With the World Cup over, attention has turned back to domestic football with the new Premier League season under way.

Ticket prices were a bone of contention at the tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico over the summer and, while centred on individual matches, the price of season tickets in the Premier League will also be in the back of supporters’ minds as they turn up to watch their club’s matches.

Despite cost pressures continuing to affect match-going fans, every English top-flight club has a waiting list in operation for season tickets, indicating that demand remains high.

That is reflected in decisions made over pricing, with 14 of the 20 clubs raising the cost of season tickets — some by more than the rate of inflation. However, five clubs did freeze prices, which maintains a trend from last season when seven did so.

Supporters have still had to part with significant sums to watch their team, though, with eight clubs going beyond the £1,000 ($1,364) mark for their most expensive offerings.

Bournemouth’s ‘executive’ section last year hit that milestone but appears to have been unavailable for this season, taking their top prices just shy of four figures. A further four clubs are edging closer to breaching that mark.

There has been discontent at those clubs where it is more expensive than last season, most notably at Liverpool, where protests were held during home matches last term. Overall, though, the extent of unhappiness over pricing appears to be relatively mixed, with most clubs’ supporters’ trusts and groups having more limited grumbles.

Liverpool fans have been unhappy at ticket price rises (Lewis Storey/Getty Images)

A season ticket entitles supporters to attend each of their club’s 19 home league matches.

In some cases, there are bundles which include European fixtures or at least reduce costs for those wishing to purchase them additionally, but the vast majority of clubs have a simple ticket, delivered digitally, which entitles fans to sit in their designated seat for each match at a rate significantly cheaper than purchasing individual match tickets.

Here, The Athletic looks at clubs’ prices. This is based on the cost for an adult purchasing a new season ticket, or, in the case of clubs where there are no new tickets available, the final renewal phase.

To standardise as much as possible, we have used non-hospitality season-ticket pricing that can be purchased via the clubs’ ticketing portal and have excluded sections where family tickets are sold at a lower rate for adults who are accompanying juniors.

Sunderland have personalised, individual pricing for 2026-27 and therefore we have used last season’s pricing.

Which clubs have the most expensive tickets?

There will always be debate over the value of each club’s season tickets but, with supporters continuing to feel cost-of-living pressures, attending matches is still expensive.

Although Fulham have not confirmed their prices, they increased them by 3.5 per cent and once again have the priciest adult season ticket. A purchase in their Riverside Stand would have set you back £3,084 last season, making it £3,192 with that percentage increase when they went on sale in June to those on the waiting list.

Other clubs who charge more than £1,000 include Arsenal (£1,835), Aston Villa (£1,297.50), Brighton & Hove Albion (£1,100), Chelsea (£1,095), Manchester City (£1,600), Manchester United (£1,178) and Tottenham Hotspur (£2,223).

Some clubs have more premium offerings that blur the lines between general admission and hospitality, including Chelsea’s Westview seating, which can only be purchased via their hospitality site and where prices for the new season are not publicly available. Last year, prices were set at up to £4,300.

Manchester City’s tickets in the 93:20 areas, covering five blocks in the stadium, cost £1,600 and provide a more polished experience without veering into corporate hospitality, similar to Brentford, whose Dugout seating is their most expensive option, at £855 for an adult and is still general admission.

Fulham’s Riverside Stand not only hosts their premium hospitality section but it offers general-admission season tickets, which are the most expensive in the league.

Unsurprisingly, the lowest prices come at the three promoted clubs, with Coventry City’s highest-priced ticket costing £625, Hull City offering theirs at £600 and Ipswich Town slightly higher at £747. Those clubs who finished outside the European places generally have similar pricing, with Tottenham an obvious notable outlier.

Only Fulham have a junior ticket (under-18) priced at £1,000 or more, again in their Riverside Stand, but Arsenal and Aston Villa charge £917.50 and £990.50 respectively for their top-rate junior tickets.

Ipswich have an under-12 offering at £45 but, for an under-18 category, Newcastle United’s cheapest junior ticket is just £85, the lowest in the Premier League ahead of Hull (£96), Manchester City (£120), Ipswich (£136), Brentford (£135) and Bournemouth (£145).

