Chelsea fans accuse club of ‘exploiting loyalty’ as Premier League make contact

Chelsea have increased ticket prices by an average of 17 per cent in the last two seasons and the club’s official supporters’ group have vented their fury at the ownership, accusing them of alienating the core fanbase

Chelsea fans have slammed a new ticket pricing strategy and accused the club of “exploiting the loyalty of those people who are the lifeblood of the club.”

The Chelsea Supporters’ Trust says season ticket prices have increased by an average of 17 per cent in the last two years and members are angry at new booking fees, decreasing concessions and a £60 “priority” membership.

They have now surveyed their members and the CST says it is joining the Football Supporters’ Association’s nationwide Stop Exploiting Loyalty campaign.

A CST spokesperson said: “Piece by piece, Chelsea FC is alienating a large part of our core fan base with decisions that will slowly force supporters to pick and choose which games they attend.

“The exploitation of members is also a worry, and we are deeply concerned that the increasingly bad deal that members have will negatively impact our club for generations to come.

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“This should be a huge wake-up call to the owners and the senior leadership team within the club. Supporters are rejecting the decisions made by the club and are evidently unhappy with the current path being taken.

“Not only is it ethically wrong to exploit the loyalty of the lifeblood of our club, but it is strategically short-sighted and obliterates any trust or goodwill that had started to be built by recent positive initiatives.”

The Premier League has already contacted Chelsea over complaints that a ticket resale company part-owned by co-owner Todd Boehly, Vivid Seats, was selling seats for sky high prices.

Chelsea reported a pre-tax profit of £128.4m last year and could earn £97m from the Club World Cup. Less than 30 per cent of members thought prices were acceptable.

The CST added: “Despite record-breaking profits, Chelsea FC has broken its commitment to ‘maximise all other revenue streams before increasing costs for supporters’ by introducing a range of new policies that hit the pockets of loyal supporters.

“The CST has consistently warned the club that time after time they are making poor choices that infuriate supporters. This statistic is therefore really alarming and cannot be ignored.”

Chelsea said recently they had consulted with the Fan Advisory Board and added: “As a club, our priority is to ensure that we are making the right decisions for the long-term sustainability and success of the club.”

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