Hartlepool United announce 2003/4 Prices

By Albatross
May 12 2003

Hartlepool United have announced the prices of both on-the-gate admission and Season Tickets for the 2003/4 campaign in Division 2. Season Tickets go on sale on May 19th - but how competitive are Pools prices?

Adult Tickets have gone up by £2 in all areas, while concessions have gone up by £1. Students will qualify for concessions, but only if the buy their ticket in advance. This means it will cost £13 to stand and £15 to sit for adults, with Concession prices at £7 and £6 respectively - cheaper in the Family Stand.

It's not a surprise that prices have gone up, with the need to fund better players and the prospect of a Salary Cap looming; still, a £2 increase on adult tickets is bound to cause a bit of grumbling. The club say that the prices will be competetive for the division we're in; a quick bit of googling reveals that although there are some cheaper, it's not a lot of difference. Port Vale for example are charging £13.50 to sit - but as Vale Park is all-seater, these are also the cheapest tickets available for adults. Tranmere's prices vary, but look likely to be similar to Pools, while anyone intending to travel to Sheffield Wednesday may have to expect to pay out more than £20 for an adult ticket.

On the other hand, the Season Ticket prices aren't quite such good value. If you miss the initial discount, the price of a season ticket is exactly the same as paying on the gate for every game for the adult tickets, although for Child tickets things are a lot better. The discount is only available if you apply before Friday June 6th, and in effect means you get three games free.

Compare this to Sheffield Wednesday, and you discover that it's actually cheaper to get a season ticket for the North Stand at Hillsborough than it is to buy one for the Cyril Knowles stand - and their discount period lasts until the end of June. Other clubs such as Chesterfield are also offering better season ticket deals, even if their match admission prices are going to be much the same as at Pools. Prices at Darlo are also lower, but then again they are a division lower and have a ridiculously large stadium to try and fill.

Prices of the "Big Three" will of course still be well in advance of anything Pools are charging; all the more reason to visit Victoria Park.

Credit has to go to the club though for their policy on Children's Season Tickets. A Child's ticket for the Family Stand is just £15 when bought with an adult ticket, and for the rest of the ground it's £60 for the first child and then £30 each for the next two. This means that an adult taking two kids into the Cyril Knowles will be paying about £16.50 a game, as opposed to almost £30 on a match by match basis.

Full details are available on the Official Website; it will be interesting to see how many people renew their tickets after we reached a record high last season.