Irish Premier League fans pay a heavy price
ON Wednesday August 1, Arsenal will take on Chelsea at Lansdowne Road in the International Champions Cup, or rather, a version of Arsenal will take on a makeshift Chelsea in a glorified friendly. On paper, these games should offer young football supporters a chance to see some genuine stars of the Premier League up close, but the reality is that many fans in Ireland will feel short changed. Never mind that both squads will be heavily watered down ten days out from the start of the new Premier League season – for example, Chelsea’s World Cup contingent will still be on holiday, so they will travel without Eden Hazard, Thibaut Courtois, N’Golo Kante and Olivier Giroud among others. Head to Ticketmaster and an adult ticket will set you back €60-€85, before the €6.60 service fee. That is over double the cost of seeing the same teams in action elsewhere during the International Champions Cup schedule. Compare that to the price of a ticket to the Community Shield Final – another glorified friendly – at Wembley between Chelsea and Manchester City, which start at just £20 (€22.40), with a large number of tickets available for £35. Supporters in Ireland are right to feel aggrieved at being asked to pay €60 for a pre-season friendly.