Aston Villa and West Bromwich Albion accused of "ripping off" fans over beer prices
season it soon mounts up.
“When will Premier League football clubs learn to stop taking the loyalty of their fans for granted?”
Recently-promoted West Bromwich Albion defended the decision to charge premier prices.
A spokesman said: “We continually benchmark our prices against a number of events stadia and we feel the price of our lager is competitive for a Premier League football club.
“Our lager price is considerably less than several Premier League clubs and only a penny above the average price charged by Premier League clubs.”
Aston Villa last night refused to comment on the issue, but city MP Khalid Mahmood (Lab, Perry Barr) came to the club’s defence.
He said: “If you look back to the early 80s, we had a real problem with violence and rowdy behaviour in football grounds - and a lot of it was fuelled by alcohol.
“If beer is cheap and freely available in a football stadium, it leads to trouble.
“The Liberal Democrats need to read their history books before they start attacking clubs like Aston Villa.”
Villa fan Doug O’Brien, who writes songs about the club, said: “I don’t mind paying a bit more for a pint because I want Villa to be the best.
“These clubs have a lot of costs, not least players’ wages, and I don’t mind paying that bit extra because I want to see Villa with the best players, winning matches.
He added: “It’s supply and demand. When I got to watch the Villa I have three pints because that’s what I want and that’s how much I’m willing to pay. I don’t think it’s too much at all, not for the entertainment you get when you’re there.”
* Another fascinating fact from the survey was the difference in the number of pints sold between Villa and Albion. The Liberal Democrat figures, obtained from clubs, found that an average of 7,235 pints of lager were sold at Villa Park per game, compared to 14,000 at the Hawthorns!
PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE FOR PINT OF LAGER PRICES
£4 - Chelsea
£3.50 - Arsenal, West Ham United, Manchester City, Fulham
£3.30 - Tottenham Hotspur
£3.20 - Sunderland, West Bromwich Albion, Newcastle United, Aston Villa, Everton
£3.00 - Manchester United, Liverpool, Stoke City, Hull City, Blackburn Rovers, Portsmouth
£2.90 - Bolton Wanderers
£2.80 - Middlesbrough
£2.70 - Wigan Athletic
(Liberal Democrat research )
Click here for the full table