Have any clubs frozen prices and how much are the increases elsewhere in the league?

To follow on from last season, when seven clubs kept prices at the same level, this time five clubs — Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Manchester City, Nottingham Forest and Tottenham — have done so.

Coventry’s 16 per cent rise was the highest, but those prices were set when they were still in the Championship. Some supporters received a free season ticket after signing up to the club’s Premier League package in previous seasons.

The rise may be beaten by Sunderland, whose prices have not been released publicly and are based on loyalty, with personalised costs showing when supporters log in to their ticketing accounts. We have used their prices for last season but, while those supporters who have held season tickets the longest have the cheapest tickets, some have faced the highest proportionate increase.

Ipswich have increased prices by 12 to 14 per cent and Everton by 7.2 per cent. The remaining rises are between three and five per cent.

At Liverpool, the three per cent rise was confirmed after a huge fan backlash over more severe proposals from the club. Originally, they intended to set a three-year price increase based on the Consumer Price Index but capped at five per cent. This led to protests at home games, including banners, removing flags from The Kop and a ‘not a pound in the ground’ initiative, where supporters were encouraged not to purchase anything inside the ground.

The club backed down, increasing prices by three per cent for this season and introducing a price freeze for the 2027-28 campaign.

How much does season ticket revenue actually matter to clubs’ financial situations?

While season tickets cannot be completely isolated from match-day income, as that includes individual match purchases, it still plays a relatively small part in the overall turnover for clubs.

Of those clubs who were in the Premier League in the 2024-25 season, the highest proportion of match-day income to revenue was Manchester United’s 24 per cent. That was then followed by Tottenham (22.4 per cent), Arsenal (22.3 per cent), Chelsea (17.7 per cent) and Liverpool (16.4 per cent).

Typically the traditional ‘big six’ clubs saw the largest contribution to their overall total from match-day income, likely because their grounds are larger, more modern and/or have premium options for both individual matches and season tickets.

For clubs claiming they need to increase prices for fans to remain competitive, there is an element of truth, especially given the new Squad Cost Ratio rules, and ‘smaller’ clubs may seek to use it as a way to narrow the gap slightly, but it will not make a huge difference.

What else should I know about clubs’ season tickets this year?

Every club offers the opportunity to spread costs over a longer period of time, as is required by the Premier League. Some do not charge extra for this. For those renewing, some clubs prevent access to the cheapest ‘early bird’ phase if paying by direct debit.

The most common approach across clubs is to outsource their direct debit options to V12 Retail Finance, although the timeline for spreading payments and the options offered vary drastically between four- and 12-month plans.

Only newly-promoted Hull City offer a physical season ticket. Premier League regulations stipulate that clubs must deliver 70 per cent of their ticketing digitally, with those coming up from the Championship entitled to a period of grace. Clubs must still comply with the Equality Act and do therefore allow physical cards in limited circumstances.

Hull City have returned to the Premier League and their fans have physical season tickets (George Wood/Getty Images)

All clubs provide a ticket exchange facility for fans to resell their tickets should they be unable to attend a match. But alongside this are policies across the league stipulating a minimum usage rule — where season tickets must be used by the named person or listed on the ticket exchange for a certain number of games.

At Manchester City, this has evolved into requiring that a fan must attend at least 10 games, something their supporters’ trust has criticised as “discriminatory”. There were protests last year, which led to a price freeze. Manchester United have faced issues surrounding the restriction of some supporters’ ticketing accounts.

Arsenal and Aston Villa both have the option to buy 23-game season tickets, which include their club’s guaranteed Champions League fixtures. Villa supporters save 10 per cent compared to buying those European fixtures individually.

Coventry provided supporters who joined a scheme in 2023-24 and 2024-25, in which they would pay a frozen rate until the 2027-28 season (£500 in 2023-24, and £550 for members joining the scheme in 2024-25), with the promise of a free season card should they achieve promotion during this time. More than 5,000 have now received a free season ticket as a result of reaching the Premier League.

