Barnet rip-off

[Steelworks End]

As supporters planning on visiting The Hive tomorrow, may already have noticed, admission charges for away fans for a seat in one corner at one end of the ground are £20 adult / £13 concession/ £5 u-17. This is the only area of the stadium available to us. Home supporters, however, can choose to stand for £10/£5/£1. A massive price differential.

This appears to be in breach of the National League rules requiring both sets of supporters to be charged the same amount and, where no terrace is available to visitors, the stand admission must be limited to the cost of the terrace admission.

Barnet club officials seem to be aware of this but are not prepared to do anything about it; for anyone with the time or inclination, there is a 17 page thread on the Barnet forum concerning this (I got bored reading it after around 3 pages!)

Also for anyone wanting a match day programme, forget it; Barnet do not offer a printed version, only an online one.

In their previous spell at this level Barnet - and their Underhill ground - used to be a friendly and welcoming club to visit. Not now.

[Si_Nichols]

John - whether or not they are breaking rules is possibly open to debate but what they are doing is acting against the spirit of football in general. Even the Premer League has recently extended a scheme for away fans to cap prices at £30

As you are aware I have contacted Barnet FC to complain about the pricing policy and copied in the National League and the FSF (Football Supporters Federation). In their reply, Barnet FC failed to even acknowledge or address the main point about the price differential but instead babbled on about offering great value for money in their high quality state of the art facilities offering a dedicated and re-furbished bar for away fans. They also went on to state that one of the reasons for charging these prices was due to player wage inflation - I think the FSF are particularly interested in monitoring their further replies and have contacted me.

What I would ask anyone going tomorrow if you can is please do not spend any money in their ground other than the ticket entrance price. To me they are ripping off away fans to fund their living beyond their own means. They drew a crowd of around 900 on Tuesday night in a game between two clubs who were in the football league last season which is a damning indictment of their ticketing policies. The fact that we can't get a bus for this one when it will be a new ground for many (a lot of us attended Barnet's old ground of course) may also be partly due to the prices being charged.

So if you agree with the above please could I ask you to boycott Barnet's facilities and spend your time and money elsewhere in someone that appreciates your custom more.

[AugustusCorpa]

I definitely won’t be spending any dosh there.

[daltonafc]

What if we go and all get tickets for home terrace and go in there instead

[Lancaster Branch]

This appears to be in breach of the National League rules requiring both sets of supporters to be charged the same amount and, where no terrace is available to visitors, the stand admission must be limited to the cost of the terrace admission

Is that still the rule John? I had a cursory look at the league rules recently for something else and saw the mention of equal prices for equal facilities but not the bit about charging the terrace price for the seats if no terrace is made available.

[BeeArmy1888]

Barnet fan in peace.

Have been watching this from a distance and the rule was changed earlier in the season.

Our most similar ticket to what you get in the away end is £22.

What we get for £10 is awful. Low view, almost no facilities and generally poor football.

What you get for £20 is a great view, superb facilities and a really good bar. And usually three points too.

I know the price difference might be tough to stomach but hopefully you'll see the difference when you visit!

[Steelworks End]

Is that still the rule John? I had a cursory look at the league rules recently for something else and saw the mention of equal prices for equal facilities but not the bit about charging the terrace price for the seats if no terrace is made available.

From reading the thread on the Barnet forum, Dave, it is (or was?) in the NL Handbook rather than the rules available on their website. It may have changed, I don't know. But even If it has, surely such a massive difference in the minimum amounts charged to home and away supporters is against the spirit of the rules. And as Si mentions, Barnet have ignored his complaint about this. The whole thing stinks.

[Spanner]

The league rules on the National League website don't include the appendices. The full version (as posted at the start of the season by a Daggers fan on the the thread John refers to) is here: http://files.pitchero.com/leagues/7700_1535534893.docx

Appendix R includes:

5. Home Clubs unable to supply a standing amenity to visiting supporters, or withdrawing a standing amenity to visiting supporters must provide access to an appropriate seating area at the same price as the standing amenity afforded to home supporters. Visiting supporters must not be financially disadvantaged by being asked to pay more for seating where no standing facility is provided for them, but is available for home supporters.

It seems that after their home game with Daggers at the start of the season (when it was £10 for home fans to stand) they were forced by the league to change their pricing in line with the above rule, so changed it to £20 to stand (with an any 3 matches for the price of 2 offer). See here:
https://www.barnetfc.com/news/2018/sept ... ket-price/

Then in December, they announced that there had been a recent rule change by the league (though I've not found any official mention of this by the league themselves anywhere online) which meant that they could go back to charging £10 for home standing (or as they somewhat ironically put it "fair pricing for all fans"). See here: https://www.barnetfc.com/news/2018/dece ... on-prices/

Assuming that what Barnet have posted about the rule change is true, then it's a poor move by the powers that be at the league. No surprise there though.

And quite why this game needs to be segregated anyway given the likely attendance from both sets of fans is another matter altogether.

[Steelworks End]

What we get for £10 is awful. Low view, almost no facilities and generally poor football.

What you get for £20 is a great view, superb facilities and a really good bar. And usually three points too.

At least you get a choice; we don't - and that is the issue.

It may well be a really good bar, but many of us will be boycotting your catering facilities in protest at being ripped off on the admission prices.

We'll welcome the three points though - although that is dependent on us being able to score one of our rare goals!

[Lancaster Branch]

Cheers Spanner and SE.

[L NOTS]

You can get s printed programme. Someone does them to order. Probably cost more for away fans plus postage. Barnet fan I know still saves them.

[L NOTS]

You can get printed programme. Someone does them to order. Probably cost more for away fans plus postage. Barnet fan I know still saves them.

[Colin Appleton]

I actually started a thread on the Barnet fans forum earlier this week to make the same point. Barnet supporters are clearly aware of the situation as it's been a massive talking point among visiting fans. There was talk that Dagenham and Redbridge Supporters Club were making some type of official complaint. It's a shame really because it's nothing to do with the fans it's the club that's at fault but I'm sure if the roles were reversed they would also be complaining. I'm all for watching football at this level at £10 shame the deal isn't open to both sets of fans. Having said that I'll be at the match tomorrow. Three wins in the next week and we get ourselves in the play off mix.

[boyliegladbach]

Just make them the go in the stand at holker st next season so any travelling fans have to pay £2 extra.

[EL CHAS]

Football is rip-off these days- I heard some northern non league club is charging two quid just to park your car!!