Man Utd supporters fume at season ticket price increase for a third year running and also MOVING fans out of the best seats.
Manchester United season ticket prices are to raise prices by about 5% as the club aims to become financially sustainable.
But plenty of loyal longstanding Season Ticket Holders are also going to be forced to move with the introduction of VIP seats behind the dugouts at Old Trafford.
The Manchester United Supporters Trust (MUST) says that the increase is “less than many feared” and there has been a price freeze for under-16s, but fans have “expressed their disappointment” that at the club ignoring the call for a widespread price freeze.
Since becoming the club’s co-owner last year, Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his Ineos group have tried improve the club’s finances, however, a number of changes have led to protests from fans, like we saw at last week’s home game with Arsenal, see more on that HERE.
Some of the latest changes for the 2025-26 season include the introduction of a game categorisation model for non-season ticket holders, where premium games cost more.
United are also increasing the minimum usage requirement for season ticket holders from 15 to 16 of their 19 Premier League home games.
KEY CHANGES:
– A 5% price increase for the vast majority of season tickets
– A new match categorisation model for member tickets
– Reduction of legacy 50% senior discount to 25%
– Over 65 discount moved to over 66
– Relocating fans behind the dugouts to sell these seats at premium prices
– Increasing the season ticket holder minimum usage requirement to 16/19 league games
– A £10 charge for selling your ticket back to the club less than two weeks before the game
– A 15% increase in car parking charges
Man Utd confirm season ticket prices for men’s team next year will increase by around 5% (apart from u16s)
Here’s what Man United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe told me last week about why prices are increasing ⬇️ https://t.co/95pAdzYmZf pic.twitter.com/E6fRU8RFGN
— Dan Roan (@danroan) March 17, 2025
ℹ️ We have today confirmed our season ticket prices for the 2025/26 men’s team campaign.#MUFC
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) March 17, 2025
Plenty of loyal longstanding Season Ticket Holders going to be forced to move with the introduction of VIP seats behind the dugouts at Old Trafford, like they had at Nou Camp before redevelopment pic.twitter.com/4EuQc7vw4T
— Man Utd Collectors (@MUFCMemorabilia) March 17, 2025
MAN UTD STATEMENT:
Manchester United today confirmed its Season Ticket prices for the 2025/26 men’s team campaign, including a price freeze for under-16s.
All other Season Tickets will increase by around five per cent, which is an average of £2.50 per game.
The under-16 price freeze reflects the club’s commitment to preserving access to Old Trafford for our next generation of fans, following consultation with the Fans’ Advisory Board.
The increase for other categories aims to strike a balance between keeping tickets affordable for fans and keeping the club financially sustainable.
Omar Berrada, chief executive of Manchester United, said: “We appreciate the loyal and patient support of our fans, and particularly our Season-Ticket holders who represent the core of our match-going support base. We understand the importance of their backing for the team and have worked hard to come up with a pricing package that is fair and reasonable.
“After 11 consecutive years of price freezes, we increased prices by five per cent for the past two seasons and intend to do the same for next season to offset continued rises in operating costs. Prices remain significantly lower than a decade ago when adjusted for inflation, and at similar levels to peer clubs in the north-west of England.
“We understand that any price rise is unwelcome, especially during a period of underperformance on the pitch, and we listened carefully to the strong arguments put forward by the FAB in favour of a freeze. However, the club has decided that it would not be right to keep prices unchanged while costs rise and the club continues to face financial issues. We have kept the increase to the lowest possible level and protected our youngest Season-Ticket holders from any rises, while ensuring the club remains financially strong enough to invest in improving the team.
“Our overall strategy is to price tickets at levels that keep every seat filled for every game, maximising support for the team, and providing a variety of options for different fans, including concessions for our young and elderly supporters.”
In addition to the Season-Ticket pricing change, the following adjustments will also be made for the 2025/26 campaign:
– Introduction of game categorisation for match-by-match tickets (not applicable to Season-Ticket holders). More details on pricing and which games are in which category will be issued before the release of Premier League fixtures. For the avoidance of doubt, concessions will continue to apply to these tickets.
