Fulham's ticket prices for Liverpool laugh in face of fans the club can't lose

"Without fans who pay at the turnstile, football is nothing. Sometimes we are inclined to forget that."

To this day, that first sentence remains engraved on the base of the great Jock Stein statue outside Celtic Park. It is still as pertinent as ever. Arguably, it is more important to remember it now than ever before.

In 2020, during the coronavirus pandemic, when football was halted - stopped completely in some parts - and then resumed in front of empty stadia, with supporters unable to attend, that great proclamation returned to the fore. Without fans, football was a pale imitation of itself that no amount of fake crowd noise and every game being on TV could make up for.

In 2021, with the formation of the so-called European Super League, with England's so-called 'Big Six' - Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Spurs - shaking the foundations of football in this country to its core, supporters were tested again. The powers that be at those clubs forgot the men, women and children who go through the turnstiles at their clubs and broke their trust, in some cases irreparably, with a decision that completely disregarded any opinions on the subject.

Within 48 hours, without the backing of fans and having underestimated the widespread anger and potential for mass protest, those six clubs had all performed U-turns, turning back to their respective supporters with tails between their legs and apologies all round.

Now, in 2022, amid a cost of living crisis that is making people's everyday lives more difficult, it is the turn of Fulham's owners to show themselves to be poachers rather than guardians, in it for the money and little else.

These days, in the Premier League - to where west London's quintessential yo-yo club are returning in 2022-23 - the match-going fan offers nothing more than a minor revenue stream to clubs when compared with the substantial riches on offer from TV deals and global sponsorship opportunities.

Sadly, for some clubs, that doesn't mean the orange shouldn't be squeezed for every last drop.

Ahead of the 2021-22 campaign, following Fulham's relegation to the Championship and an apology from Shahid Khan for the club failing to remain in the top flight, the chairman welcomed fans back to Craven Cottage post-Covid.

"Of course, it is also wonderful to have you, and each and every Fulham supporter, coming through the turnstiles again at Craven Cottage," wrote Khan on Fulham's official website.

"We've waited a long time to again enjoy a genuine football experience here and throughout grounds in England and beyond. I've personally been away too long due to the pandemic, and I am going to relish every moment of reliving the traditions and experiences that come with match day at Craven Cottage."

For some now, these Craven Cottage traditions Khan spoke so proudly about could become a mere memory.

To watch Fulham in action against west London rivals Queens Park Rangers last season was at most £50 for a match day ticket in the Johnny Haynes stand. The Riverside, which today boasts a plush corporate section, was still under development.

To watch Fulham take on Liverpool in the same seat this season will cost you £90 - and you can expect to pay a tenner more to watch the action from the other side of the pitch in the Riverside, where match day tickets are now £100.

For children 17 and under, the lowest priced tickets are £25. The highest: £70. A family of four - two parents, two children - could potentially face paying £340 just for match tickets.

Fulham are keen to reiterate that Category One fixtures, like the Liverpool game, are the most expensive and that not every Premier League match day ticket will be as pricey.

Fulham fans were also recently pleased with season ticket renewal prices, where seats in the Hammersmith End cost between £385 and £550 for the entire campaign for returning supporters. As a result, season tickets for this year have all sold out.

But Friday's pricing announcement for the Liverpool match has been branded "hideously expensive" by the Fulham Supporters' Trust, who declared that a "price that looks good on a spreadsheet, be that in Florida or Surrey, risks replacing supporters with one-time tourists as matter of course."

Tom Greatrex, chairman of Fulham's Supporters' Trust and vice-chairman of The FSA, added: "Frankly, these prices are obscene.

"If you wanted to demonstrate a complete failure to understand your fanbase, appreciate their household cost pressures and give not a thought to how this will flip in a year's time when there are more seats than fans."

Of course, football fans expect to pay a Premier League premium, but such a staggering price hike amid the aforementioned cost of living crisis has effectively made following your local team an impossibility for the next generation of Fulham supporters.

There is the feeling that these tickets are aimed at money-people keen to watch the mighty Liverpool in action from the comfort of a quaint London football club, not the Fulham fans who ensured there were bums in seats in the Championship last season - where broadcast revenues and sponsorship deals are, of course, not so great.

Fulham does have a structure in place when selling match day tickets to fans. Season ticket holders get first dibs before members and finally fans with a purchase history, which in some ways prevents individuals from buying a one-off ticket simply for the purpose of watching Liverpool.

But it's not a failsafe solution, with touts among those able to exploit this system to snap up tickets.

While it is important to remember that Fulham Football Club is indeed a business - one that racked up a £94million loss during a chastening 2020-21 campaign, and in whose most recent accounts it was revealed that Khan had converted £151m of loans into shares and provided 'further financial support' to the tune of £93m - this price hike is incredibly short-sighted.

Fulham have bounced between divisions for the past five seasons now and are once again in the mix to be relegated this campaign.

Next season the club may not be able to lean on the likes of Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal to sell tickets. They may be once again relying on the fans they've this season priced out to bring the 'traditions' Khan spoke about back to Craven Cottage.