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Leeds United: Harvey defends season ticket price rise
Leeds United chief executive Shaun Harvey has defended season ticket prices for the 2010-11 campaign as "fair" and said the club should not be accused of taking existing holders for granted.
United unveiled renewal prices for the forthcoming season yesterday, announcing a range of rises for their 11,298 season ticket holders.
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The increases ranged from nominal jumps in the East and West Stands to a rise of around 10 per cent in the Kop, where season tickets will cost 450 for adults and 230 for under-16s next term.
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The prices have been set in anticipation of Leeds winning promotion to the Championship, though the League One club will make the concession of free tickets to a number of Carling Cup and Johnstone's Paint Trophy ties if they are forced to endure a fourth year in their present division.
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United's new rates are lower than they were during their last season in the Championship - the 2006-07 term – but they are likely to be amongst the most expensive in that league should Simon Grayson's squad gain promotion during the final 13 games of this term.
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Harvey said the prices had been calculated by Leeds to maximise their income and ensure the club are able to meet their liabilities next season.
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United continue to pay an annual sum of around 2million to rent Elland Road and their Thorp Arch training ground, a lease which the club say adds 3 to the price of every match-day ticket.
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They were, however, able to post an operating profit of almost 1million in the last financial year and could reveal positive figures again when their latest accounts are published at the end of this month.
United's chief executive also expects the funds raised from season tickets to help Grayson, the club's manager, to establish Leeds in the Championship, assuming his squad take advantage of their promising League One position.
Harvey told the YEP: "We do appreciate that supporting Leeds United is a significant financial contribution on behalf of the fans and it's not something we take for granted.
"Different clubs have different agendas with season tickets. Some seek to achieve as high a crowd as possible. Some like to try and achieve as high an income as possible. Not everyone works on the same criteria.
"We base our projections on income to make sure the club can cover our
liabilities. We need to make sure that our income matches our expenditure. Because we rent Elland Road, it works out approximately that for everybody who comes through the gate – be that with season tickets or matchday tickets – the first 3 goes to pay for our ability to play here. If the club held the freehold, we would obviously take that into account.
"We've always looked at what Leeds United need to take the club forward. We're not concerned about prices other clubs charge. Those who have a lower cost base or lower ambition can obviously charge less.
"The club will cost more to run (in the Championship) but the income we generate as a Championship club would be in excess of that. This is more about how much money you can make available for the playing squad."
Leeds reduced their season ticket prices after suffering relegation in 2007, trimming down early renewal costs which ran as high as 670 for seats in Elland Road's East and West Stands.
Harvey said a reduction in the club's wage bill caused by the departure from Elland Road of several high-earning players – among them Gary Kelly, David Healy and Robbie Blake – had allowed Leeds to adjust their costs at the end of a term in which the club averaged home crowds of around 19,000.
For the past three seasons, Leeds have budgeted on an average attendance of 22,000, though Harvey expects that figure to rise should United rejoin the Championship in May, heightened by more attractive fixtures and higher away followings.
United's board would be expected to finance necessary improvements to Grayson's squad in preparation for England's second tier, a division in which Leicester City have made swift progress after winning League One last term. By comparison, Peterborough United, who finished immediately behind Leicester 11 months ago, are bottom of the Championship and virtually relegated.
Harvey said: "It's easier to ensure that you don't end up in the bottom three than it is to ensure you're in the top three.
"You can make sure you stay in the Championship but to go beyond that needs more than money – it needs a bit of luck and for all the things you buy to work for you.
"We've been consistent since Simon Grayson became manager, and before then, in looking to give our managers whatever support they need. That will continue to be the case.
"When we came down from the Championship (in 2007), season ticket prices were reduced as a result of expensive player contracts coming to a conclusion. Our cost basis wasn't the same.
"What we've done this year is invest heavily in the playing squad – not in transfers fees particularly but in terms of the wage bill. We wanted the best players possible to get us out of this division.
"Investment doesn't always mean spending 3m on a centre-forward. It can be judged in many ways, like the number of players you sign and the wages they earn."
United's early renewal prices for Elland Road next season range from 450 to 560 for adults, 175 to 385 for juniors, and 305 to 440 for senior citizens and disabled fans.
Leeds United Supporters Club spokesman Dave Gaertner said: "Our view would be that the increases as a whole are pretty reasonable, but we're a bit disappointed that prices are going up at all considering the profit that was announced by the club – and particularly that season ticket holders in the Kop are being hardest hit.
"But the prices are probably lower than we all assumed they would be, and if we go up then so much the better."
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