Stockport County have issued a statement confirming that they will be lowering their ticket prices ahead of next season after a raft of complaints from fans.
Following their promotion back to the EFL, recent refurbishment to the stadium and the “rising costs” across the board over the past couple of seasons, County saw fit to increase matchday prices ahead of the new campaign whilst still hoping to “minimise the price rises for season ticket holders.”
As a result, the club decided to raise the standard walk-up prices for adult tickets from £20 to £22 — not a huge bump, to be fair but every penny counts; however, when it came to the most in-demand fixtures, prices were increased to between £25 and £27.
Unsurprisingly, with the current cost of living crisis affecting everyone, many fans described the hike as everything from “laughable” and “outrageous” to “pricing the average fan out of [going to games]“. Issuing a response to the backlash, the Greater Manchester side are now course-correcting.
As the Hatters’ statement reads: “Our season ticket holders are very important to us and are an integral part of the club, so we believed their loyalty should be prioritised where possible. We also appreciate not everyone is in a position to afford a full season ticket and we wish to remain accessible to all supporters.
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“We have listened to fans’ feedback and on reflection, this increase for these high-demand fixtures was too high and, as a result, we’ve made some changes to the prices and structure…
“It’s always difficult balancing rising costs, affordability for supporters and our mission to make the club long-term financially sustainable.”
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Sharing their newly revised matchday prices, here’s how much it will now cost to go and watch a Stockport County game:
Adult season tickets are £435 or £405 for existing members renewing (Credit: Stockport County)
Parting on a message recognising supporters’ patience, the club ended their statement by saying, “We won’t always get it right but we’re a club that listens to fans and we can’t wait to have you back at Edgeley Park next season. Thanks for your ongoing support.”
Many fans understand the club’s ambitions and desire to climb further back up the pyramid, only narrowly missing out on back-to-back promotions into League One at the of this past season, but the consensus seemed to be that the initial figures were simply unreasonable for tier four football.
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While the majority are still very much of the long-standing opinion, “twenty’s plenty”, it’s good to see the club engaging with their supporters so directly, swiftly and honestly.
In contrast, at the top end of English football, some fans are even struggling to get a spare ticket off their mate…
Details released of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners while Mayor
Emily Sergeant
Details of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners during his tenure as Mayor of Greater Manchester have been released.
In case you need bringing up to speed on the situation a little first, Manchester City was found guilty back in September all of its charges related to the Premier League’s financial rules over a nine-season period, and on top of that, was also found guilty of the majority of charges in relation to its failure to co-operate with the League’s investigation.
According to the Premier League, the independent Commission found that Manchester City had arranged so-called ‘sham’ commercial deals with a number of its sponsors.
These were part of a disguised funding scheme – with those sponsors only required to pay a portion of the relevant sponsorship fees.
The remainder was then funded by Abu Dhabi United Group Investment & Development Ltd (ADUG), which owned the club.
The Commission also concluded, as quoted by the Premier League, that the club had ‘made concerted efforts to stop and frustrate the Premier League investigation’.
Within the past week or so, it has since come to light that now-Prime Minister Andy Burnham had dealings with Manchester City during his tenure as Greater Manchester Mayor, and Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has now issued a public statement, giving details on the matter and what these ‘dealings’ entailed.
A spokesperson for GMCA confirmed that Burnham had a ‘formal meeting’ with Man City Chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, back in October 2021.
The statement reads in full: “In October 2021, Andy Burnham, in his role as Mayor of Greater Manchester, had a formal meeting with Khaldoon Al Mubarak at the UK Government’s Global Investment Summit arranged by the Department for International Trade.
“In his capacity as Mayor, he was a guest of Manchester City FC at home matches on a small number of occasions, including attending Vincent Kompany’s testimonial match in September 2019, where he met the Chairman informally in the stands. These have been declared in the usual way.
“Also during his time as Mayor, representatives of Greater Manchester sporting clubs would routinely join business delegations as part of Mayoral international visits.
“This included representatives from Manchester United travelling to Austin and Dublin, Lancashire Cricket Club joining a delegation to India, and Manchester City FC staff supporting visits to China and Japan.”
Featured Image – Lauren Hurley / Number 10 Downing Street (Press Image via Flickr)
Sport
Multiple arrests made for ‘tragedy chanting’ and police officer assault as Man City defeated Liverpool
Emily Sergeant
Multiple people were arrested over the weekend as Manchester City defeated Liverpool in a Premier League clash.
Merseyside Police have confirmed that a total of 10 people were arrested during the policing operation at Liverpool’s home ground of Anfield as they hosted Manchester City on Sunday 11 October.
One man was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police constable, five were on suspicion of tragedy chanting, one on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly, two for affray, and one on suspicion of throwing items onto the pitch.
Police are now appealing to the public, and are particularly looking to speak to witnesses of the assault of the officer.
At around 6:35pm, as fans left the stadium, a police officer sustained a ‘serious facial injury’ during the arrest of a man on Anfield Road, and was subsequently taken to hospital for treatment but is now recovering at home.
Investigating officers are now conducting enquiries, speaking to witnesses, and analysing CCTV and camera phone footage.
Chief Inspector Leanne Hobin said it’s ‘extremely disappointing’ that an officer has sustained a serious injury while carrying out their duty.
“I hope the arrests send a clear message and act as a deterrent to others,” Chief Inspector Hobin continued. “Anyone who engages in this abhorrent behaviour risks ending up in custody and getting a criminal record.
“Despite the actions of a few, the overwhelming majority of the 60,000 fans in attendance behaved well and I want to thank them for their co-operation.”
Manchester City ended up defeated Liverpool 3-0 during the Premier League clash at Anfield.
Danny Jones -
22nd June 2023 
