Festive football costs soar as fans fork out up to 468 to attend matches Cost of supporting your football club away over Christmas revealed

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1 FOR IMMEDIATE USE Twitter: #XmasFtball Festive ftball csts sar as fans frk ut up t 468 t attend matches Cst f supprting yur ftball club away ver Christmas revealed Away fans will spend mre than 170 n average ver the festive perid watching their team Plymuth Argyle fans impacted the mst paying 468 and will spend ver 26 hurs n the rad Match-ging fans will clck up 32,388 miles seeing their team in actin Nttingham Frest fans will pay 42 fr a ticket away at Leeds United n New Year s Day - the mst expensive away ticket acrss all the leagues Plymuth Argyle fans face the highest cst and mst arduus jurneys t watch their team ver the festive perid. This is accrding t annual research carried ut by the Ftball Supprters Federatin (FSF), and supprted by Virgin Media, int the cst f Christmas ftball. The analysis includes ticket, travel and fd csts, plus jurney times, incurred by supprters f all 92 clubs acrss the Premier and English Ftball fr festive fixtures played between Bxing Day and January The findings shw that Plymuth Argyle fans will spend times mre than the lwest csts paid by Mrecambe FC fans ( 42.89). The Pilgrims will travel mre than 1,000 miles t get behind their team at MK Dns n Bxing Day and Blackpl n December 30. Premier Prices Overall, the average fan will spend t watch their team this Christmas, where supprters f 46 clubs will travel twice t supprt their teams away. In ttal, Premier fans will pay the mst ( ) t watch tpflight ftball ver the Christmas break. On tp f csts, sme fans will have t travel huge distances t attend games acrss the cuntry. Ttal distances that will be travelled range frm 20 miles (Chelsea away at Arsenal) t 1,096 miles (Plymuth Argyle at MK Dns and Blackpl) taking between 1hr 41mins and 26hrs 47mins respectively. The findings underpin the FSF s Twenty s Plenty campaign, backed by Virgin Media, which calls n clubs t cap the cst f an away ticket t 20. Kevin Miles, Chief Executive, FSF said: "Despite mney being tight arund this time f year, supprters will be travelling up and dwn the cuntry ver Christmas and New Year t back their teams in remarkable numbers nce again. "Away fans are a huge part f ur match-ging traditin and that shuldn't be taken fr granted, s clubs and spnsrs can and shuld d mre in making ftball as affrdable as pssible." As the fficial shirt spnsr f Suthamptn FC, Virgin Media is n the side f fans this Christmas by subsiding Suthamptn supprters cach travel and match-day tickets fr the Saints game against Tttenham Htspur at Wembley Stadium. Crystal Palace fans visiting St Mary s n January 2 will als have their tickets subsidised t 20 as part f Virgin Media s nging cap n away ticket prices at the stadium.

2 Key findings frm the research: Cst by Premier Champinship 1 2 Average cst (per fan) Highest Cst Manchester City (Away vs Newcastle United Dec 27 and Crystal Palace Dec 31) Fulham (Away vs Cardiff City Dec 26 and Hull City Dec 30) Plymuth Argyle (Away vs MK Dns Dec 26 and Blackpl Dec 30) Lutn Twn (Away vs Swindn Twn Dec 26 and Prt Vale Dec 30) Ttal average: N/a N/a Lwest Cst Chelsea (Away vs Arsenal Jan 3) Sheffield United (Away vs Derby Cunty Jan 1) Gillingham (Away vs Charltn Jan 1) Mrecambe (Away vs Accringtn Stanley Jan 1) Distance travelled by Average driving distance (miles) Mst travel Premier Brightn Hve Albin miles (Away vs Chelsea Dec 26 and Newcastle United Dec 30) Champinship Fulham miles (Away vs Cardiff City Dec 26 and Hull City Dec 30) 1 Plymuth Argyle - 1,096 miles (Away vs MK Dns Dec 26 and Blackpl Dec 30) Yevil Twn miles (Away vs Cheltenham Dec 26 and Mrecambe Dec 29) Ttal average: 360 N/a N/a Least travel Chelsea 20 miles (Away vs Arsenal Jan 3) Sheffield United 82 miles (Away vs Derby Cunty Jan 1) Gillingham 59 miles (Away vs Charltn Jan 1) Mrecambe - 91 miles (Away vs Accringtn Stanley) Match-day ticket csts by Average matchday Mst Expensive Ticket Cheapest Ticket ticket cst Premier price cap Suthamptn FC 20 (Away vs Tttenham Htspur Dec 26) Crystal Palace - 20 (Away vs Suthamptn FC Jan 2) Bth subsidised t 20 by Virgin Media Champinship Nttingham Frest - 42 (Away vs Leeds United Jan 1) Fulham 18 (Away vs Hull City Dec 30)

