Football ticket prices up sharply

Niall Quinn's Sunderland is playing catch-up on season ticket pricing
The cost of season tickets for next year at Premier League clubs has risen by 7.2%, more than twice the rate of consumer price inflation.

Research by the BBC reveals that the average cost of a mid-priced season ticket has risen to £590.

Premier League clubs are currently benefiting from television revenues which have gone up sharply.

But that has not prevented most of them from imposing substantial increases in season ticket costs.

That average hides considerable variations. Portsmouth have increased prices by 17.5% at the club's West Stand while Chelsea have again imposed no increase at all.

Season tickets - big risers:
Portsmouth - up 17.5%
Sunderland - up 12%
Tottenham - up 10.7%
Blackburn - up 10.3%
Wigan - up 10%

Some fans of champions Manchester United have complained about hefty price increases since the club was taken over by American owners.

For the next campaign a season ticket in the upper east stand will be £665, a 6% increase on last season, but still a lot less than a similar seat at the big London clubs.

Season tickets - low risers:
Middlesbrough - up 4.1%
West Ham - up 3.8%%
Man City - up 3.5%
Arsenal - up 2.6%
Chelsea- unchanged

The reasons for sharp increases vary, with Sunderland pointing to previous seasons when ticket prices have not risen at all.

A statement from Tottenham Hotspur said: "In order to progress both on and off the pitch, we need to be able to continue to raise our level of investment in the squad and all areas of the club's operations and facilities."

Bolton, Liverpool and Newcastle are yet to reveal prices for next season's matches.

The BBC compared season ticket prices in middle priced stands between the 2007/8 and 2008/9 seasons.