. The most important item in any football club has always got to be the team that the supporters pay to watch but we have to run the business to support that. There is no question that the prices have had to increase." (27/04/04)

This statement was printed in the Blackburn programme 24/04/04

The Board of Directors at Everton has, historically, always tried to keep the prices of Season-Tickets as low as possible. Obviously there have been some small increases during the last ten years and there will be another increase for next season. On average the adult season ticket prices we charged last season are 30% less than other clubs in the Premiership. However, whilst we want to remain competitive with our pricing, and I believe we are, there is a commercial reality that we have to adhere to if we want to compete with other clubs.

Thus the prices have to go up and we deliberated long and hard before deciding on this particular course of action. It’s not a decision that has been taken lightly but a large proportion of our income comes from gate receipts. I am however, extremely confident that our Season-Ticket holders and the supporters who come to watch us on a match-to-match basis are still receiving excellent value in comparison to those who follow most of our Premiership rivals. For example, last season, our highest priced adult Season Ticket of £427 was the lowest in the top-flight and it was, amazingly, lower than certain clubs LOWEST priced adult Season Tickets. So people know that we have always done our best to control our ticketing prices and keep increases to a minimum. Last season, today’s opponents Blackburn Rovers were top-priced at £500, and figures for the rest of the North-West area were; Bolton Wanderers (£469), Liverpool (£540), Manchester City (£460) and Manchester United (£522)

Any increase is regrettable but has become a financial necessity. We’ve always tried to align Season-Ticket prices to individual match prices. The lowest priced adult match ticket at Goodison in 2004-05 will be £24 and the highest will be £30. So all adult Season-Ticket holders will enjoy a 15% discount on the price of paying individually for each of the 19 league games. The concessionary Season-Ticket holders, which last year represented nearly 25% of all those sold (senior citizens, under-11s, under-16s and students) will again enjoy an even bigger discount. It’s always been our policy that we have to try and attract those on limited incomes, senior citizens who have been loyal to us over a number of years and the juniors, who are vitally important as the next generation of Everton supporters. We want as many of them to come along as possible.

Last year we sold a club record 28,000 Season-Tickets and I am convinced that the competitive prices we offered certainly contributed to that figure. Individual letters and application forms will be sent out next week to all our current Season-Ticket holders and they can begin the renewal process immediately and will be allowed until Saturday 19 June to re-apply for their own seat. Only after that period will we consider any request from Season-Ticket holders who may wish to change their seat and we will then, if necessary, open up sales to the 1,000 supporters who are included on our current waiting list. (25/04/04)

SEASON TICKET PRICES 2004/05

Area	Adult	Over 65	Student	U 16	U11
Main Stand	£490	£388	£388	£323	£150
Top Balcony	£441	£310	£310	£170	£150
Family Enclosure	£441	£310	£310	£170	£150
Upper Gwladys	£441	£310	£310	£170	£150
Lower Gwladys	£393	£310	£310	£170	£150
Park Stand	£457	£348	£348	£242	£150
Upper Bullens	£473	£387	£387	£242	£150
Lower Bullens	£409	£310	£310	£170	£150
Paddock	£441	£310	£310	£170	£150
Park End Disabled Enclosure	£457	£348	£310	£242	£150

Paddock Disabled Enclosure	£441	£310	£310	£170	£150
Gwladys St. Disabled Enclosure	£393	£310	£310	£170	£150

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