No new price rises – our letter to the Brentford FC board

On 11 January, we wrote to the Club board of directors individually to ask them not to raise matchday and season ticket prices for next season.

The letter is reproduced below:

We are BIAS – The Brentford Independent Association of Supporters’. We were founded 26 years ago to speak up for Brentford fans. We have nearly 2,500 members, spread across the UK and beyond.

As a committee, we are writing to ask you to not raise 2023/2024 matchday or season ticket prices. We know this decision is being taken shortly; therefore, we are writing to you now. This letter will be published on our website.

We are in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis. Inflation is rampant and really hitting pay packets right across our supporter base. The cost of food has accelerated for a 18th consecutive month and increased to 16.4 per cent year-on-year in 2022, the highest rate since at least 1977. And you’re aware of electricity and gas prices that continue to hurtle upwards with no sign of release.

So, we say to you: Brentford fans live for weekend. It’s their release from the drudgery. Any rise in ticket prices will impact them the most. Please don’t force them to make the choice between food and heating, or football. A freeze in admission could make a huge difference to adult and young fans in their monthly budget.

As a company with a turnover of £140 million pounds or more a year, any extra matchday income raise will be miniscule but hurt Brentford supporters the most. We urge you to look at discretionary matchday and non-matchday spending instead to soften the impact in these incredibly desperate times.

Yours sincerely

The BIAS committee