Simon Jordan and Accrington owner Andy Holt clash in interview on Wrexham dispute

talkSPORT presenter Simon Jordan and Accrington Stanley owner Andy Holt clash in an interview on the dispute involving Wrexham.

It all started last weekend when Wrexham headed to the Wham Stadium on Saturday, and lost 2-0, but it was before the 3pm kick off that gave the League Two game extra spice.

Accrington decided to increase their ticket prices for everyone who went to the game, the confirmed attendance being 5,261 (2,587 Wrexham fans).

It went up from £20 to £25 for the League Two fixture, and with this coming to light for Wrexham, they responded by posting on Twitter that they would reduce their prices by £5 for the return fixture at the Racecourse Ground later on in the season.

Wrexham issued the tweet at 11am on Saturday morning, with Ryan Reynolds liking it, helping it to go viral as it racked up in numbers, so did the views at almost four million people.

Accrington’s Andy Holt then posted a number of posts, starting at full time of the game: “Accrington 2 Hollywood 0. I think Ryan Reynolds should cut prices by a tenner. Safe journey home folks, get that on Netflix, Ryan lad.”

You’ve only got to look at Holt’s Twitter feed to see what he made of it.

This caught talkSPORT’s attention, and this week invited Holt on, with Jim White and Simon Jordan having plenty to say on it.

Speaking on White and Jordan, Holt said: “Our ticket prices are £20 per game, but when we have a big police bill or expect a big police bill then we increase the price.

“That police bill comes about by the away club’s behaviour – not our behaviour, because we don’t get any police bills.

“So if the cost of selling a ticket is a fiver a ticket because of the increased cost, then it has to be paid by somebody, and I’m not paying it.

“I’ve got nothing against Wrexham, the Hollywood owners and the rest of it, but if they think they’re going to get their kicks by tweeting about my club, one of the smaller clubs in the league, just because they’re in a good space, then it’s not going to work.”

Simon Jordan: “Andy, I get the irritation about the manner in which they conducted themselves and I get it more in the fact they’ve done it before the game because it can inflame tensions, but what I don’t get is the commercial logic behind creating a situation around an additional cost that comes with a huge benefit.

“If your average attendance is 2,500 per game and an away support is bringing 2,500 down to inflate the revenues you get for the game, you charge £20 and you’re getting 2,000 more tickets than the average club does then you’re already bringing £40,000 of additional revenue in.

“If policing costs are £10,000, you’re still £30,000 better off as a result of them bringing more support than anybody else in the division.”

Holt: “That’s like saying ‘if you bring a lot of fans we’ll reduce the ticket prices’.

“If we charge £20 per ticket but the cost of selling the ticket is an extra fiver, we’d then get £15 per ticket.

“Next time you go and see Madonna, put in all of the costs and see if they’ll let you have the ticket for a lower price.

“I don’t know when it was put to them but at the start of the season it was always going to be a high-category game, we go through it with the leagues and that’s how it is.

“They had tickets for weeks in the offices, so they’ve known it [the prices].”

Holt: “What are you arguing for, then?

“This is how I run a business, so it’s not a fight. I can charge what I want for a ticket – to anybody and everybody. It’s my club.”

Holt was questioned how Shaun Harvey responded to the row: “He just smirked when I called him about it.

“At the end of the day, they didn’t need to post about it and they didn’t need to retweet it to 21million of Ryan Reynolds’ followers.

“It just makes us out to be a thieving club or a club that takes money off fans.”

The talkSPORT pundit and Accrington chairman agreed to disagree on the matter, with Wrexham’s chief executive Shaun Harvey then coming onto the radio station.

He said: “I don’t know if you can categorise it as cheeky. We made the decision that that was the action we were going to take in very much the same way as Andy’s entitled to charge the prices that he wants to charge.

“Just for the record, he increased the prices for Accrington fans as well, not just for Wrexham so there’s never been any suggestion that rules have been broken.

“We took the decision to reduce the prices by £5 simply to compensate those fans who are having to pay £5 more to watch the game at the Wham Stadium.

“When did we make the decision? Probably Thursday or Friday that week.

“I’m sure we were informed what the ticket prices would be at the start of the season but whether it was explained that it was more than any other game at the Wham Stadium this season I doubt, although I have to reserve my position because I didn’t get the original email.”

