“Part of our ethos is that we always want to keep ourselves as affordable as we can. We are always concerned about the number of seats at the lower end of the price scale. We are trying to ensure that there will not be a huge increase if any [at the new stadium]. The hope is that we can go in on the same prices as Highbury.
“If you look at seats in the current stadium for £30 or £40 then we hope equivalent seats in the new stadium will be £30 or £40. There will be more seats at £60 and £70 than we have here at Highbury but we hope the like-for-like seats will be close to the same prices. And of course the facilities will be much better.”
To be quite frank it all sounds a little optimistic to me. Season ticket holders have seen the price of their annual ticket double in the last 8 years, and match-by-match prices have crept up at a similar rate.
Complaints have been muted because of our exceptional performances on the pitch, but the fact is that many fans (of the type that we need) are simply being priced out of the ground.
Despite the fact that more tickets will be available, the likelihood is that matchday crowds will consist of a combination of corporate bods for whom the costs are largely irrelevant, and existing hardcore fans (like me) who will simply go on paying the money because of our bond with the club.
I see very little potential for 'new' fans to get in on the act at reasonable prices.
This is going to be a balancing act for the club which they simply must not botch, and many people won't be filled with optimism by Edelman's use of the words 'hope' and 'trying'.