- The Trust conducted an extensive exercise to gather opinion from members and other fans about potential price rises. These views were submitted to the club at the most recent FAB meeting with the overwhelming consensus from being only modest increases in line with inflation would be acceptable
- The average price increases actually imposed are totally disproportionate to the current inflation rate
- It is accepted that season card pricing at Forest had been at the lower end of that at other Premier League clubs, however such extreme increases over a single season, during the ongoing cost of living crisis, will massively impact a large number of loyal fans and undoubtedly mean that many will now be priced out of renewing – a concern shared with the Trust by many supporters
- There is little consistency to the percentage increases for different sections of the ground with no apparent logic or rationale explained for this seemingly arbitrary decision
- The significant restriction of youth pricing concessions will impose massive increases on that section of our support who should be being nurtured as the future fanbase of our club
- We are concerned that the change for senior concessions from age 65 to 66 could herald future further restrictions, potentially pricing out a group of long standing loyal fans
- There is no provision for reduced price increases should the club suffer relegation to the Championship. The club have stated that the intention is to keep the season card pricing amongst the most affordable in the league, this claimed ambition would not be met in the Championship, quite the opposite
- The club’s justification for these rises as preparation for the new sustainability rules based around Squad Cost Ratio (scheduled for the 2025/26 season) is noted, but the relatively modest impact of this single rise (calculated at being in the region of £2m) gives rise to concern that more rises on this scale might be imposed in the future
- We strongly disapprove of the implication of the message that over 10,000 fans are waiting in the wings to buy season cards, this is likely to cause anger and offence to those who now can’t afford to renew
- The timing of what would in normal circumstances be the very welcome announcement of the introduction of safe-standing is being interpreted as an attempt at a deflection strategy by many supporters
NFST strongly opposes these price increases which will have a negative impact on all match-going fans. We believe that our fans’ incredible support has been a key factor in the remarkable success over recent season. This is no way to reward that contribution. We will be expanding on the views expressed in this statement at the next FAB meeting via our board member who chairs that body. We will continue to work with the Football Supporters’ Association to campaign for affordable pricing across the game.