Jordan: “You aren’t taking a commercial decision, Shaun. You’re taking a facetious decision.

“You’re taking revenue away from yourselves to make a point at the expense of Accrington and you know you are.”

Harvey: “We made the decision that we felt was appropriate and one that we were financially prepared to stand by,” to which Jordan said: “But you’re doing it at the expense of another football club.

“You’re being facetious and you’re virtue-signalling to your own fans and the rest of football at the expense of Andy Holt who told you at the beginning of the season.

“You knew it and then you drop it on the eve of the game that you’re going to do something different so that Wrexham look great, Accrington look poor, and you create tension before a game which you know is not very good.”

Harvey: “Andy’s made conscious decisions as well and Accrington have made decisions to increase the price and we’ve responded in a way that we felt was appropriate.

“I think we’re as entitled to make our decisions and announce those decisions as Accrington are.

“Social media has been full of the debate in relation to the increase of prices at Accrington long before fans turned up at the stadium on Saturday.

“Our fans have been making the point for a considerable period of time, as have Accrington fans who were also making the point, so this wasn’t just created on the morning of the game, this must have started when the conscious decision was made to increase ticket prices.

“We agree with Simon that they shouldn’t have put the ticket prices up.”

Harvey said he’ll stick with the £5 price deduction: “Absolutely!

“Andy will never be short of letting people know what his opinions are, so I don’t think we need to second guess what his thoughts on the matter were!”

Twitter users had his say as Simon Jordan and Accrington owner Andy Holt clash in an interview on the Wrexham dispute…

@1864wrexhamafc: It’s crap about policing costs..clubs pay for the police in the footprint of the ground..he’s giving us more tickets and so if its felt more are needed inside due to increase in numbers that’s in them. Not about our behaviour at all

@theredhorde: He admitted the police bill cost. About £12,000. Got pointed to the profits. And still tried to defend his position? Amazing that is.

@higginswxm93: He’s made himself look like a right weapon again 😂 Simon Jordan has had his pants down! Money grabber that’s all he is 🤷‍♂️ wouldn’t be so bad if he just admitted it haha

@GarethLCollins: He might be the biggest tool in Accrington’s toolshed, but he certainly isn’t the sharpest.

@harryt84: Listen to the amount of times he uses the term ‘Bad Behaviour’ accuses us of making them look like thieves, the whole time, he’s trying to make us look like hooligans

@antagony62: Based on that interview alone It’s not hard to see why he is having to sell the club. Might have been better if they Invited his accountant on because figures are not his thing .

@michPDX7223: Holt is really making the most out of his 15 minutes isn’t he?

@paulmwrexham: Trying to imply its was because of previous bad behaviour from our fans that the police bill was high.

@todlloyd: Whining. Not winning. Wrexham was cheeky? Ok. Seems more about jealousy then anything else.

@WrichWilliams: The man just doesn’t get it does he, trying to argue with an astute chairman and entrepreneur

@msth_19: Nailed to the mast by Simon Jordan. 500 fans at £20 quid is £10,000. 2600 fans at £20 is £52,000. So why was there an increase? Every time that’s put to him be ignores it and tries to skip past.

@jose_current: “Its not all about Wrexham” 🙄 Also the underlying disrespect towards Rob & Ryan just coz they are famous is ridiculous. I know they don’t care. But, no one can disagree that they take the job of chairmen very seriously & have executed it to the best of their ability. Their commercial deals r very smart.

@xemma79x: You would think they would check the facts as it wasn’t stated start of season he only put them up the week of the game

@Paskins_tache: I see @AndyhHolt continues to embarrass himself. I reckon he might regret his shameless money grab, ripping fans off…… all the publicity has painted Accrington and his club in a negative light.

@ASFCPlayers: Also important to add… A couple of seasons ago Fleetwood fans trashed our away toilets so the season after we charged them £25 to cover policing. Fleetwood fans bringing a few hundred so it wasn’t about “because Wrexham are bringing 2600 fans” @Sjopinion10 @AndyhHolt

Andy needs to let it go… https://t.co/J1anlOxPkx pic.twitter.com/jHJF5foquF

— Judy Joe (@PrevYrs17182) November 23, 2023