The UK is a nation that loves football. But supporting a team can expensive – especially in the Premier League, and especially in London.
It’s well-known amongst football fans just how difficult it is to get tickets to Premier League. Unless you have a club membership, tickets can be prohibitively expensive. But even a membership doesn’t guarantee that you’ll get tickets. And even with a membership, tickets are still expensive.
Football ticket aggregating site Ticket Compare crunched the numbers to find out which teams are most expensive for fans. They looked at club memberships and merchandise as well as season ticket prices to find out which fans were paying the most.
It’s perhaps no surprise that London teams took many of the top spots. Here are the five London teams that come off worst for fan expenses.
5. Crystal Palace
Average cost per season: £833
Crystal Palace came in as the tenth most expensive club to support in the Premier League, and the fifth most expensive in London.
For Palace fans, the biggest average expense is the season ticket which amounts to £720 following a 5% raise in the 2023-24 season. However, this price increase didn’t get in the way of the fans’ devotion as the club experienced a record number of renewals for the 2023-24 campaign.
There is also a club membership fee of around £48 for supporters of The Eagles, and for those who want to proudly display their fandom, £61 for the latest kit top.
4. Chelsea
Average cost per season: £884
Chelsea come in as the sixth most expensive club to support in the UK, and the fourth most expensive in London.
Despite finishing in the bottom half of the table in 2022-23, and a weak 2023-24 campaign so far, Chelsea are often cited amongst the world’s richest football clubs.
Chelsea’s wealth is at least somewhat propped up by the fans, who pay hefty fees for their commitment. A standard season ticket hits £768 and mid-range club memberships costing £60.
That said, The Blues froze the amount for general admission 2023-24 season tickets, making it cheaper for fans to attend general admission areas than Arsenal and Tottenham. The average Chelsea shirt (£57) is also the cheapest one on this list.
3. Tottenham Hotspur
Average cost per season: £1,571
Spurs fans have one of the most expensive season tickets and kit top costs to burden, with the former averaging £1,411 and the latter £110. The total of just over £2,000 also includes a mid-level membership fee of £50.
Tottenham Hotspur was one of three Premier League clubs to freeze season ticket costs — the second year in a row for The Spurs — to keep the 2023-24 campaign at least somewhat affordable for fans.
However, the club later informed The Tottenham Hotspur Supporters Trust (THST) of the decision to increase match-day ticket prices. The trust has criticised the move, labelling it ‘excessive’, and called for a freeze on match day tickets too.
2. Fulham
Average cost per season: £1,860
While they don’t top the list overall, Fulham FC has the most expensive mid-range season ticket, which hits £1,728. Considering this astronomical charge, it’s no surprise that the club had the third-lowest turnout last season — filling 95.1% of its home, Craven Cottage.
Fans have recently urged the owner, Shahid Khan, to reconsider the exorbitant rate — with the most expensive season ticket for the West London club reaching £3,000 and working out at £157 per match.
The remaining key costs for Fulham supporters are far lower, though, with memberships averaging £50 and the medium price for kit tops being £83.
1. Arsenal
Average cost per season: £2,348
Arsenal nab the top spot for the most expensive Premier League team to support in 2023-24. The total fee of £2,348 includes the most expensive membership fee, averaging £818. An Arsenal official kit top would also cost fans a hefty £95.
Arsenal fans face a mid-range season ticket of £1,435 — the second highest, behind Fulham — after announcing an increase of up to 6%. The club has also confirmed that the increased charge will include fewer matches for season ticket holders, dropping from 26 to 22 home matches per campaign.
However, reports state that decreasing the number of matches included with season tickets will make 150,000 more tickets available for members during the 2023/24 campaign.
As well as the tickets and memberships, football fans also have to consider the various travel expenses, parking tickets and food and drink while at the venues. Fans who can’t make the live matches can watch some games from home, but only if they pay for online sports subscriptions.
Such is the zeal of London football fans, that they continue to fork out to see the teams they love – and the Premier League remains the most-exciting football league in the world.
