Lewis Cox: West Brom price rises strike a fair balance for both fans and club
It’s been a difficult few years for Albion – but while others tie themselves in knots, the Baggies lead the way with season tickets.
Albion have been teetering on the edge of a financial cliff in the second half of the Guochuan Lai regime and now, with brighter days ahead under Shilen Patel, there remains a period of recovery needed to pick up the pieces.
With the club to continue in the Championship for a fourth season for the first time since the late nineties and early noughties, financial fair play regulations have tightened the grip on the Albion’s playing possibilities with losses threatening to spiral close to margins permitted.
Yet in the Championship, where revenue from season tickets is notable and thought to be worth as much as 20 per cent of income streams, Albion have not sought to take advantage of fans’ loyalty to help heal the balance sheets.
You only need to look down the road to the other side of the Black Country divide, where ticket prices are rising so much, for a club at the other end of the spectrum and the unsurprising fallout that created.
Albion pride themselves on having some of the best affordability on offer. The Hawthorns was the best value-for-money option to watch professional football in the region last season.
