Stags’ prices under BBC survey microscope

The average price of the cheapest tickets across English football has risen at almost twice the rate of the cost of living since 2011.
The One Call Stadium, home of Mansfield Town FC.The One Call Stadium, home of Mansfield Town FC.
The One Call Stadium, home of Mansfield Town FC.

And while Stags fans pay the second lowest price for a prime position season ticket behind Bury, they also pay a little above average for the whole traditional matchday experience of admission, programme, pie and tea.

BBC Sport’s Price of Football study has analysed how much fans are charged at 207 clubs and the average price of the cheapest match-day ticket from the Premier League to League Two is now £21.49.

It has increased 13 per cent since 2011, compared to a 6.8 per cent rise in the cost of living.

Year-on-year it is up 4.4 per cent, more than treble the 1.2 per cent rate of inflation.

In the Football League, the average cost of the cheapest match-day ticket increased 31.7 per cent in League One and 19% in League Two. In the Championship, the average price fell 3.2 per cent.

The most expensive of the top of the range season tickets in League Two are at Exeter City where it would set you back £490. Wycombe charge £452 and AFC Wimbledon £430.

Stags’ top ticket comes in at £330 with only Bury cheaper, where all their tickets retail at £250.

The cheapest season tickets at One Call Stadium are £270, only just above the average price of £263.79, with Dagenham and Redbridge’s the cheapest at £179.

Stags’ cheapest matchday admission is £20, and with a programme at £3, pie at £2.50 and tea at £1.50, that is £27 for the cheapest full matchday experience, the same as at Portsmouth’s Fratton Park. Only seven clubs work out more expensive on that basis.

That same combination comes in at £30.20 at Northampton – the most expensive - and £29.80 at Plymouth Argyle, but £21.80 at Burton Albion – the cheapest.

At £2.50, the pie at Mansfield is the joint cheapest in League Two with seven other clubs, well below the £3.20 charged at Bury, Cheltenham and Shrewsbury. Brighton & Hove Albion in the Championship charge a staggering £4.10.

As far as adult replica shirts are concerned, Stags come in at an average £40, six clubs charging more and seven charging the same.

On Mansfield’s admission prices,Stags fan Jake Allsop told Chad: “Too high, although they are the same at a lot of L2 grounds, £22 on the day is too much, and prices a lot of people out.

“The attendances this season say it all, we’ve already lowered last season’s lowest twice. Three seasons ago you could watch in the Quarry Lane End for £15.”

Just up the road, Chesterfield have the most expensive season tickets in League One - more than the cheapest price at some Premier League clubs.

The cheapest Spireites season ticket at £345 - more than Aston Villa, Burnley, Stoke City and even Premier League champions Manchester City.

Chesterfield supporters can pay up to £550 for a season ticket at the Proact Stadium, which is higher than the most expensive ticket at Sunderland, Swansea and West Bromwich Albion.

The cheapest day out a supporter can have watching a Chesterfield home game, purchase of a pie, programme and tea is £28 - 21 pence cheaper than the average day out in League One.

Among other local rivals, cheapest admission (£20), programme (£3), a pie (£3) and a cup of tea (£2.10) means a day out at Nottingham Forest comes to £28.10.

At Notts County the cheapest admission is £22 with a programme (£3), pie (£2.70) and cup of tea (£1.80) bringing the total to £29.50.

Down in the Conference, Alfreton Town’s admission price of £18 is among the more expensive in the Premier, though the Reds do offer cheaper early bird and group saver deals. Their ‘full matchday experience’ comes to £24.20.

Surprisingly, the same cheapest matchday at Derby County in the Championship can come in as low as £18, beaten only by Huddersfield Town in that division at £17.80.

Crowds in the Football League increased by 136,000 last season. The Championship had a total audience of more than 9.1m fans, at an average of over 16,500 per match.

Only the Premier League (13.9m), Germany’s Bundesliga (13.1m) and Spain’s La Liga (10m) can boast more fans through the turnstiles in Europe.

Football League chief executive Shaun Harvey said: “Season ticket holders are making up an ever greater proportion of the supporter base and account for 10 million of the 15 million admissions to Football League matches each season.

“As the study also suggests, a consequence of providing greater value to the majority of fans at one end of the spectrum is that those fans at the other end of the spectrum, those adults paying on the day for a single match, may now find themselves paying a bit more at some clubs.”

Arsenal have the most expensive match-day ticket in the Premier League at £97 - down £29 on last season but still more than double the most expensive at seven other top-flight clubs

The Gunners also have the most expensive season ticket in the top flight at £2,013, although it includes seven credits for cup competitions. Their cheapest season ticket is £1,014, which is more than 17 Premier League clubs charge for their most expensive one.

Manchester City have the league’s cheapest season ticket at £299.

That’s cheaper than at 15 Championship clubs, 10 clubs in League One, four in League Two and even one in the Conference.

Charlton’s £150 season ticket is the cheapest in England’s top four divisions. However, Barcelona charge around £103 for their lowest-priced season ticket.

To see the full BBC survey click HEREWhat do you think of the cost of going to see the Stags? Email your views to Stephen Thirkill