Manchester City supporters can purchase a Metrolink Season Ticket to travel to and from the Etihad Stadium on match days, costing £74 for adults, £53 for 18-21 year-olds and £32 for under-18s. Brighton offer free travel on public transport within a specified area on match days.

Clubs continue to look for ways to be innovative in their approach to season tickets but supporters have shown they are not afraid to stand up against what they perceive to be unfair restrictions or prices. That is something clubs will have to bear in mind going forward.

A well-respected agent with decades of experience suggested to The Athletic that the summer transfer window should be significantly shorter.

The deal-maker was answering questions for last year’s Agent Survey, and his hot take on how to improve the transfer system was to close trading before the season started. By doing so, it would avoid the awkward situation faced by Newcastle United, Brentford and Aston Villa in the opening weeks of 2025-26, when Alexander Isak, Yoane Wissa and Emiliano Martinez were either refusing to play or unavailable for selection because of the noise around their future.

A date change would also give players the chance to enjoy a full season at a new club, rather than enduring the strange opening two or three games of a campaign where many are left wondering what happens next.

Had it been introduced this season, then perhaps Ollie Watkins would still be seen in the same light by Aston Villa supporters as Ezri Konsa, and Unai Emery would have a striker to call on. Julian Alvarez may not have faced boos from Atletico Madrid supporters, either. Consider, too, the debate around Cody Gakpo.

The situation at Liverpool is clear. Liverpool would not want to sell Gakpo to Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City, or any other club unless two attackers are signed in the next six days. With Bradley Barcola — Liverpool held key talks about him on Tuesday — and Yankuba Minteh on Liverpool’s radar, it still cannot be ruled out, but it’s going to take a serious swing to, first of all, get off the ground and then start to make sense.

Gakpo has had a good pre-season (Darren Staples/AFP via Getty Images)

Without new arrivals, there’s no way Liverpool could even consider weakening their forward line further by parting ways with Gakpo, who has silenced some of his doubters since returning from the World Cup and scored in the 2-2 draw with Newcastle United on Sunday.

Imagine going into the game on Saturday against Nottingham Forest without him. Yet how many Liverpool supporters would have been on board with the Dutchman leaving before a ball had been kicked?

Not that anyone is seriously suggesting this, but let’s say the deadline was moved even further back to before pre-season. There wouldn’t have been too many disappointed fans at that stage, either, given Gakpo’s failings last campaign.

As Liverpool’s season fizzled out towards the closing months of 2025-26, the misfiring forward was identified as the most disposable this summer. A few areas in his game drew particular criticism. Gakpo attempts the same move too often — the step inside to open up his body and shoot, often unsuccessfully, at goal — and in the process occasionally misses the left-back with an overlapping run. It felt like his form had dipped to a point where it could not be revived, and his exit would have made a lot of sense until the football started.

Now, though, he cannot be sold, because unless there’s a flurry of incoming activity, he’s too important to the make-up of this squad, especially without the injured Hugo Ekitike. There’s an argument that, even with the arrival of two new attackers, Gakpo is still important because of the versatility he provides. As Sir Alex Ferguson always made clear during his time at Manchester United, there was never a concern about having too many players who can score goals in the squad, and Gakpo has 33 goals in 128 Premier League games, which is not a bad return for a left-winger.

If his impressive form over the summer is still not enough to highlight his value, then potentially strengthening a rival is, of course, another factor. Although neither interested Premier League club has made formal contact with Liverpool, there’s still time for things to change and with multiple deals being discussed in the closing days, there are still so many ifs, buts and maybes.

It has been a wild summer — Manchester City have lost their Ballon d’Or-winning midfielder Rodri, Chelsea have signed two players born in 1990, Tottenham Hotspur are still spending heavily and Villa are painfully watching their most successful side for over 30 years slowly disintegrate.

Closing the window before the season starts wouldn’t solve everything, but it could have helped Barcola and his PSG team-mate Ibrahim Mbaye, another player of interest to Liverpool, who surely would have featured for their club by now.

