Cod Almighty | Article
by James Howes
2 June 2022
Sunday will make great memories, but we are being made to pay dearly for them
Well what a week it has been following Town. I was lucky enough to be at Notts County and then watched the Wrexham game in the Trawl with my family and friends. Maybe I am suffering from recency bias but I do not recall a game quite like that and I watch a lot of football.
I had made a promise to my two sons (aged 5 and 8) before heading to Notts County that I would watch the Wrexham game with them if we won, and also that we would go to the final if we beat Wrexham. My youngest son shouting that we were heading to London as Waterfall headed in the winner deep in extra time is a memory that will stay with me for a long, long time.
As the full-time whistle blew, attentions quickly turned to the cost. First thing I did was book a car park. I usually pride myself on the painstaking financial analysis of trips away but £10.70 (plus a 99p booking fee) at Stratford International Car Park seemed like a good deal and relatively close to the London Stadium so I paid it. If I was not so excited I would have realised that it will also cost me £12.50 to take my 12-year-old diesel Vauxhall Insignia into London's ULEZ Zone. Diesel was 175.9p per litre when I filled my car up last week and the 370 mile round trip will use about half a tank of diesel, or £61.64 to be precise.
So far, the day is set to cost me £85.83.
On Sunday night ticket prices were released and I purchased mine on Monday. I like to take in games from the side so I am very happy with my Block 139 tickets. I purchased six for £218.99 but got paid for three of them so my outlay was £89.99 for me and my two kids. Also I did not take advantage of my brother, sister and dad by charging them 99p for the privilege of getting their tickets.
It quickly became apparent that concessions were not going to be available for Town fans once the Lower Tier closed in on a sell-out and that the seats behind the goal had been removed. There is a Red Hot Chilli Peppers concert there at the end of the month and Monster Trucks will be tearing around the pitch on 18 June which may explain why the seats have been removed but Soccer Aid is before those events and you can sit in the lower tier behind the goal at that. Curiouser and curiouser.
Anyway, tickets purchased and fuel calculated: £175.82.
I will not be buying incorrectly spelt merchandise and my kids have a scarf each from the ones which Jason Stockwood, Andrew Pettit and Debbie Cook were handing out against Weymouth way back in August. Over the last couple of months I had been promising my kids that I will get them the new Town kit when it gets released but wearing your colours in a final is all part of the experience so I bought one home shirt and one away shirt at £18.78 each. Total cost now £213.38.
When I get to London I need to eat. There is a Nandos in Westfield Shopping Centre next to my car park and I will be taking advantage of my Blue Light Card discount. Anticipated Nandos spend is at least £25. I will probably have a McDonalds for tea on the way out of London after the game so that is another £15. It is an early start so I will set off with a coffee in my Grimsby Town flask but will probably buy another one as I treat my kids to the wonderful experience of a sea of black and white at the service station. Likely beverage spend for the day is £15 providing my drinks are not confiscated, forcing me to get ripped off in the stadium.
All in, the day is set to cost me at least £268.38 and I know that my kids will make great memories but it further highlights how unaffordable the day will be for many.
Congratulations to the Mariners Trust for the amazing work they have done in such a short period to help people get to London. It is worth remembering that the trust is run by volunteers and we are so lucky to have them fighting not just for us, but for football as a whole
I do need to address how disgraceful the ticket pricing is, despite being similar to what we paid in 2016 and a whole £1 cheaper than last year's final at Ashton Gate. You could watch Nottingham Forest get promoted to the top flight for £36 (limited tickets at that price but the fact still remains). Mansfield and Port Vale fans could watch their team in the fourth division play-off final at Wembley from £26 and of the six pricing tiers, three were cheaper than the cheapest National League offering. The Football League also offered Young Adult tickets and a concession for those over 62 as well. I also saw that it costs £25 to watch Italy v Argentina at Wembley next week and the recent FA decision to host the Community Shield at the King Power Stadium in Leicester brings further scrutiny to the National League decision-making process. Despite all of that, non-League fans are asked to pay at least £40 per ticket unless they are under 16, plus a £3 fee per ticket and then 99p for an email on top, in a converted athletics stadium with seats behind both goals removed.
So congratulations to the Mariners Trust for the amazing work they have done in such a short period of time to raise over £20,000 to help people get there. It is worth remembering that the trust is run by volunteers and we are so lucky to have them fighting not just for us, but for football as a whole. Kudos also to Vanarama who have distanced themselves from the competition they sponsor and donated £20,000 to each finalist to assist with making the game accessible.
I donated £20 because I know how Wembley in 1998 shaped my love for the Mariners. 2016 did the same for another generation of Mariners and I am sure, despite the farce surrounding prices, location, seat removals and whatever else we discover before Sunday, it can have a positive impact on many others.
Football is for everyone, so if Mariners Trust reach out to you, please, please, please accept their offer of help, because I am sure I speak for all town fans when I say that we want you there and that is why we donated.