Last week QPR1st Supporters’ Trust in both a private communication and a public statement called on the club to give travelling supporters a bit of new season – and Christmas – cheer by agreeing to a £25 ticket deal with Ipswich Town for the Boxing Day away fixture. (See Request for £25 away ticket deal for Ipswich )
Away fans are vital to creating a good atmosphere at games. The level of time and money our travelling fans give to the club makes a real difference and the supporters trust are committed to encouraging the club to do whatever it can to make away games as accessible and affordable as possible.
As part of this commitment, we urged QPR to agree the reciprocal deal offered by Ipswich Town which would have limited the cost of away tickets to a maximum of £25. This is something that a sizable (12?) number of other Championship clubs have agreed on with Ipswich. We agree with the Football Supporters Federation that in the absence of a price cap in the championship league such deals offer the best hope of keeping the cost of away tickets down.
The club has now confirmed to us that it will not be participating. According to Lee Hoos, “the running costs of our stadium are substantially different than Ipswich and this price point simply doesn’t work.”
Stephen Dedridge, chair of the supporters trust said: ‘We are extremely disappointed with this decision as it means that QPR supporters travelling to Ipswich on Boxing Day will be paying more for their tickets than the supporters of those twelve other clubs who have agreed to the deal”.
The supporters trust will be pressing the club at the next supporters consultation meeting to explain its decision in more detail. If so many other clubs have found the deal financially viable then we would like to know why this is not the case for our club.