Liverpool Owners Scrap Ticket Price Increase and Apologise to Fans

Just when it seemed hope was lost, fan power has shown itself to be alive and well in English football. On Wednesday night it emerged that Liverpool's supporters have won an impressive victory over the club's owners, Fenway Sports Group (FSG), in their battle against escalating ticket prices.

Last weekend, supporters walked out of their side's clash with Sunderland in the 77th minute to protest the new £77 tickets that were set to be introduced in Anfield's main stand next season. The volume of supporters making for the exits – an estimated 10,000 – was a huge symbolic success. To add to this, Liverpool threw away a two-goal lead and drew with the struggling Black Cats.

The message to the owners was clear: you're nothing without the fans.

This was followed by a barrage of negative press, excellent expletive-ridden rants from fans (see video below), and vocal criticism from Liverpool club legend Jamie Carragher.

Now, in an unexpected climbdown, Liverpool's principal owner John W Henry, chairman Tom Werner and president Mike Gordon have issued an open letter that apologises for and withdraws the price hike, while also making further concessions to the fans.

"The three of us have been particularly troubled by the perception that we don't care about our supporters, that we are greedy, and that we are attempting to extract personal profits at the club's expense. Quite the opposite is true," says the statement, which can be read in full here.

"A great many of you have objected strongly to the £77 price level of our most expensive [general admission] seats and expressed a clear expectation that the club should forego any increased revenue from raising prices on [general admission] tickets in the current environment.

"Message received."

The letter states that Liverpool will freeze their highest general admission ticket at the 2015-16 price of £59. The same goes for their most expensive season ticket, which will remain at £869. This applies for the next two seasons, meaning there will be no increase until at least 2018.

Liverpool will also end the unpopular policy of 'game categorisation', whereby high-profile matches cost more than those against smaller sides. As of next season, a seat will cost the same price whether the opposition is Manchester United or Bournemouth.

Other initiatives include a small number of £9 general admission seats being offered for every Premier League match (10,000 across the season, which equates to a little over 1% of seats per game) and 20,000 tickets being available across the season at a 50 per cent discount for 17-21-year-olds.

Getting young people back into stadiums is seen as crucial: the average age of a Premier League attendee is now 41, with the 16 to 30 bracket largely frozen out by escalating costs.

The two groups responsible for last weekend's protest – Spirit Of Shankly and Spion Kop 1906 – issued their own statement in response to FSG's change of heart. Their tone was hardly one of celebration, however.

"Today's announcement has to be seen a positive step in repairing the relationship between owners and supporters. If they had recognised what was being said by supporters about the impact of the original price rises (perhaps by actually meeting with their own Ticketing Working Group) then much of the embarrassment and upset of the last four days would have been avoided. It is a sobering lesson in listening to your supporters properly.

"We welcome these changes from the owners and that they have recognised the mistake made and apologised for it. We take no delight in them being wrong. It helps no one. What is important though is that a lesson is learned and that proper engagement and taking note of supporters' concerns occurs and those views are taken more seriously."

The statement adds that FSG's climbdown does not represent the end of the groups' efforts, and "more must be done to make football affordable."

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp enjoyed a famously strong bond with fans at his previous club Borussia Dortmund, and has been trying to foster a similar relationship at Anfield. It's hard to say if Klopp had any involvement in FSG's climbdown, but one imagines he is happy with the outcome. After the protest, he said the "sigh" from the supporters had been received, and confirmed that the club would look for a solution.