By Anthony Onifade

8th Mar, 2023 | 7:10pm

Leeds United box their own fans into corner with 49ers the only hope as Phil Hay shares update

Leeds United have boxed their fans into a corner with the reported rise in ticket prices and their only hope is if part-owners 49ers enterprises provide some sort of a cash boost.

The Athletic reporter Phil Hay reported on 8 March that cost of season tickets at Leeds is going up, by 10 per cent for next season.

The increase in prices is the second rise in 12 years but also the second 10 per cent rise in two as revealed by Hay.

Season ticket holders will have from 3pm on March 6 until April 7 to renew their pass for next season before it is offered to the 21,850 supporters on the club’s waiting list, according to LeedsLive [6 March].

And in such a difficult climate, where the cost of living is increasing with every passing week, Leeds supporters who feel the cost of next season’s prices are too inflated face the danger of losing their spot for years.

If club fans feel that the prices are too high and don’t want to pay, the presence of 22,000 others on the waiting list who have expressed an interest in purchasing it is there to tell them that there are individuals who feel they can pay it.

Many of the Whites faithful will certainly be questioning why prices are rising so much, with the club currently not offering the kind of football worthy of increasing the cost of tickets.

Hay revealed: “Supply is nowhere near demand and however poor Leeds’ performance over the past 18 months has been, nothing in Elland Road’s ability to sell out, the jostling for away tickets or the scale of the waiting list suggests that demand will die overnight. Relegation would hurt, and relegation would see Leeds reverse the 10 per cent rise for next season, but the same principle applies: give up your seat and when are you likely to get it back?”

Fans who can’t pay the increase are stuck in a corner stacked with a tough decision, they either pay the new cost of tickets or lose their seat potentially for years due to a 22k-long waiting list.

With the club’s part-owners 49ers Enterprises set to take full ownership and control in the summer, what solutions can they provide? They can probably ease the issue by providing a cash boost in building a new stadium or expanding Elland Road.

Whatever the solutions are in the end, the moral of the story is supporting football clubs is certainly becoming way too expensive these days, especially in the current climate where the cost of living is also increasing also. With the increase in ticket prices, most supporters are terribly stuck between a rock and a hard place.