Cheapest cup of tea in League Two at The Lamex too!
BBC Sport has revealed the results of its annual Price of Football Survey with Stevenage's continued commitment to attracting the next generation of fans highlighted in its League Two round-up.Included within the League Two article is the success of Boro's Under-12 season tickets for £25, which at the time of submitting had seen a 197% increase in attendance at The Lamex Stadium by this age group this season compared to last season. However these season tickets remain popular even now and this figure has now grown further to a 209% increase.
One of those young season ticket holders is Thomas Watts, pictured above, who was one of a select few lucky Stevenage fans who had their season tickets delivered by the players back in the summer.
Stevenage have also, once again, topped the league with the (joint) cheapest cup of tea at just £1.
The Price of Football is in its fourth year and is the largest study of its kind in Britain, covering 176 clubs across 11 division in British football and 31 clubs from 10 different leagues in Europe. As well as ticket prices, information was gathered about the price of replica shirts, pies, programmes and a cup of tea. For the first time this year Price of Football worked out the cost to supporters for each home goal their team scored.
Crowds in the Football League increased by 136,000 last season. The Championship had a total audience of more than 9.1m fans, at an average of over 16,500 per match. Only the Premier League (13.9m), Germany's Bundesliga (13.1m) and Spain's La Liga (10m) can boast more fans through the turnstiles in Europe.
The Football League’s Chief Executive, Shaun Harvey, said: “The BBC Price of Football study shows that clubs are rewarding fans for their loyalty and financial commitment with better value season tickets which has led to prices falling in the period since 2005.
"Season ticket holders are making up an ever greater proportion of the supporter base and account for 10 million of the 15 million admissions to Football League matches each season.
“With the average ticket price per match for new season ticket holders being as low as £15 in the Championship, £13 in League 1 and £12 in League 2, with even cheaper prices on offer for those supporters that are renewing, that, to my mind, offers outstanding value given the quality of spectacle on offer and certainly compares favourably with other sporting and leisure offerings.
“As the study also suggests, a consequence of providing greater value to the majority of fans at one end of the spectrum is that those fans at the other end of the spectrum, those adults paying on the day for a single match, may now find themselves paying a bit more at some clubs. However, there is also wide range of pre-match discounts and promotional offers being made by clubs in an effort to get these fans into their grounds and this is something we will explore further in an effort to help clubs increase their crowds.
“In recent seasons, Football League clubs have also made a concerted effort to get the next generation of supporters watching their local club with some success as the number of junior season ticket holders at clubs has increased by more than 30% since 2002."
For the main BBC Price of Football Survey article, please click here. To learn more about season tickets at Stevenage FC you can click here. And to buy your tickets in advance for this weekend's game with Accrington Stanley - at which you can buy the cheapest cup of tea in the league - then please click here.