Is modern football really too expensive? It's a question I recently asked on my #thecourtofsport series on youtube following a recent BBC Price Of Football survey which revealed that the cheapest average ticket in the Premier League had raced ahead at twice the rate of inflation over the last four years.
That research brought forth the usual howls of outrage to the effect that traditional fans have been priced out of the game. It's a sentiment that instinctively I shared - there are few of us who go to matches who haven't blanched at the price of a seat in the away enclosure at Stamford Bridge or Old Trafford.
But I was keen to strip away the reflex anger and look at the stats. After all, and at the risk of coming over as some kind of amateur Milton Friedman, you can't really judge whether something is too expensive on the basis of what people say - only by what they do.
If you take that view - the view that something is only worth what people are willing to pay for it - it's impossible to escape the conclusion that despite all the moans and groans about the cost, we are more willing to splash out top flight football than at almost any stage in history.
The basis of my stats by the way is the wonderful European Football Statistics website. This shows that the average Premier League attendance last season was 36,670. The last time English football enjoyed that kind of boom was in the post-war era when the working classes - deliriously demobbed - headed to a match at every opportunity.
Even then, last season's average top flight gate was only exceeded in 1949 and 1950.
A far better comparitor is 1967 - the year after Bobby Moore had lifted aloft the Jules Rimet Trophy. England were World Champions, Best and Charlton were in their pomp, and clubs with their gigantic terraces took a "one more on top" attitude to crowd safety. Essentially, if you wanted to see a match you could just rock up at 5 to 3 and expect to get in.
But even in '67, the average top flight gate was 30,770 - almost 6,000 fewer than in last season's Premier League.
All this, in an era when there's unprecedented access to live footy on free to air terrestrial television, which boasts regular Champions League coverage and FA Cup ties, as well as highlights on Match of the Day.
Now let's be honest about this. It's hard to imagine someone working for the minimum wage and with a family to keep regularly going to the match - especially at clubs like Arsenal, where season tickets start at around £1,000. Some poorer sections of the working class HAVE undoubtedly been priced out, but with an average gate of 36,000 not every Premier League can be chomping on a Prawn Sandwich.
And while it's true our gates lag behind those in Germany, to be fair they have never matched the levels now enjoyed in the Bundesliga (average 43,699).
We should also remember that in 70's and 80's especially, gates were boosted by much larger away followings than is common now - as a fan I regret the latter-day squeeze on visiting supporter as it robs stadiums of atmosphere. But on the flip side, clubs are now attracting significantly more "home" supporters, including women, which can only be regarded as a sign of progress.
Modern top flight football in England may be many things - greedy, arrogant, out of touch. Perhaps. But too expensive? The numbers just don't add up.
That research brought forth the usual howls of outrage to the effect that traditional fans have been priced out of the game. It's a sentiment that instinctively I shared - there are few of us who go to matches who haven't blanched at the price of a seat in the away enclosure at Stamford Bridge or Old Trafford.
But I was keen to strip away the reflex anger and look at the stats. After all, and at the risk of coming over as some kind of amateur Milton Friedman, you can't really judge whether something is too expensive on the basis of what people say - only by what they do.
If you take that view - the view that something is only worth what people are willing to pay for it - it's impossible to escape the conclusion that despite all the moans and groans about the cost, we are more willing to splash out top flight football than at almost any stage in history.
The basis of my stats by the way is the wonderful European Football Statistics website. This shows that the average Premier League attendance last season was 36,670. The last time English football enjoyed that kind of boom was in the post-war era when the working classes - deliriously demobbed - headed to a match at every opportunity.
Even then, last season's average top flight gate was only exceeded in 1949 and 1950.
A far better comparitor is 1967 - the year after Bobby Moore had lifted aloft the Jules Rimet Trophy. England were World Champions, Best and Charlton were in their pomp, and clubs with their gigantic terraces took a "one more on top" attitude to crowd safety. Essentially, if you wanted to see a match you could just rock up at 5 to 3 and expect to get in.
But even in '67, the average top flight gate was 30,770 - almost 6,000 fewer than in last season's Premier League.
All this, in an era when there's unprecedented access to live footy on free to air terrestrial television, which boasts regular Champions League coverage and FA Cup ties, as well as highlights on Match of the Day.
Now let's be honest about this. It's hard to imagine someone working for the minimum wage and with a family to keep regularly going to the match - especially at clubs like Arsenal, where season tickets start at around £1,000. Some poorer sections of the working class HAVE undoubtedly been priced out, but with an average gate of 36,000 not every Premier League can be chomping on a Prawn Sandwich.
And while it's true our gates lag behind those in Germany, to be fair they have never matched the levels now enjoyed in the Bundesliga (average 43,699).
We should also remember that in 70's and 80's especially, gates were boosted by much larger away followings than is common now - as a fan I regret the latter-day squeeze on visiting supporter as it robs stadiums of atmosphere. But on the flip side, clubs are now attracting significantly more "home" supporters, including women, which can only be regarded as a sign of progress.
Modern top flight football in England may be many things - greedy, arrogant, out of touch. Perhaps. But too expensive? The numbers just don't add up.
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