'It's more than price rises, it's about the heart and soul of club'

CITY fan groups have accused the club of trying to price loyal supporters out of their seats after the cost of season tickets for next season was put up.

- SIMON BAJKOWSKI

Supporters were emailed on Tuesday morning with news of how much their seat had gone up by, with an average increase of five per cent across the 36,000.

That follows similar rises for nearly every year in the last decade as City have consistently put prices up.

The latest rise is in line with inflation and similar to what other Premier League clubs are doing, but that has seen little sympathy from the supporters who are being asked to pay more to watch their team while the club records record profits and revenues.

Some fans believe that the latest hike is an attempt to get supporters to give up their season tickets so that the club can reduce the overall number and make more money from selling the seats individually for each game.

"With £80m profits last year, there is absolutely no justification for the continued ticket price rises. Season tickets and matchday tickets and memberships are all too high," said a spokesperson for the 1894 group.