Middlesbrough fans have been left disgruntled by the price of many an away ticket price this season

When Kim Hellberg’s Middlesbrough side travel to Bolton Wanderers on Friday evening, they will be backed by a remarkable 5,100 Boro supporters who will also make the trip.

Not for the first time this season, and certainly not for the last, Boro fans are showing their incredible commitment and passion for backing the club.

But there’s a problem. ‘We’re being exploited,’ agree two supporters who have attended every home and away game so far this season.

Including a £1.50 service charge, the cost of an adult ticket for the Bolton Wanderers game was £37.50. Prices have been in a similar range for Boro’s other away games so far this season, and ticket details for the upcoming trip to Watford were announced on Wednesday, once again priced at £37.50.

Rob Nichols, who is part of Boro’s new Fan Advisory Panel and runs the Fly Me To The Moon fanzine and forum, points out: “If you head a few miles south, you could be visiting Arsenal, Tottenham or Chelsea for just £30. It makes no sense.”

That’s because the Premier League introduced an away ticket price cap that was extended at £30 for another two seasons recently. No such cap exists in the EFL, but the calls for such are increasing by the day.

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Boro fans have reacted furiously to the price of away tickets for a few seasons now, with prices rising and rising. Shockingly, says Rob, who works closely with the Football Supporters Association (FSA) to record away ticket prices, the average price of an away ticket for Boro last season rose above £30 for the first time. Currently, we’re on track to see that average rise above £35 this term.

Add in the fact that there’s also an extra four away games in the Championship compared to the Premier League, how long before we reach a point where supporters who are desperate to back their club are simply priced out of going?

“We are being exploited for our passion and loyalty, absolutely,” says Nick Waites, who was last season labelled a Middlesbrough superfan after surpassing 1,400 consecutive games attended both home and away (excluding the Covid season where fans were unable to attend). His run continues, with Nick targeting 1,500.

Nick looks at the away ticket prices through a unique lens as both a passionate, well-travelled supporter, but also an accountant.

He adds: “The demand is there because we keep buying them. So the argument from the club’s perspective would be, the price is what people are willing to pay, and fans are paying it, so they’re maximising revenue.

“But at what point does it get to a stage where people start saying, ‘No, I'm not going’? I’m in a really lucky position where I can afford to go despite the rising prices, but many will not be in the same position if prices continue to rise.

“The whole thing is crazy, isn’t it? With no cap in the Championship, you’re now paying more for Championship football than the Premier League. There’s just no logic there. I don’t think there’s an answer there unless it’s through regulation.

“Bolton know that by charging us £36 they can sell them. It's almost a moral obligation in my opinion. If Bolton had charged £30 instead, the difference is only 5,000 times £6. Once you take VAT and tax out, it's not a massive number when compared to overall revenues. There's no reason why a £30 cap couldn't be imposed.”

As things stand, a price cap in the Championship seems a long way off, however. It’s understood that, among the clubs, it continues to divide opinion.

In comparison to the Premier League, where broadcast revenue eclipses match-day income, many Championship clubs still rely heavily on the money made on selling tickets.

That’s at a time when last week’s Independent Football Regulator State of the Game report highlighted just how vulnerable many clubs are financially.

Middlesbrough’s head of supporter engagement Craig McManus recently guested on the Typical Boro Podcast and was less than optimistic about the prospect of a ticket price cap anytime soon.

He said: “I think we’re still quite a way off bringing one in, if I’m being honest. There’s still quite a way to go for that to become a universal focus.

“Different clubs carry different challenges, but I believe the Football Supporters Association are working closely with fan networks at various clubs to try and work out what a cap might look like in the future.”

The FSA, on their website, say of EFL ticket pricing: “With the continuation of the good news in the Premier League, as well as other leagues such as Ligue Un in France instituting a price cap, the issue of ticket prices in the EFL has come under even greater focus. The Championship is now one of the most expensive divisions in the world for away supporters.

“We continue to work with our EFL fan group representatives to bring positive change in not only the Championship, but Leagues One and Two as well – highlighting the worst offenders, but doing our bit to highlight best practice, too.

“Through our EFL Networks we continue to encourage clubs and fangroups to lobby for league-wide away ticket price caps and reciprocal deals – where both sets of fans can realise a saving – as well as working towards a longer-term solution to the problem of high ticket prices.”

Middlesbrough did recently agree a reciprocal deal with Cardiff City, which meant Bluebirds fans paid £22 for their tickets to last weekend’s game at the Riverside. When Boro make the trip for the reverse fixture in mid-January, Boro fans will pay the same price.

But such deals with other clubs are not common. McManus spoke honestly about the deal and the price of away tickets during his podcast appearance.

He admitted that the one reservation Boro had was that Cardiff fans would effectively pay around £10 less for their ticket to the game than a Boro fan just a couple of blocks away.

Thankfully, the club put the offer to the Fan Advisory Panel, however, and the decision was made to do the deal with Cardiff. Rob says, through the Fan Panel meetings and discussions between supporters on the FMTTM forum, the general consensus was massively behind the reciprocal deal.

Not only will Boro fans who travel to Cardiff later in the season benefit, there’s a general camaraderie and appreciation between football fans of the sacrifices made and extra costs to travel to away games, which means most would never begrudge an away fan paying slightly less.

“It’s the bigger picture,” Rob says. “Not only can it benefit the atmosphere inside a stadium when teams bring bigger away followings, but the local economies benefit too.

“Away fans might need to use local hotels, and will almost certainly use local bars and restaurants. We’re increasingly finding away fans are keen to see more of the local area when they’re travelling up too. So there’s so many reasons why making away games more affordable for fans is the right thing to do.”

Reciprocal deals are a positive step to help fans, but only work when two clubs are willing to reach a deal.

Where they’re not, the EFL have rules in place which means that host clubs can only charge away fans the same amount as home fans sitting in comparable accommodation.

But there’s already been instances this season where clubs have looked for ways around this to ensure they can charge Boro fans more for tickets.

At Blackburn, for Boro’s first away game of the season, they categorised the game as a category A+ game, meaning that they could charge the highest possible price to Boro fans, who are well-known to travel in high numbers. Bolton have done the same for Friday evening’s game.

Blackburn were criticised at the start of the season for increasing their home ticket prices from the originally announced price. They said the ‘regrettable’ decision was ‘due to EFL Regulations which prevent Clubs from charging higher admission prices to visiting supporters for seats which are comparable’.

There was further uproar at the fact that a section of Boro upper-tier tickets were price-matched to the opposite Blackburn End upper tier tickets - a stand which is empty on match-days as there’s not enough demand to open the stand.

Tickets aren’t on sale on the Blackburn website in that stand for this weekend’s clash with Wrexham again. But tickets are still available in every other home section of the ground.

Concessions have proven another bone of contention. Watford fans housed in the exact same stand as Boro fans next month at Vicarage Road can get U18 tickets for between £3-£5 in what is their family section. The away tickets for Boro U18s are £10 (not including the £1.50 service charge).

“These examples show that regulations can and are being flouted - the only solution is a blanket cap,” Rob insists.

Nick agrees, concluding: “It just feels wrong. Football has moved from being a working-class sport to an industry. But the frustrating thing is, if every player was paid 10% less, you could let the fans in for free.”

Last week’s State of the Game report highlighted how spending in the EFL, and particularly the Championship, is out of control. The question is, however, should it be the fans who pay the price for the bad business decisions and poor financial control?

If prices continue to rise and fans stop going - either out of principle or worse because they simply cannot afford to anymore - it begs the question: What are we doing it for? Football without fans is nothing.