– The late listing of tickets for re-sale greatly impacts the ability for our Members to purchase tickets for the game. From next season, when fans wish to sell their ticket back to the club at late notice (within 14 days of the game), there will be a fee of £10 deducted from their refund. There is no fee for reselling prior to 14 days and the forwarding and donating to the MU Foundation options will remain unchanged.
– Minimum usage of a Season Ticket (which includes forwarding, donating to MU Foundation or reselling to the club) will increase by one game to a minimum of 16 out of 19 Premier League games.
– The age at which our ‘senior’ discount (25% off) is applied will now track the state pension age. This is currently 66 years old.
– All fans aged 66 or over will now receive a 25% discount (removing the inconsistency with some who previously received a 50% discount).
– Some of the general admission tickets directly adjacent to the home and away dugouts will be converted to hospitality seats, reflecting the high value of this unique location. We appreciate the disruption this will cause those fans who currently sit there and we will be contacting them individually to ensure a suitable alternative seat is found.
BREAKING: Man United to increase season ticket prices by 5% for next season, which is an average of £2.50 per game 🚨 pic.twitter.com/UJRSErPODn
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) March 17, 2025
Season-Ticket holders will receive an email shortly detailing their renewal price. The deadline to renew for existing Season-Ticket holders is 18:00 BST on 16 May 2025.
Berrada concluded: “While they did not agree with all the decisions, we would like to thank the members of our FAB for their tough but constructive advice throughout the consultation process. We believe that, taken together, these measures represent a fair and balanced outcome for fans, while generating additional revenues to strengthen the club.”
In response, the FAB said: “We, the Manchester United Fans’ Advisory Board, strongly advocated for an across-the-board price freeze for 2025/26 season, one we felt was justified due to the current circumstances.
“While we did not get the freeze we argued for, we are relieved that the club was persuaded to limit the increases to the same percentage rise as recent seasons, and we are pleased they froze prices for our youngest fans.
“We also shared our concerns over policy changes and advised against any immediate changes without consultation including those to minimum usage, match categorisation, concessions and relocations. However, we welcome the club’s renewed commitment not to make any such future changes without consultation with fans including through MUST, FAB and the Fans’ Forum.
“We acknowledge that the senior leadership of the club, including Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Omar Berrada, made themselves available throughout the process and the club were well informed of fans’ feelings when making their decisions.”
MAN UTD SUPPORTERS TRUST:
As MUST stated publicly prior to our FAB meetings, we have been and remain opposed to price increases. In fact, “we” in this case means you, our members. For it is not the Board or the Committee’s views we are representing, but yours, views that we gather through regular consultations online and in person. Though we have always been vigilant on matters related to ticketing, current circumstances make a price rise even harder to stomach. The team languishes in 13th place. United face financial problems arising from neglected investment, ruinous debt, and gross mismanagement—all of which we predicted prior to the takeover. Many called us scaremongers at the time, but how many would argue with that view now? All of this can be laid at the Glazers’ feet.
There will be people who read these statements and think “you fans are never happy, stop complaining and trust in the process.” They will condescendingly “fansplain” as if we knuckle-dragging fans don’t understand finance. Inherent in their words is a blind belief in billionaires, as if making money in one sector makes them experts in football. Nonsense. United fans know the truth, namely that our club has been financially pillaged by the Glazer family for two decades. We acknowledge that Jim Ratcliffe has, as a major shareholder, for the first time in a generation, put money into the club, while also meeting with fan representatives and speaking publicly to supporters. But while he is right that the Club is in terrible shape on and off the pitch, the idea that United must get its financial house in order essentially overnight is a choice. The Club’s finances are a matter of public record. Moreover, our views are informed by two advisors who are some of the most knowledgeable people in the world of football finance and happen to both be United fans, one of whom sits on the MUST Board. Our owners—and here we are looking squarely at the Glazers—put us in this position, and it is they who should be putting their hands in their pockets to help get us out of it.
For all these reasons, the idea that fans should pay for the Glazers ownership and errors on top of the thousands that we already pay to loyally follow the team is frankly offensive. We argued United should implement a price freeze not just because of this, but for business reasons too. We were convinced that a freeze, accompanied by a rallying call showing we’re all in this together, could be a galvanising force to lift spirits and propel the team forward, and that the money “lost” from not increasing prices would be more than compensated for by the greater revenue from a higher finish in the table. We never wavered from this position, either. We referenced it publicly in our Open Letter to Sir Jim Ratcliffe and our op-ed piece published in The Telegraph. We stood our ground, not least because the moment you start talking about what level of increase might be acceptable, you end up negotiating against yourself.
