Unfolding Birmingham City, Coventry City situation dubbed an "absolutely outrageous" | OneFootball

FLW Fan Pundit Jason has launched a scathing criticism of Coventry City for the ticket pricing of their clash with Birmingham City.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Birmingham City have enjoyed a reasonable start to the season, with the Blues’ ambition to challenge for promotion once again, aiming to return to the top-flight of English football for the first time in over a decade and a half.

Under the management of Chris Davies, big-spending Birmingham managed to win League One with an all-time EFL points tally last season, managing to amass 111 points.

City, with chairman and owner Tom Wagner, are ambitious both on and off the pitch, and the resurgence of the club is attracting a lot of intrigue and attention from outsiders – and that could have some consequences.

Birmingham City fans to be charged £45 for Coventry away

Ahead of the Midlands derby clash between Birmingham and Coventry City on Saturday 27th September, Coventry have confirmed that Birmingham fans will be charged £45 to get into the Coventry Building Society Arena.

With Birmingham now returning to being one of the clubs with a bigger fanbase in the Championship, other clubs in the division will seek to exploit that by charging an extortionate price.

It is a method that has been used by many clubs before, and will likely continue to be the case moving forward, but it is one that FLW’s Birmingham Fan Pundit Jason Moore has heavily criticised.

Jason says: “It’s an absolutely outrageous price.

“£45 for a Championship game. That’s like top level Premier League pricing at a push, and I know they’re more expensive, but that’s how much it should be.

“£45 to go and watch Coventry not even sell out — they may sell out this one as it is Blues, and they try and force a rivalry — is disgusting.

“I hope the club does the exact same thing back to them, because those prices are disgusting.

“I guess they have to find a way to pay for that lovely new stadium that they have got.

“I am baffled, absolutely baffled. It is disgusting pricing. The whole "twenty’s plenty" thing, I think that £30 is more than reasonable for a football game at this level.

“£45 is just a joke. Imagine you buy two adult tickets and two kids, that’s a lot of money when you’ve got to travel there, pay for parking and pay for food. It is an absolute joke, and they should be ashamed of themselves.

“To be fair, I have seen Coventry fans online calling the club out for it. I know we’re not the only club they’re going to do it to, because they’ve done their ranking of games with Category A, and so they have other clubs that are going to have to suffer it and the club should be ashamed.”

Solidarity between EFL supporters is required

Football supporters have often been susceptible to being taken advantage of by owners and governing bodies, with regards to the financial aspects of attending matches.

It is an issue that, despite supporter unrest and protest, has steadily got worse and shows no real signs of ever being turned around, and that is often because that supporter unrest and protest is far too weak.

Supporters are often all too quick to defend their club no matter the situation, such is the loyalty and undying dedication that they have to their club – and that is something known about by the hierarchy.

They will be aware that they can do what they want to do and allow the supporters of either side to fight it out amongst them, when a unified force could actually bring about change for everyone in this situation.

It appears, as Jason says, as though Coventry fans have expressed discontent with the club, but an overall protest and boycott of the clash with Birmingham is something that will never happen, and the cycle will continue without drastic action.