By Jacob Greenwood

The BBC’s annual ‘Price of Football’ report has revealed Woking fans get the best deal when buying a replica shirt but are paying a higher price in other areas.

The report, which ranks everything from ticket prices to cups of tea, looks at England’s top five leagues and has produced some interesting statistics. For example, fans can snap up a Barcelona season ticket for less than the cheapest available in the National League. However, unless you are planning on travelling from Surrey to Catalonia every matchday, these statistics are relatively useless.

We have looked at the key findings when it comes to the price that Woking fans are paying and have talked to fans and the club itself for reaction:

• Woking’s cheapest season ticket for adults, sold as an early bird offer, is the fourth most expensive in the league with only Aldershot, Cheltenham and Halifax charging more

Elliot Machin, sales & marketing executive at Woking FC, explained to Everything Woking FC that the club has focused on offering more incentives to season ticket holders, including the offer of a free drink before home games, and that the price was a fair one:

“We felt it was important to give value to the fans which is evident in the number of initiatives added on to the season ticket price. These include the offer of a free drink before a certain time, discounted hospitality, an invite to a comedy night and discount in a number of local business, including McDonalds.

“The season tickets, despite the increase in price, do represent good value for money at £12.83 per game based on an adult season ticket price. Therefore a saving of £5.17 per match and almost £120 over the season.”

• Woking’s cheapest matchday ticket for an adult is £18. The joint most expensive in the league

Woking supporter David Holmes explained to us that although this is the joint-highest ‘cheapest ticket’, when it comes to the ‘most expensive’ matchday ticket, other clubs in the league are charging the same or more. He said:

“Seven clubs in the National League cost more than Woking and seven are the same, eg only 10 clubs are cheaper, which is less than half. While our cheapest admission is one of the most expensive, this is because we don’t make people pay more for different parts of the ground preferring to give them the choice of whether to sit or stand etc.”

The club’s press officer, John Moore, pointed to the fact that matchday ticket prices have been frozen in previous seasons. He told Everything Woking FC:

“Our admission price was £15 for 3 years prior to this season. This survey also takes no account of regional variations (we’re in a very expensive part of the country), nor does it reflect the fact that some clubs have wealthy benefactors who can afford to subsidise ticket prices.”

Woking supporter Sam Siviers gave us his take on the prices and how he believes that, although the costs have risen, he can understand why:

“Prices are high but we are a club with fewer resources than some of the other clubs in this league, so it could be that we have to charge high prices to generate enough money.That said, the increase over a single year was too steep. £15 to £18 for an adult over a single season is too much. Maybe they should’ve increased by this much over three years, that way, I don’t think people would have minded as much.”

Other interesting stats include:

• Fans can pick up at replica shirt from the Woking club shop for £34.99 – the cheapest in the league
• Woking’s matchday programme is marginally more expensive than the league average (£2.85) at £3.00 per issue
• A cup of tea at Kingfield will set fans back 10p more than the league average (£1.40) at £1.50

The BBC’s full ‘Price of Football’ survey can be found at – http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-34507719

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Image by David Holmes. A full set can be found at wokingfc.co.uk