Barcola has trained but not played for PSG this season (Lou Benoist/AFP via Getty Images)

Instead, both have missed the UEFA Super Cup final, the Trophee des Champions, and the Ligue 1 opener amid their uncertain futures. They may both move and make up for lost time, but it’s all a bit messy. As is the late dash for recruits at Liverpool, at least until there’s some clarity over what happens next.

Liverpool have known since March that Mohamed Salah was leaving and still there’s no right-sided replacement. On the opening day of the season, two left-sided wingers filled that role: first Rio Ngumoha and then Victor Munoz, both of whom have obvious qualities, but their talents are more evident on the opposite side.

Barcola also favours the left, but Minteh could solve the right-side shortage if a fee can be agreed. The potential of having so many left-sided options would admittedly make it easier to allow Gakpo to leave, but not at this stage. Not when he’s the biggest goal threat and not when other big-money signings have taken way longer than anticipated to settle in.

Liverpool need some stability up front, and despite last season’s troubles, it might just be Gakpo who provides that.

Callum Wilson scored just six minutes into his full debut and captain Nathan Collins converted two headers as Brentford routed Championship side Birmingham 6-1.

The 34-year-old Wilson, who joined on a free transfer from relegated West Ham, seized his first opportunity with a crisp finish which took a deflection off defender Dael Fry, who had a debut to forget.

Brentford’s Premier League quality was evident throughout and although Blues equalised through Demarai Gray just before the half-hour they were level for just seven minutes.

Lax defending saw Aaron Hickey and Collins score in quick succession to effectively seal the tie before half-time, with Mikkel Damsgaard getting on the end of a counter-attack to add the fourth.

Igor Thiago’s smart close-range finish sent fans streaming for the exit, missing Collins’ second header.

The Bees, quarter-finalists last season, had not beaten Birmingham in six previous meetings, the last a goalless draw more than five years ago in the Championship before they went on to bigger and better things which their ambitious hosts now hope to emulate.

Birmingham’s priority remains promotion so, after opening with two league draws, boss Chris Davies made six changes, including goalkeeper Ryan Allsop, Fry and Argentinian striker Luis Vazquez.

However, the gulf to a Premier League squad was evident as Keith Andrews retained only three of the team which demolished Tottenham and saw three of his newcomers score and another, Yehor Yarmoliuk, run the midfield before he was forced off with injury.

Davies wants to meet the club’s aspirations by playing their way out of the Championship but it proved their undoing before they had even had chance to get a foothold in the game as they fell foul of Brentford’s high press at a short goal-kick.

Paik Seung-ho was slow to react to the loose ball and Yarmoliuk played in Wilson to fire home first-time from the edge of the area with the aid of a deflection.

But a miscontrol by Jannik Schuster saw the centre-back booked for bringing down Vazquez and from Paik’s short free-kick Gray drilled a deflected shot through a crowd of players.

It was a brief moment of joy in an otherwise chastening night as a failure to deal with Vitaly Janelt’s chip and Wilson’s strength allowed Hickey to fire home an angled shot.

Collins jumped in front of Fry to nod in a simple header from Jaidon Anthony’s cross but a ruthless Brentford went for the kill and, after bringing on the likes of Igor Thiago, Kevin Schade and Mamadou Sangare, scored three more after the break.

The managers…

Birmingham’s Chris Davies:

“My message to supporters tonight is ‘sorry’. It’s not very pleasant and I can understand how frustrating it is for them.

“It was a very tough evening for us, a painful evening, and incredibly disappointing to lose a game 6-1 at home.

“There were many situations where we were just not good enough to compete and I take ultimate responsibility for it – and the players will have to do it in their own minds.

“We were beaten by a team a long way ahead of us in every aspect. Was 6-1 a fair reflection? Probably.”

Brentford’s Keith Andrews:

“I didn’t really blink an eyelid making so many changes.

“There is a huge narrative around cup games with coaches making changes but with the squad we have, there are fine margins between who plays and doesn’t play.

“We needed to compete really hard to play the game we wanted. I thought overall we produced a really good performance.”