It’s a brilliant day in Sunderland, two hours earlier than kick off, and Billy Grant wouldn’t be wherever else. Exterior the Peacock pub his pint is interrupted by a sequence of well-wishers, principally listeners of his Beesotted podcast. One has travelled to look at Brentford from Baltimore within the USA.
“Folks listed below are very nice, Brentford and Sunderland followers are mixing,” says Grant. “I wish to go to soccer to talk to opposition followers. I’m pleased to spend cash to come back to a spot like this, however within the Premier League there’s a whole lot of golf equipment the place, as a Brentford fan, you’ll be able to’t be arsed. They don’t give a monkeys about you or your soccer membership and it’s a very c–p expertise.”
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These days are made worse by the price of watching soccer in 2025. That is an account of the present expertise for followers in England, in contrast with travelling to a recreation in Serie A. Grant has spent round £300 on journey, match tickets and lodging this weekend, though he concedes he might have discovered a less expensive resort. Away ticket costs are capped at £30 within the high flight, a welcome initiative. Any ensuing financial savings don’t go far when paying for reprehensible rail fares.
“Within the Championship we went to each single recreation residence and away for about six years,” says Grant. “We had been very organised and at the moment you may purchase prepare tickets 12 weeks prematurely and stand up to Preston for 15 quid, 30 quid max for those who had been a bit late.
“Now, since lockdown, it’s ridiculous. I’ve observed a whole lot of soccer followers have stopped taking the prepare. It’s cheaper to drive up, keep the night time in an inexpensive B&B and drive again residence the following day.”
My journey to Sunderland
My tickets from London to Sunderland had been bought shortly after TV picks for the primary set of Premier League fixtures had been introduced, ie, about as rapidly as potential. Any earlier risked being caught with trains for the fallacious time, or the fallacious day. They nonetheless price £178.49.
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As a twin nerd of rail journey and ground-hopping I do know it’s often potential to safe cheaper tickets with sufficient planning, however 12 weeks prematurely of Sunderland vs Brentford the fixture checklist had but to be launched. Though , a 5.5 per cent fare rise is forecast subsequent 12 months on this nation, .
Thom’s journey north began at King’s Cross station in London – Eddie Mulholland
Brentford fan George is on my morning service out of King’s Cross, three and half hours in modest consolation which nonetheless feels faintly upsetting, given the value. “It’s probably not sustainable for most individuals,” he says. “I don’t have a mortgage to pay, I dwell at residence. I’ve come by myself however for those who include youngsters you may simply spend £300, which is a psychological worth.”
He praises his membership’s affordable season tickets however the price of transport is changing into untenable, particularly when his younger particular person’s railcard expires subsequent 12 months. Even with that 30 per cent low cost, artistic scheduling is usually required “I get a whole lot of weird-timed trains, which I wouldn’t suggest. I’ve obtained caught in locations earlier than and generally you’re not getting again to London till 1.30am.”
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Ben Hardie is promoting Sunderland fanzine A Love Supreme exterior the Stadium of Gentle. He follows Sunderland residence and away with a fanbase which suffers greater than most for long-distance journeys. Typically he’ll use the supporter coaches which the fanzine runs. “Lots of people carry packed lunches now, I don’t know if that was frequent 10 years in the past. I used to be at Cardiff a couple of years in the past and it was seven quid for a burger, how is that even potential? I believe a fiver is honest for a pint, however I believe that’s warped by residing within the north east.”
Thom tucks right into a balti pie in Sunderland
Inside the bottom I’ve a superb view from my seat within the West Stand which price £43.50. The match is the standard elite blood and thunder of the Premier League, error-prone however compelling sufficient. It’s enlivened by a late Sunderland equaliser and even later winner for Wilson Isidor.
Wilson Isidor capped a unbelievable day for Sunderland – Getty Photos/Alex Livesey
After a rooster balti pie (£5.20, hotter than the solar) and a pint of lager (£5.75, could possibly be far worse) the overall price of the day is £232.94.
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*We’ve discounted the price of travelling to the London terminus for each journeys, as followers’ literal mileage will fluctuate relying on how shut they dwell to related station/airports. For the document, the price of journey from my residence to King’s Cross and again was £38.80 cheaper than the Stansted equal. Even taking that into consideration, the journey to Juventus nonetheless got here in £26.61 cheaper.
My journey to Turin
Two weeks later a extra garlanded fixture is going down in Serie A, Juventus vs Internazionale. Return flights from Stansted to Turin price me £59.64, a 1,040 mile spherical journey for five.2p per mile. London to Sunderland return, 480 miles in complete, was 37.2p per mile*. In fact it’s price range air journey, so I really feel punished at nearly each stage of the method, however I can journey with out maintain baggage and a sub-two hour flight is tolerable. Leg room be damned.
“Often it will get very costly round February when individuals go on their ski journeys, however for the remainder of the 12 months it’s fairly affordable,” says Gregorio Sorgi, a member of Londra Bianconera, the official London Juventus fan group.
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Juve followers complain extra concerning the worth of tickets and you’ll see their level. The most affordable grownup seat I can discover for the Derby d’Italia is €100 (£95.36) “Tickets went up large time once we purchased Cristiano Ronaldo,” says Sorgi. “I principally go to away video games. A number of weeks in the past I went to look at Genoa vs Juventus and it was within the area of €45 (£39.05), I don’t understand how that compares to a Premier League recreation however in Italy salaries are decrease, so it’s not insignificant.”
