English Premier League club Chelsea has told West Stand season ticket holders that the price of their tickets will be almost tripled from next season.
The new prices come as the upper tier of Stamford Bridge’s West Stand has undergone refurbishment as part of the Westview project, with new bars, food outlets and TV screens, as well as padded seats for fans.
Westview will be divided into four areas with different price points for each section. Tier one amounts to £3,900, with the view from the halfway line, Tier two at £3,000 on the 18-yard line, and Tier three on the goal line setting fans back £1,500.
The fourth section will be based on a match-by-match price, with the prices to be announced in the new year, along with all other match-by-match prices for other stands.
Currently, the price of a season ticket is £1,250, meaning for Tier one customers, the price increase will amount to almost £3,000.
In an email to season ticket holders that was reported by the Daily Mail, Chelsea’s head of venue and hospitality, Simon Hunter justified the price hikes and wrote: “As you will have seen, the concourse has been transformed to create a spacious area with lots of natural light. There are two new 360-degree bards with faster service and a new food hall serving an expanded range of high-quality food.
“In the seating bowl we’ve introduced three big screens to ensure all seat locations can view the screen content for the first time, and all seats have been replaced with new padded seating.”
The email continued: “When the changes were communicated before the start of this season, we explained that a new pricing model for Westview would be implemented for the 2022-23 season.”
Chelsea fans have taken to Twitter to voice their frustration at the new price increases. One user Ryan West wrote: “‘Football is nothing without fans but you go ahead and charge £4,000 for a season ticket. Disgusting @ChelseaFC.”
Season ticket holders have been contacted and have until May next year to decide whether or not they wish to renew their existing seats, move within the newly rebranded Westview or move to other parts of the stadium.
Chelsea will aim to accommodate supporters that currently sit together and would like to move seats as a whole group, should there be availability. Other fans that would like to move to Westview will be able to join a waitlist on 10 January 2022.