Merseyside MP Tables Early Day Motion In Support of LFC Ticket Protest
Southport MP John Pugh says football clubs need to return to being 'the life and soul of the community'.
John Pugh MP, for Southport, has today tabled an Early Day Motion in support of the action of Liverpool Football Club supporters who walked out of the game against Sunderland at the 77th minute on Saturday
Mr Pugh has said “football clubs like LFC should be the life and soul of their community” and that the increasingly corporate nature of the sport has come at the detriment of supporters who are being priced out of the game.
The action came in protest to the proposed move by Fenway Sports Group, the owners of the LFC, to increase the top price of Premier League games from £59 a game to £77 a game from next season when the new Main Stand will be in use.
John has praised the decision to try and increase the number of young and local fans into Anfield, but has said the move hasn’t gone far enough, and that the increase in TV revenue from next season was an opportunity to encourage more supporters to attend games at cheaper prices, but that the action of FSG has only further priced out most people from attending the games.
Mr Pugh, himself a Liverpool supporter has tabled the motion asking fellow MPs to work with local supporter’s groups across the country to prevent football becoming entirely determined by money and economic interest.
Jay McKenna from the Spirit of Shankly group told Radio City "We have said to Liverpool this is just the start. Liverpool Football Club need to reconsider. I spent 13 months in meetings about ticket prices coming up with ideas and suggestions to ease the burden on supporters. But the club didn't even have the decency to reply.
If the media reaction is anything to go by, such as Alan Shearer on Match of the Day, I don't think there's anyone out there who doesn't understand the argument."