It’s not just pricing that we need to remain vigilant about, however. The club uses many elements of ticketing policy to generate revenue as well. As the FAB message implies, there were options under consideration (we can’t disclose what they were obviously) that we would have never envisaged being tabled by the previous regime because they would have known our response. Our view is that these options were considered partly because of our dire financial straits, but also because the faces around the table have changed. One of the great challenges of this past year has been the almost-complete turnover in United’s senior management. Years of working together with the previous leadership team had allowed us to build trust and develop a shared understanding on a number of issues. While we aim to do that again with the new management, it takes time, so we need to be persistent. We needed no further proof of this than the club’s disregard of the consultation policy we (MUST, the FAB, and Forum) had agreed not even one year ago, when it announced the mid-season price rise to £66.
In this same vein, there will be major concerns around the new match categorisation model for Members’ tickets. Whilst Season Ticket holders have been protected from the worst of the rises, Members risk being hit hard by this model depending on how it is implemented. Needless to say, we believe the numbers of games in the higher categories should be limited, with the majority of games remaining at the Category C base price. This should be a matter for consultation with the Fans Forum.
There will be some who, seeing the changes the Club has announced, will call for fan reps to walk away. Yet that would leave fans with no voice at all at the highest levels of the club where decisions are made. We made that mistake in 2005 and vowed not to commit the same error again. We can be sure that no dialogue will lead to even worse outcomes for fans. If there is at least one good outcome from this year’s discussions, it is that United have recommitted to proper consultation on future policy changes, which MUST will support and facilitate. If they live up to that commitment, we hope to be in a better position to influence decisions when we engage in the same process next year.
There is a straight line that runs from loyal match-going supporters to United’s football and commercial success. The phrase “football is nothing without fans” is meaningless if fans aren’t consulted, respected, and protected. MUST has fought for this for more than a quarter of a century and we will never stop doing so.
Below is the statement we have just issued to the media, for your information.
Duncan Drasdo, Chief Executive
JD Deitch, Chair
As mentioned, Man Utd supporters fume at season ticket price increase and MOVING fans out of the best seats…
@benmil3054: You talk about Inflation but the breadline doesn’t meet inflation. If I don’t get a pay rise in the next 5 years, one at that stage would need to be above 15% Its shocking. Were supposed to set the standard as a Club. You’ve missed what being United once was.
@Kirbo2020: Absolutely disgraceful from Utd this. Elderly mum who has dementia who’s had her season ticket for 30 years can no longer afford this increase with increasing bills elsewhere. Slowly starting to despise this club 🤬🤬
@Jayk_86: That could be one of the most poorly worded statements I’ve ever read from this club… the financial problems exist mainly due to one factor, our greedy money hungry owners… they should be made to pay for this not the fans!
@ClaretBluBlood: They lay off Gertrude the tea lady and now fuck the fans off even more with price increases. Ratcliffe really is a piece of work.
@DarcySutherlan4: 13th in the league and increasing ticket prices, shame the stadium will still be filled with 76K fans who claim to hate the very owners they fund.
@RyanMitchell90: Fans are paying the price for years of glazer mismanagement
@johnhj1093: Are you trying to price out your most loyal supporters to accommodate happy clappy, selfie taking, half and half scarf wearing tourists? Thanks a bunch. 57 years of loyal support 😡
@Connor_MUFCOK: Constantly raising prices of tickets because you fucked up paying millions for crap players and glazers bleeding the club dry yet it’s the fans who have to pay for that
@wackydog70: Think it’s time for a call for all match going supporters to boycott entering the stadium early and a blanket ban on purchasing from @manutd concessions (beer, pies, anything the parasites want to profiteer from) @The__1958 @TraMufc @MU_ST
@Chris24OToole: Increasing loyal fans ticket prices whilst the club have put together the worst squad in my lifetime. playing the worst football I have seen at old Trafford is a disgrace!
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