3 days ago
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Football is a pricey business for supporters in 2025.
According to research, an average fan spends £3000 a year on supporting their team - not a surprise when you factor in a new kit, tickets, food, beverages and travel to matches.
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That equates to 13 per cent of the average UK salary, which is madness.
The Premier League is most expensive league to follow in Europe as a supporter with even the cheapest season tickets available costing a pretty penny.
Arsenal are the most expensive with their cheapest season ticket averaging at £60 per game, meanwhile West Ham are the cheapest with their cheapest season ticket averaging out at £19 a game.
In terms of a meal at the stadium (food and drink), the Hammers make back some of that money with an average meal price of £12 - the priciest in the league.
That's in comparison to Ipswich who have the cheapest average meal price at just £6.
So how can fans claw back the pennies at a time when football is at its most expensive to follow? Finance expert Rick Kelsey revealed his tips and tricks to talkSPORT.
Memberships and resale tickets
Kelsey said: “A lot of tickets in the Premier League and the EFL come on a members-first basis. It costs about £30 for a membership and then you get the pick of the tickets.
“It’s pretty hard to get a ticket in many places if you’re not a member and you’re going as a one-off or on a semi-regular basis, it’s probably worth getting a membership.
“Not everyone wants to do that and there are a lot of resale sites around but always check out the TrustPilot rating to make sure that if something goes wrong then you’re not going to lose your cash.
“There are some resale sites who sell tickets right up to a few hours before the game and that can mean that you get a ticket for below face value but again, check their rating and make sure your money is guaranteed if that ticket doesn’t show up.”
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Get a railcard
Kelsey explained: “What’s a railcard, you ask? There are six different railcards on offer from over-60s railcards to under-30s railcards.
“It used to be that you could only get a railcard until you were 25 but now you can a railcard until the day you turn 30 so buy a railcard when you are 29 and 364 days old and you’ll get it until the day before your 31st birthday.
“All of these railcards give you a third off tickets and if you’re thinking that you don’t fall in those age brackets, do you travel to the game with someone? Or do you know someone who is traveling to an away game with you? This is where the Two Together railcard comes in.
“I think this is one of the best railcards around – get this and it will save you a third off all of your tickets.
“Anybody can get it. A Two Together railcard and you can get it for £30 – you’ll pay that back on your first journey.”
Get the Megabus
“Have you heard of the Megabus?" asked Kelsey. "If not, there’s probably a reason as you can travel from Plymouth to Newcastle for a tenner on some of their promos - £10. That will save you more than just a few quid.
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“When the fixtures come out and you want to go to just a one-off game, try and plan that fixture in advance because rail tickets come out 12 weeks ahead of time.
“So you can book a ticket for a game in three months’ time and literally save hundreds of pounds if you’re a family traveling.”
Link your railcard to your Oyster Card
Kelsey said: “How many Premier League teams are in London? Seven.
“You can link your railcard to your Oyster card that you use to get around London’s buses, tubes and Overground network.
“Ask a TFL (Transport For London) member of staff to link your railcard with your Oyster – that means that you’ll get a third off travel while you’re in London.”
Simon Jordan hits back at Newcastle United fans over the increasing ticket prices at the club
Split tickets for trains
“If you want to book travel but you haven’t booked in advance then you can do split-ticket.
“Let’s say you’re going from Liverpool to London, you can do a split ticket from Liverpool to Birmingham and Birmingham to London.
“You can get that ticket at around 50 per cent cheaper than if you just booked the direct Liverpool to London return.”
How to get cheap train tickets with Trainline
If you're looking to save a bit of cash on away days, why not try Trainline's dedicated split ticket option?
By choosing split ticket you can slice your journey into multiple tickets and save some serious cash when compared to buying one single or return ticket by itself.
Trainline tickets will be even cheaper if you happen to have a railcard, meaning you can maximise your savings.
Cashback websites
Kelsey revealed: “If you’re buying a train ticket then think about buying it through the Uber app.
“If you buy a ticket for £50 then it gives you 10 per cent in Uber credits, so that means that you have £5 for next time you want to take an Uber.
“Taxi apps also often give you one free ride if you sign up to an app.
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“There are multiple of these apps around the country so get on these apps – the first free ride could take you from the station to the stadium for free. Say there are four of you, that’s four free journeys.”
Carsharing
Kelsey said: “Getting to games can be expensive – not just the petrol, but the parking fees as well so it’d be really good if you can split those costs.
“Your team will have a fan forum and a Facebook page. I went on one for Tranmere and we did a car share from the Wirral to the Midlands and it cost us around £20 each.
“If we had gone on our own it would have been more like £80 and we split those car parking fees.
“Look for car shares schemes on the fan pages of your team."
Rent A Drive
“Also, look for Rent-A-Drive," Kelsey said. "It’s people who live close to the big grounds – not just football, cricket or rugby.
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“People who live close sometimes rent out their driveways. It means you can park closer to the ground and might be a lot cheaper than those big car parks that can charge £20 or £30 a game.
“Google it, there will be one in a ground near you.”
Booking hotels: Use a cashback site
Kelsey said: “A cashback site basically means that you’re still going to book a hotel – you’ve found a price, you’ve found where you want to go.
“Log into a cashback site, search the hotel or the booking site and you’ll get a percentage of that booking into your cashback account.
“By the end of the season you could be quids-in. I’m talking hundreds of pounds.
“I did this for one year and earned over £1000 in cashback.”
Cheap food and drinks
“The pubs around grounds are often the punchiest and sometimes they’ll even put up their prices on game day," revealed Kelsey. "Dynamic pricing at pubs is actually a thing.
“One of the best tips I’ve used for going out in and around the games is to use the hotel bar.
“They’re often the cheapest, they often have promotions and often have special prices for people who are staying in hotels.
“If you are staying going out before or after the game then check to see if there’s a Wetherspoons in the town or city that you’re visiting because prices in Spoons are considerably cheaper than elsewhere.
“They do meal deals for a tenner where you can get a meal and a pint for £10 and on this deal you get to pick the pint so rather than pick the £2.50 one, why not pick the £5 pint?
“It’s also worth thinking about eating before you get to the ground.
“Prices in and around the ground are so expensive – you’re talking at least £5 a pint so get it before you go in.”
