After sensationally seeing off Paris Saint-Germain in the Round of 16 of this season’s Champions League, Manchester United were rewarded with arguably the hardest tie they could be afforded in the Quarter-Finals. Barcelona, their victors in the last two European finals, are the Red Devils’ opponents.
The Blaugrana - with their famous motto ‘More Than Just A cCub’ and currently the second richest football club in the world by revenue - are charging travelling United fans £102 to witness the second-leg at the Nou Camp live. 4,610 tickets are available to the away fans, all available to far sold out.
13-time Premier League champions Manchester United have now stepped in to help their support;
“We believe that our travelling supporters are again being subjected to increased/excessive ticket prices from the host club,” a statement on United’s website said (via The Guardian).
“We have again taken the difficult decision to charge Barcelona fans the same amount Barcelona are charging for the away fixture (£102). We will use the additional revenue gained to subsidise our travelling support by paying the £27 price difference” (via The Guardian)
It’s not the first time a Premier League club has had to step in to stop the loyal fan being royally rogered this season.
Somewhat selfishly, the ongoing Spurs stadium kerfuffle has blighted their season and unfairly affected many an opponent they’ve come up against this season. The Lilywhites faced some Wembley booking congestion, after their new stadium was delayed yet again and they were unable to play their scheduled fixture against Manchester City at their temporary home of Wembley on the arranged day.
After refusing to compensate the travelling Blues fans - though Spurs’ stadium costs have skyrocketed to £850million - City announced they would refund all coach and train tickets bought by the fans who were unable to make the journey down on the Monday night it was rearranged to, the day after an NFL game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Jacksonville Jaguars who had visibly annihilated the surface.
Fans had their sweet revenge however, with the Cityzens running out 1-0 winners at Wembley.
Leicester City also rewarded fans throughout their historic title-winning season in 2014/15, but didn’t let their recognising of loyalty slide. This season the Foxes provided complimentary better (or water) and mince pies for their fixture at the King Power against Manchester City on Boxing Day.
In the same month, Southampton fans felt the full brunt of the Christmas spirit, with the club’s sponsor, Virgin Media, taking £10 off their £30 trip to Stamford Bridge to face Chelsea. Watford did a similar reward for hungry hungry Hornets, giving road-warriors a £10 food and drink voucher for making the trip to Liverpool to face Everton.
