Cats chief defends derby tickets hike
VOLUME OF TOON FANS DRIVING UP COST OF GAME
STEWART Donald has defended the rise in ticket prices for Sunderland’s Checkatrade Trophy clash with Newcastle United under-21s.
Both clubs are anticipating a high number of away supporters to travel to the Stadium of Light on January 9 for the Wear-Tyne derby, despite the Magpies fielding only their second-string side.
For Sunderland’s last tie against Notts County tickets were just £3, but have gone up to £15 for the derby clash.
And Sunderland owner Donald has defended the price hike, claiming that it is in line with the extra operational costs owing to an increased crowd for the game.
Responding to supporters on Twitter, he explained: “I appreciate it has gone up but Newcastle have asked for a lot of tickets and the police bill, stewarding and general cost of the game etc is so much more due to that than the other games.
“We have tried to keep it sensible and we’re certainly not likely to make much money based on costs. Just simply the cost of the fixture.
“Unlike all the other games with the volume of Newcastle fans expected to travel according to them then we have to police, steward and staff accordingly.
“That is, I’m afraid, a completely different cost to opening one stand.
“We have tried to price sensibly. Opening one stand for a low-risk game has a completely different cost base to a game against our biggest rivals who want their full allocation regardless of who is in their team.
“I have never been to a Newcastle v Sunderland game, but judging by the security planning I can see why it is so expensive to stage and you can not unfortunately cover that at £3 a ticket no matter how much we would like to.”