Stockport County have decided to lower ticket prices after receiving backlash on an ‘outrageous’ increase which priced fans out.
They have issued a statement confirming that they will be lowering their ticket prices ahead of next season after a raft of complaints from fans.
After sealing promotion back to the EFL, the club have since undergone much needed refurbishment to the stadium.
But following the pandemic, and now the cost of living struggles, it’s seen “rising costs” across the board meaning this year, the Hatters felt they had to increase matchday prices whist also hoping to “minimise the price rises for season ticket holders.”
But after listening to what supporters have had to say on it, via Twitter, the club have since reduced the prices.
Below is the initial statement and prices, then the update follow that…
The club can now confirm matchday ticketing prices for the 2023/24 season at Edgeley Park 👇
— Stockport County (@StockportCounty) June 22, 2023
INITIAL TICKET PRICE STATEMENT:
The club can now confirm our new matchday ticketing prices for the 2023/24 season in League Two.
As mentioned previously, we will be introducing a new tiered ticketing system for the new season which will see each home match categorised, with match-specific tickets priced accordingly.
League Two fixtures will be spread across three categories – B, A and A*. The majority of fixtures will fall into the B category, with select high profile games throughout the season falling into one of the higher two categories. The category each game falls into will be communicated on a month-by-month basis.
Carabao Cup, Emirates FA Cup and EFL Trophy fixtures will be placed into Category C, with prices for these cup fixtures set on a match by match basis.
On average over the course of the season, this is estimated to represent around a £3 increase on 2022/23 matchday ticket prices. This increase and the introduction of our dynamic new pricing structure comes as we continue to strive to build both a successful club and a sustainable commercial model in face of rising inflation and increased costs, whilst also being mindful of the cost of living crisis impacting our supporters.
See below for our 2023/24 Matchday Prices:
Hospitality prices:
We can also now confirm our matchday hospitality prices of the new campaign – including the launch of our new Hardcastle Suite offering in the Cheadle End.
We have three exclusive hospitality packages on offer in total, giving you the chance to enjoy your Edgeley Park experience in style and luxury.
Our hospitality experiences include:
The 1883 – Three course meal
- Host for the day Access to The 1883, including dedicated cash bar
- A three course sit down meal
- Q&A session with Club representatives
- Man of the Match presentation
- In suite competitions
- Pre-match entertainment
- Prime padded seat in executive seating area
- Complimentary matchday programme and teamsheet
Prices starting from £75…
The Hardcastle
- Lounge access pre and post-match, and at half time
- Lounge host for the day
- Welcome drink on arrival
- Food and drink available to purchase on the day
- Match seat in The Cheadle End
- Complimentary Matchday programme
Prices starting from £50…
Pareto Lounge
- Access to The Pareto Lounge
- Welcome drink on arrival
- One course hot meal
- Half Time Sweet treats and snacks
- Padded seat in Directors Box
- Match day programme.
Prices starting from £80…
As with matchday tickets, hospitality prices will also be categorised going forward this season depending on the profile of the game.
We’ve listened.
The club have issued the following statement regarding matchday ticket prices for next season 👇#StockportCounty
— Stockport County (@StockportCounty) June 22, 2023
STATEMENT AFTER BACKLASH:
Ticket Prices – We’ve listened.
Our priority focus this year in the face of global economic challenges and rising costs, was to minimise the price rises to season ticket holders.
Our season ticket holders are very important to us and are an integral part of the club, so we believed their loyalty should be prioritised where possible. We also appreciate not everyone is in a position to afford a full season ticket and we wish to remain accessible to all supporters. For this reason we applied a similar price rise to the vast majority of games for walk-up supporters, increasing adult match tickets from £20 to £22.
We decided to increase the highest-demand fixtures of the season to between £25 or £27 for an adult ticket. We have listened to fans feedback and on reflection, this increase for these high-demand fixtures was too high, and as a result we’ve made some changes to the prices and structure…
It’s always difficult balancing rising costs, affordability for supporters and our mission to make the club long-term financially sustainable.
We won’t always get it right but we’re a club that listens to fans and we can’t wait to have you back at Edgeley Park next season.
Thanks for your on-going support.
This is what fans are saying as Stockport take to lower ticket prices after backlash on the ‘outrageous’ increase…
@SCFC_UT3: Difference approx 150k of income reduced in my calculation. Fair play
@alexwest88: Fair play to reducing it but £24 is still to much for League 2 football.
@SK13County: Very very very very very good move. Thank you.
@ST_1982: No you haven’t. You’ve tested the water and made yourselves look good by “listening”. Using basic sales negotiation tactics like Skim pricing is fine when selling advertising boards but stinks when selling tickets to some of the most loyal fans in the land All imo of course.
@jonty1971: Credit to the Club for listening, and acting quickly to rectify the fundamentally flawed pricing structure (£27 for the highest category games…,this is Div 4 ffs!) announced just 5 hours ago 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👍
@Mike_Ellsmore: Better! Good to see the club are listening to the fanbase. Big one here for me is fixing the amount of games at the higher category price. No chance they can stick the last few games on a higher category should we be in a promotion race then
@SCFC_Blue_Army: ⬆️ This is why I and many others love this club 👏 Always quick to listen and rectify anything that is needed. Thank you and well done. You’ll earn all those extra couple of quids back by continuing to work with fans and doing so with honesty and integrity.
@Mad_Hatter_79: Somebody had an awkward conversation with the owner this morning didn’t they? Common sense prevails.
@daehgib: Hmm. Fair play but I’m not sure if you’ve had that up your sleeve cos you knew it was high and wanted to gauge reaction.
@GrumpyCounty: Well done on responding so quickly to the feedback but it was a really out of touch decision in the first place. You now need to look after those that kept the club alive whilst at our lowest point. Newer fans shouldn’t have the same priority as those that have been here years.
@edfen19: Well done 👍. Can I suggest it would be nice if you offered a season ticket instalment plan. I like many can’t justify paying for multiple season tickets in 1 payment. Maybe take note of a few other clubs in the league
@lukeash10: Fair play. They got it wrong and quickly corrected it. I expected nothing else. I knew they would listen 💙 £2 price increase is ok but it can’t continue. We are dangerously close to pricing some of our most loyalist of fans out. We need to address the capacity issue and quick.
@Longy19: Sorry it’s rubbish this category system for games just have a std price and knock a bit off for pizza trophy, might just go to the cheaper games on principle now
@worsleyscfc: Very commendable to admit the mistake and rectify it so quickly. Well done 👍🏻
@Madhatter_1883: It’s just a shame your disabled prices are only for those on enhanced rate of dla/pip, I have a carer but only get standard rate which means I don’t qualify for the disabled prices, which is making it harder to attend home matches as I live in Bradford and not allowed to drive.
@garnbaginator: Let’s not pretend the club are doing this out of the goodness of their heart, they have corrected a business decision gone horribly wrong to stop a total PR disaster in its tracks. If it was for the fans they would have never have hiked tickets to £27 to begin with.
Is she working for county now? pic.twitter.com/Ss2L1pcPNJ
— Ben (@Ben_SK3) June 22, 2023
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