As far as matters on the pitch are concerned, the gloom around Tottenham Hotspur is starting to lift a little. Ange Postecoglou’s team have won three straight Premier League games. Players are coming back from injury and the team is moving back up the league. They go to Alkmaar next week for a Europa League last-16 first leg which could take them one step closer to the final in Bilbao in May.
But off the pitch, the mood remains uncertain. It was only nine days ago that thousands of fans marched to the ground under the banner of ‘Change For Tottenham’. The improved league form will do something to mollify that, but only a bit. There were still plenty of anti-Daniel Levy chants in the away end at Ipswich Town, a game which Spurs comfortably won 4-1.
There is one big off-field question that will determine much of the mood on the terraces over the final phase of the season: what will the club do about ticket prices and concession policies for the 2025-26 season?
It is a question that has hung over the club all year. Ever since Tottenham announced in March 2024 that season-ticket prices for the 2024-25 season would go up by six per cent, with controversial changes to senior concession season tickets too, there has been anxiety from fans about what the next changes would be. Would the club dare to jack up prices a second year in a row? And would they soften the unpopular policies on senior concession season tickets?
There has at least been no uncertainty about when fans would learn about next season’s prices. Tottenham published a new ‘Ticketing Charter’ last March, which enshrined that prices would be announced “no later than 15 March each year”. An announcement was always expected in the next few weeks.
But we are now coming to the end of that process. Tottenham Hotspur Supporters Trust (THST) has been in negotiations with the club all year. They have another crunch meeting on Tuesday evening with the club. Throughout the process, THST have been very clear with the club that they oppose any future increases, and that there should be another freeze in season-ticket prices. The trust has also called for the club to change its policy on new senior concession season tickets.
The strength of feeling from the fans on this topic has never been in doubt. There was a meeting of the Fan Advisory Board (FAB) on 22 May 2024, three days after the end of last season. The notes from that meeting, published on the club website, say that the FAB “reiterated its unanimous opposition to the removal of any new senior Season Ticket concessions from season 2025-26, any further removal or erosion of concessions and any ticket price increases.”
When the FAB met with the club on 10 December 2024 (two days after the the 4-3 home defeat to Chelsea), the notes from the meeting again point out the strength of feeling. “FAB is opposed to any price increases for the next season,” it says. While also acknowledging that the club “continues to review senior season-ticket concessions in consultation with the FAB”.
More than two months on, with the deadline for a decision ticking closer and closer, those remain the two most contentious points. Will the overall prices go up? And will the club re-examine their unpopular pricing policy? There is certainly a degree of anxiety from fans about the outcome of Tuesday evening’s meeting, and what the policy for next season will be.
On the march on February 16, before the 1-0 win over Manchester United, high ticket prices, in conjunction with record revenues and a reduced wage bill, were consistent themes among those marching in protest against the way the club is run. One fan, Ben Kauffman, spoke about the six per cent ticket price rise from last season and his fear of another hike. “My family has come here since the 1960s,” he said, “and very, very soon, I, as the youngest person in my family, won’t be able to come here any more. I won’t be able to afford it.” Aniel, a fan who pays £1,600 ($2,020) for his season ticket, mentioned that Spurs fans “pay some of the most expensive prices in Europe”.
Other fans have aired displeasure at the recent recategorisation of Premier League matches, meaning an extra fixture falls under the more expensive Category A, and the removal of two cup games from season tickets in 2017.
To many fans, this will be the headline to come out of the club announcement. When the club raised prices in March last year, it followed only one increase (and that of 1.5 per cent) over the previous five years. “Football is not immune to the rising costs of goods and services across the board,” said the club statement, which pointed to a “significant increase in matchday costs outside of our control”, as well as the “need to continue to operate on a sustainable basis”.
There is plenty of public pressure against another price rise. First, there are the Spurs-specific demands from both the FAB and THST, both of whom have been very clear with the club over their opposition to a price rise.
Then there is the general climate. The Football Supporters Association (FSA) has run an eye-catching campaign this season under the title ‘Stop Exploiting Loyalty’, with banners held up at grounds across the country.
Last week the FSA wrote to Premier League chair Richard Masters calling for a freeze in season-ticket prices across the league. “We have the best league in the world, with some of the best atmospheres, and we want to ensure it stays that way,” wrote FSA chair Tom Greatrex. “This cannot be achieved without the backing of loyal supporters from towns and cities across the country. That love and commitment should never be taken for granted, nor exploited.”
There has been some success on this front already. Brentford and Liverpool have already announced that they would freeze ticket prices for next season. The rest of the league is waiting to see if any other clubs will follow suit.
A Tottenham Hotspur spokesperson told The Athletic: “We have formally engaged in dialogue and consultation with our Fan Advisory Board and Tottenham Hotspur Supporter Trust regarding ticket pricing and concessions on no fewer than 10 occasions since September 2024, and continue to do so.”
The other issue at stake is senior concession season tickets. Under the policy announced one year ago, no new senior concession season tickets would be created from the 2025-26 season onwards. This means that anyone who turns 66 from this summer onwards would not be able to move onto a cheaper rate. Moreover, the percentage discount for the existing senior concession senior tickets would taper down over the next five seasons so that it was only a 25 per cent reduction by the 2029-30 season.
Fans were furious. The ‘Save Our Seniors’ banner has been a common sight at Spurs games ever since, and on the protest march nine days ago it was proudly carried along the High Road to the stadium. It remains a live topic of conversation among fans. And one of the reasons why so many Spurs fans are waiting to hear the result of these conversations and the decision of the club.
(Top photo: Jacques Feeney/Getty Images)