Stefan Borson

Wed 16 April 2025 9:41, UK

Manchester City fans have grown frustrated with various ticketing issues at the Etihad Stadium over the past few months. 

A large number of supporters remained in the stadium’s concourses for the first nine minutes of their game against Leicester City on 2 April to protest against the new partnership with third-party ticket resale platform Viagogo.

It is the ninth company the Premier League champions have a resale agreement with.

The protest came after seven Man City fan groups sent a joint letter to the club in February complaining about ticket price rises and the prospect of local supporters being frozen out. 

Man City have now announced a ticket price freeze, with their season ticket and matchday prices set to remain the same for 2025-26 following talks with their fan advisory board.

Etihad chiefs held an extraordinary meeting with City Matters on 3 April, with the club revealing the decision comes after “positive and constructive dialogue” has taken place between the parties in recent weeks.

Former Man City financial adviser Stefan Borson exclusively told Football Insider the protests appear to have influenced the club’s decision to freeze ticket prices.

Liverpool, West Ham, Tottenham and Brentford have also frozen their rates, while Manchester United, Arsenal and Newcastle United have confirmed a price hike for next season. 

Man City fans facing ‘big’ issue

Borson insisted there is still a “big issue” regarding matchday rates at the Etihad after admitting he’s been “surprised” by the prices.

He told Football Insider: “I think if you look at the counter situation where the fans say nothing, is there a season ticket price freeze? I would say definitely not.

“Therefore, the protest must have done at least something, so I think it’s an achievement there.

“The bigger issues are still there. It is interesting if you look at some of City’s ticketing prices. The Aston Villa game is a good example because for most of the top clubs, Aston Villa is still a category B game.

“Now, it might not be next season, but it has been this season, and that means that you get into quite a surprising situation where City is more expensive than Arsenal for the priciest tickets for individual purchase, so not season ticket but not hospitality. 

“I think that’s quite a surprising outcome, where you have a Manchester club being more expensive than Arsenal for the same fixture. It’s possible that City have got a little bit carried away with the pricing.

“I know myself as some of the tickets that I purchased this season as a fan, I’ve been surprised at how expensive they’ve been. I had a general admission seat for Liverpool. It was a good seat, but I think it was £88 from memory, which is a lot.

“If you were to look across the 20 clubs in the Premier League, £88 is a lot for any game. Maybe City have just got a bit too expensive with various increases over time, and I think they just need to be mindful.

“I’m sure they are, but they need to be mindful they are building another 10,000 more seats in that new stand, and that is obviously going to impact supply and demand. 

“Therefore, it may be that they’re going to have to just be a little bit more careful with the price rises or at least have more differential price rises so that some parts of the ground may be frozen while other parts are brought up to a higher level to compensate for that.” 

Nottingham Forest respond to Man City’s Morgan Gibbs-White swoop

Football Insider revealed on 13 April Nottingham Forest are keen to open talks with Morgan Gibbs-White over a potential new contract. 

Forest are set to respond with widespread reports suggesting Man City are ready to step up their interest in the midfielder.

It is believed Nuno Espirito Santo’s side will do everything to keep the 25-year-old, who is currently out of contract in June 2027.

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