The Cost of Being a Fan…

Things are happening thick and fast here, I’m shattered but I’ll be back in leafy green Reading in under two weeks time.

The package I did on the Queens speech went quite well I think, I tried some new things which kind of worked. It’s tough being in a competitive environment like this and take the decision to risk making a ‘bad package’ with the rewards of learning what works and what doesn’t work. We have to showcase our work round and whilst its rewarding and nice to get praise, getting criticism is tough to take, even if it is constructive!

 

As the time comes to go home I’m actually getting quite excited about being able to watch Reading live for the first time since September. As I’ve written here before I’ve seen Reading play live every season since 1994/1995 but the frequency I’ve gone to games has changed quite a bit over the years. At first I was hooked by the football bug, I was around nine years old and couldn’t get enough. I’d go every Saturday and to every midweek game at Elm Park, or away game that Dad would take me (or Mum would allow me too) In my first three seasons I went to Wembley, up to Tranmere, Wolverhampton, Bristol, multiple clubs in London, Swindon, Portsmouth and quite a few more.  I loved every bit of the day, from talking to my Dad, my best mate Jason or my Uncle in the car, stopping at seemingly the same service station every away trip, trying to get my favourite place on the Tilehurst End of Elm Park. I loved wearing my football kit (shorts and socks included) around the house, watching football on the TV, collecting sticker books and playing the game whenever I could. I really was totally hooked.

Which guy didn't at one time collect these? and did anybody ever find a Man United shiny in a pack?!

Back then my habit didn’t have much of a financial aspect to it, It cost my Dad £5 to take me to a game, and double that for himself and we didn’t need to make a decision about whether to go until the day itself. Even the added extras weren’t that much, parking was free around the ground, a programme cost £1.50 and a Hotdog was about £2.00. Sure the grounds were often awful, but it was all about the game.

As I got a bit older I began to fall out of love with the game though. I had friends and girlfriends and played cricket and so my Saturdays became more and more special to me, I didn’t have the same desire to stand on a wet terrace watching Reading play and whilst I went to some games, I didn’t feel quite the same.

Reading moved into the Madejski Stadium in 1998

The next few seasons saw much of the same, we’d moved to a new Stadium which initially drew me back for a few games but I was still more concerned with a social life then watching games. But by the time I was 14-15 my interest was sparked by more of my friends going to games and suddenly my social life and football came together again. Sadly it wasn’t as cheap as before and unlike when i first started we needed to pay more for tickets, more for parking and more for food, it felt less like “lets go down and watch the game” to “can we afford to go down and watch the game?” I had my first and so far only season ticket in 2002/2003 for our first season back in Divison 1 (now the Championship) and went to pretty much every game as well as some trips away.  

Sadly since that season I’ve never been a regular. First work then got in the way, I was confined to Waitrose every Saturday meaning midweek games were my only chance of seeing matches. Then in 2004 I went away to Lancaster for University which confined me to games at Holidays and some North West away games. The situation was ironically made worse by the success of the team. As we made it to the Premiership more fans came down to watch the game and suddenly I found I couldn’t even get a ticket when I came back from Uni. The club had begun a system called Royalty points which meant you got a certain amount of points for games you went too. Sadly this led to a catch 22 situation for me where by I couldn’t go to games because I didn’t have enough points and I couldn’t get points because I didn’t go to games.

But beyond the points issue was one that was even worse… Cost.  Tickets for the biggest games of the season in 2007/2008 cost adults around £35 and for me in the 17-21 category £27 with kids (under 12) at £16. Even the lowest category games were £27 £18 respectively though kids under 12 are at a very decent £6. Even so, when you consider that a Programme is around £3 and Hot-Dog and chips costs you close to £5 with a drink at £2 you can quickly see how costs rise.  So for me and my Dad to go to see Reading vs Chelsea in 2007 would probably wind up costing us £70+ a far cry from the Elm Park days when it would cost us around £25-£30. Obviously 12 years have passed but even so that’s one hell of a jump.

Even just watching games on the TV ends up costing you money. To see all of the games you’ll need a TV license, a Sky subscription and one to Setanta. Even getting highlights online requires you to sign up to a premium website!.On top of all this you have to factor in the increasing cost of fuel, the increased cost of merchandise (i.e football shirts) and all in all being a football fan is far more expensive that it used to be.

The Giant Axe, Home of Lancaster City FC

For all of those reasons i actually ended up seeing just as many games of Lancaster City who were in the Conference North (some 6 leagues below the Premiership) as I did Reading over the last two seasons.  It cost £5 to get in, you were close to the game and it felt like I was back on the terraces at Elm Park again.

It’s only now that we’ve been relegated to the Championship and prices are down (£22 for me to see a game) that I’ve started to really consider going regularly to see Reading again.

Sadly going to see football isn’t going to get much cheaper as players wages and the cost of running clubs goes up and up. However as long as there are those committed souls who fill the seats week in week out I fear clubs won’t even try and reverse this trend.

I’ve always loved and followed my team but is my refusal to pay out so much money the sign that I’m not a ‘true’ fan? I have no idea but to be honest as long as you support your team through good times and bad I consider that person to be a dedicated fan regardless of how much money they spend.  Thankful thanks to the advances in technology you can keep far far more up to date with your club then you could in the past and for that I’m personally grateful. Ironically if I reach my goal of being a sports reporter I might forever lose the chance to watch Reading week in week out, but whatever happens I’ll always be a fan.

So until the days when my wallet is overflowing or I get paid to go to games I’ll be watching from afar, but with no less passion.

~ by wimbles on December 4, 2008.