3 1 22 Dncaster Rvers - 28 (Away vs Peterbrugh United Jan 1) Rchdale 10 (Away vs Dncaster Rvers Dec 29) All Jan 1 Stevenage vs Cheltenham Twn Yevil Twn vs Crawley Twn Lutn Twn vs Lincln City Ttal average: N/a N/a Wycmbe Wanderers - 16 (Away vs Frest Green Rvers Jan 1) Nte t editrs ENDS This seasn, Virgin Media is subsidising every visiting supprter s ticket frm every Premier club travelling t Suthamptn meaning adult fans will pay just 20 t see their team play at St Mary s. Virgin Media became the fficial shirt spnsr f Suthamptn frm the 2016/17 seasn. The csts incurred by away ftball fans are calculated based n the three runds f fixtures between December and January teams will play away twice, meaning 46 clubs will nly travel nce. These findings have been calculated based n a range f factrs: Ttal average cst figure is calculated based n csts incurred fr match-day tickets, travel and fd and drink. -based averages and away attendance assumptins per league are based n Premier data which shwed average away attendance was 2, 262. English Ftball average away attendances based n (latest available): Champinship 1,400, One 668 and Tw 473. Travel: Ftball stadium pstcdes were used as a prxy fr pint-t-pint travel estimates. Driving distance and jurney time were measured in miles, based n the shrtest driving travel time frm stadium t stadium using Ggle Maps. Public transprt travel time data was taken frm Ggle Maps, extracted at the same time as driving infrmatin. Public transprt csts were based n recmmended rutes as defined by Ggle Maps, extracted frm Trainline.cm n 14/12/17. Train ticket prices were taken n 14/12/17 fr Anytime Day Return tickets. Same day return travel assumed, therefre n cst f accmmdatin included. Driving csts were calculated using return drive distance multiplied by a price per mile f t reflect ptential winter weather cnditins, rads wrks and additinal cngestin Typical ftball match travel data was used t calculate the split between passengers driving t games and thse arriving n public transprt. An effective average was then calculated fr any fan travelling t each game which blended the different driving and public transprt csts. This was discunted t accunt fr car sharing. The 32,388 miles figure is based n the ttal distance travelled by all 92 clubs playing away games ver the festive perid. The ttal distance travelled by all away fans attending games ver the Christmas perid is estimated at 38,241,406 miles. This is calculated by multiplying the distance each away team will travel ver this perid by the average away fan attendance in that respective league. Ticket Prices: Highest price taken fr an adult ticket listed n clubs websites r, where nt listed, price was quted by clubs ticket ffice n telephne fr match-day tickets. Fd and drink: Csts are based n survey results by league, as reprted in Dr t turnstile imprving travel chices fr ftball fans (page 15) Campaign fr better transprt 2013.

4 RANK (Ttal Average Cst) Team Ttal avg. driving distance (miles) Ttal avg. travel time (mix f car and public transprt) (minutes) Ttal avg. cst fr being an away supprter ( ) 1 L1 Plymuth Argyle 1,096 1, PL Manchester City CH Fulham CH Nrwich City L2 Lutn Twn PL Brightn & Hve Albin PL Swansea City 722 1, L1 Charltn Athletic PL Stke City CH Reading CH Wlverhamptn Wanderers L1 Shrewsbury Twn PL Watfrd PL Suthamptn L2 Yevil Twn 772 1, L2 Clchester United L1 Bristl Rvers L1 Oxfrd United L2 Barnet CH Sunderland L1 Peterbrugh United L1 Nrthamptn Twn CH Astn Villa PL Leicester City CH Sheffield Wednesday L2 Cventry City L2 Newprt Cunty A.F.C CH Prestn Nrth End CH Derby Cunty L2 Ntts Cunty PL Tttenham Htspur PL Evertn L1 Walsall CH Leeds United L2 Crewe Alexandra L2 Frest Green Rvers L2 Stevenage PL West Ham United L2 Mansfield Twn CH Brentfrd L2 Accringtn Stanley PL West Brmwich Albin CH Bltn Wanderers L1 Scunthrpe United L2 Lincln City L2 Cheltenham Twn

5 47 CH Queens Park Rangers L1 Rtherham United PL Newcastle United L2 Wycmbe Wanderers L1 Wigan Athletic PL Arsenal PL Burnley CH Cardiff City L2 Carlisle United L2 Swindn Twn CH Millwall CH Bristl City L1 AFC Wimbledn CH Birmingham City L1 Fleetwd Twn L2 Crawley Twn CH Ipswich Twn CH Middlesbrugh PL Huddersfield Twn CH Barnsley L2 Grimsby Twn L1 Miltn Keynes Dns CH Hull City CH Nttingham Frest L1 Oldham Athletic L1 Dncaster Rvers L1 Rchdale L2 Chesterfield L1 Prtsmuth PL AFC Burnemuth L1 Bury PL Crystal Palace CH Burtn Albin L2 Exeter City PL Liverpl CH Sheffield United PL Manchester United L1 Blackburn Rvers L1 Bradfrd City PL Chelsea L1 Blackpl L1 Suthend United L2 Cambridge United L2 Prt Vale L1 Gillingham L2 Mrecambe