Manchester City have revealed their stance on Premier League admission for next season, announcing a price freeze on season cards and game-by-game tickets.
Regular match-going Blues will be buzzing to hear that the cost of going to the ground won’t be increasing as expected after all, with the East Manchester side delighting supporters with news of a ticket freeze on all domestic league games for the 2025/26 campaign.
Although this season has been an up-and-down one for the recent Treble winners and record-breaking four-time consecutive Premier League champions, this will come as a nice surprise.
For context, Man City season ticket prices have gone up almost every year bar 2020 – when football was being played behind closed doors during the pandemic – for the past half a decade.
Ticketing Update:
We can confirm that general admission season ticket and Premier League match-by-match ticket prices will be frozen for the 2025/26 season.
Confirming the decision in a brief statement shared on the club website and social media channels, City said that the outcome arrives following “the latest consultation meeting with its elected fan engagement programme, City Matters”.
“The Club would like to thank City Matters representatives for the feedback they provide on a range of topics relating to ticketing, and for sharing a broad range of perspectives from the fans they represent”, the statement continues.
“The Club and City Matters will continue their ongoing discussions and consultations throughout the coming months around the evolution of the fan experience on matchday in the redeveloped and expanded Etihad Stadium.”
In terms of the stadium expansion, not only do the ongoing works include increasing the fan capacity to more than 60,000, but they will also be accompanied by a new sky bar, roof walk and on-site hotel.
The official hotelier partners for ‘The Medlock’ were recently revealed too, which could prove to be a game-changer for making the Etihad Campus the ‘year-round entertainment destination’ they’ve been dreaming of.
No doubt, all-in-one ticket prices for Man City matches and hotel stay packages will be introduced too.
While a season ticket freeze is no doubt a good thing, the news has been met with a somewhat measured response by most fans, with one responding in the comments below: “That’s a good start, now let’s reduce them.”
Popular fan podcast The City Ramble went on to add: “A step in the right direction now time to make tickets more affordable for everyone.”
Moreover, it’s also worth noting that this decision to freeze season tickets and general matchday admission only relates to the Premier League; Manchester City has yet to detail the prices for 25/26 cup games and European fixtures.
The lowest possible season ticket price at the Etihad Stadium currently is around £540 in the Family Stand/Colin Bell Stand/South Stand pitchside, with single match tickets starting from roughly £30 for juniors and approximately £58 for standard adults.
On the other hand, while averages range close to £800-900, the top end touch four figures and some single matchday tickets push the £75 mark.
Darts returns to Manchester as Premier League dates are confirmed for 2026
Danny Jones
The schedule for the 2026 Premier League Darts tour has been officially announced, with the PDC’s annual championship returning to Manchester once again.
PDC Premier League fixtures continue to grow in popularity both in TV figures and live match attendance, with a whole new generation of fans getting into ‘the arrows’.
Just as it has for decades now, league darts is coming back to Manchester city centre and the legendary AO Arena once again, with our date landing right in the middle of the season.
Booking a big night right in the middle of a crucial period in the competition? It sounds like 0161 is set to welcome another blockbuster night up at the oche.
Confirmed on Thursday, 11 September, next year’s PDC Premier League Darts campaign will get underway in February, spanning the course of four months and eight countries.
Of the European cities on the circuit, the tournament will be heading to Belgium for the very first time, as the AFAS Dome in Antwerp replaces Exeter.
Elsewhere on the continent, there are two other mainland evenings in Germany and the Netherlands, along with multiple Northern dates here in the UK, such as Liverpool, Leeds and Sheffield.
As for Manchester, we’ve been selected for round nine of 17 (including the finals), with the AO Arena set to welcome multiple favoured competitors from the North West, including 18-year-old phenomenon Luke Little from down the road in Warrington, as well as Stockport’s very own Nathan Aspinall.
It was an unforgettable experience for Aspinall last time around in his local event, as he finally managed to win a PDC Premier League night on home turf for the first time in his career.
Those hoping to enjoy a night of darts in front of a Manchester crowd on April 26, 2026, still have to be patient for now, as general admission is still a little way off.
However, if you are interested, you can sign up for the AO’s newsletter to find out more information and get yourself on the waiting list early.
Better, if you go straight through the PDC, you can throw your hat in the ring for the presale window right now and be first in line to grab tickets when they go live.
You can do so HERE and, until then, get your signs and fancy dress at the ready because we’ll be heading back to the ‘boring, boring tables’ soon enough.
See the 2026 PDC Premier League Darts schedule in full down below:
Manchester City said no to a pretty significant player swap with Liverpool last year
Danny Jones
Manchester City reportedly rejected a transfer proposal involving swapping one of their youngest and most exciting stars with close rivals Liverpool in 2024
This could have proved to be an interesting one…
Man City aren’t exactly short on forwards at the moment and have brought in plenty of attacking options over the past year, and with Erling Haaland breaking all manner of records up front for them, they didn’t find it too hard to sell on another promising young striker in Julián Álvarez for a club record sale.
However, as per recent claims made by a Telegraph Sport journalist, there was a possibility of Álvarez swapping the blue of City for the red of Liverpool.
🚨🚨| In summer 2024, when Liverpool realised Luis Díaz wanted to join Man City, their recruitment team proposed the Colombian to the Etihad Stadium in exchange for Julián Alvarez. Man City said: “We don’t sell to rivals." Liverpool said: “Neither do we then."
That’s according to football writer Chris Bascombe, anyway, who recently wrote that the two Premier League sides could have engaged in a player swap deal were the division’s then Treble-winners willing to negotiate with the only other team that has really contested the title with them in recent years.
As you can see, Bascombe states that Luis Díaz wanted a switch to the Etihad Stadium even before the current English champions shuffled their front three.
This has been backed up by The Times’ Paul Joyce as well, who says that the Colombian winger was ultimately “unsettled” by interest from City and others
Díaz (who recently signed for Bayern Munich) made it clear he wanted to play under Pep Guardiola, and it seems there was at least some willingness from the Merseyside outfit.
Provided they get an increasingly wantaway Julián Álvarez in return.
With Haaland having been brought in and making himself comfortably the go-to number nine for what could very well be the next decade, they clearly saw an opportunity to offer him an alternative, but Man City simply said, “We don’t sell to rivals.”
Ultimately, the now 25-year-old World Cup winner went to Europe, joining Atletico Madrid for a whopping £81.5m.
Regardless, it seems hard to imagine not only two top-flight English teams doing a deal like this but to picture what it would have been like to see Álvarez, who was still very highly thought of among a large section of supporters, being cheered on by the fans inside Anfield.
The Argentinian striker – though he has been utilised in a variety of positions at the top end of the pitch – has well and truly shone in La Liga, and now looks like he could be set to swap Madrid for Barcelona.
Álvarez has apparently made it clear to those closest to him that he wants Barca, and despite the summer window closing, the Catalan giants could pursue a deal to sign him next year when his contract expires, or indeed, even go after him this January.
Meanwhile, after bringing in plenty of new talent over the past few months, with Manchester City now effectively being given the green light to proceed with a major commercial sponsorship deal, you could very well see yet more big money being spent in seasons to come.
Danny Jones -
9th April 2025 