On the strategy to the Allianz Stadium the house followers exhibit their enduring love for Alessandro del Piero and cigarettes. There’s little conviviality between Juve and Inter followers, as you’ll count on for one of many greatest rivalries in Italian soccer, however no indicators of aggro both. Some ragazzi in Curva Nord Inter t-shirts are unbothered as they sip bottles of Ichnusa perched on the open boot of their Fiat.
Contained in the stadium the environment rapidly eclipses something I’ve skilled in Premier League soccer. The ultras are in place an hour earlier than kick-off, the noise is relentless, the temper teeters between pleasure and fury. “For my part it’s a more true, extra genuine if just a little bit extra rugged soccer expertise,” says Anthony Phillips of Aficionados Soccer Journey. “I’ve discovered the environment within the UK just a little bit sterile now, a bit too business. That has its benefits, it’s nice for households. However for those who go to a Serie A or Serie B recreation then come again to England you’ll discover an enormous distinction. The pyro, the tifos, the flags, the noise. It’s night time and day.”
Thom attended the Derby d’Italia, the place his ticket worth practically touched £100 – Shutterstock/Alessandro di Marco
Chris Willis fell in love with Inter as a result of they shared a blue and black-striped equipment along with his English membership, Gillingham. He now plans lengthy weekends in Italy to make sure he’s not the sufferer of an elastic strategy to fixture scheduling, the place video games might be moved at even shorter discover than in England. “As soon as I labored out how low-cost it was to get there and again it was a no brainer actually.” On his final journey to Milan a return from Stansted to Bergamo price him £37. “Park on the airport was costlier than my flight.
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“The climate is generally higher, the meals is best, you’re trusted to have a beer within the floor. You very not often see any police on the recreation, or a lot stewarding. Folks simply get on with it. It’s only a extra satisfying place to be.” Nonetheless, there are drawbacks. “The ladies’s rest room on the San Siro is a gap within the floor. Each time we go my daughter complains.”
None of that contained in the newish residence of Juventus, which changed Stadio delle Alpi in 2011. It’s a sometimes well-appointed trendy stadium and as soon as the joys of legally having fun with a credibly chilly pint of lager (€7/£6.05) within the seats has subsided I obtain my greatest shock of the journey. Sadly there isn’t a sight of a rooster balti pie. I settle as a substitute for a ham and cheese focaccia (€7.50/£6.48) and brace for the worst.
Thom exterior Juventus’ new stadium
As an alternative I encounter crisp, lightly-toasted bread giving method to non-molten cheese. There could be TikTok hype for dough this good in London and the ham truly tastes of one thing. A sizzling canine is much less spectacular (they’re Italians, not magicians) however not like its English equivalents the bun didn’t style as if it had spent a decade in a freezer.
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The whole price of watching arguably the largest match in Italian soccer is £167.53, lower than prepare fare alone to Sunderland vs Brentford. Juventus win 4-3 in a high-quality recreation peppered by a number of the finest objectives scored wherever in Europe all weekend. A €100 ticket looks like a discount. The air fare much less so, however solely when my flight house is delayed.
Worth for cash
It doesn’t change my emotions concerning the worth for cash on provide. Then once more, take the trains out of it, and simply over £50 for a ticket, pie and pint at Sunderland additionally appears honest. Can something be finished concerning the punishing price of rail journey for followers? The Soccer Supporters Affiliation (FSA) has broached the prospect of a supporter’s ticket with prepare operators, which might enable followers to purchase prematurely then use completely different providers if a recreation was moved for TV.
The present prices are “making it tougher for individuals to journey in probably the most sustainable manner,” FSA chairman Tom Greatrex says. “On one hand you’ve obtained the Premier League and so on making statements and having inexperienced soccer weekends, on the opposite the price of trains and transferring fixtures means the most suitable choice for sustainability is the least palatable for followers who simply can’t afford it.
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“One of many promoting factors for English soccer is energetic, loyal crowds who carry environment and color to matches. It’s a part of what the Premier League sells lucratively to the world. So it’s not nearly followers’ self-interest it’s additionally concerning the pursuits of the spectacle of the Premier League.
The liveliness of followers within the Premier League has been counseled, although video games have a tendency to not be as raucous as in Italy – PA/Nick Potts
“The very best assist that’s throughout the present of the Premier League is to make sure that the preparations for broadcast offers means there’s a significantly better quantity of discover given to followers when occasions and dates change.”
That could be a drum that English followers have been beating for longer than Juve’s Curva Sud ultras. Admittedly many will discover cheaper prepare tickets from London to Sunderland this season than the near-£200 I paid. However there are additionally far cheaper tickets accessible in Italian soccer than for Juve vs Inter, matches with equally vibrant atmospheres. Even at Juventus’ stadium, ceaselessly the most costly in Serie A, it was potential to purchase a seat in my part for the previous recreation in opposition to Parma for €60, €40 lower than I paid for Juve vs Inter.
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So we’re left with a state of affairs in which you’ll be able to watch the most effective video games in Europe from London for lower than it prices to attend a run-of-the-mill English recreation. One thing about that doesn’t add up.