On This Day (10 May 1975): Sunderland Fans Count The Cost Of Their Support

The Millwall 1974-75 edition of the Roker Reviews shows Roker Park filling up nicely… 10 May seems like it could be an expensive day to be a Sunderland fan, with the club announcing season ticket prices on that date for two years running in the mid-1970s. In 1974, moderate increases were announced and exactly twelve months later, the club issued a fresh set of letters to season ticket holders — helpfully accompanied, of course, by the relevant reapplication forms. The season had ended in disappointing fashion a fortnight earlier, when a defeat at Aston Villa consigned Bob Stokoe’s promotion hopefuls to another season in the second tier, and as the Evening Chronicle reported, the bad news continued on the back of it with confirmation that Main Stand ‘centre’ tickets were going up from £20 to £23, and that upper enclosure, Fulwell Wing and Clock Stand equivalents were all rising by £2.

30. Were the club’s hierarchy to receive any criticism over the changes, they could point to the fact that prior to 1972, admission had been frozen for four years and that the 12. 5% jump coming into effect now was much less severe than the 25% recommendation made by the Football League Committee that was expected to be voted on at their annual meeting the following month.

Admittedly, the centre area had gone up from £14 over the course of the last four years but compared to other clubs in the region the charges were still relatively modest — Middlesbrough were already at £25 and expected to implement their own increases in due course, whilst Newcastle United were charging up to £30. Written by secretary Ron Linney, Sunderland’s renewal plea read: It is regretted that due to increases in costs generally, it has been necessary to increase the prices of season tickets by approximately 12. 5 per cent for next season.

I am sure you will agree that this increase is much less than the rate of inflation. A flat £3 uplift across all season tickets had been set the year before and had not seemed to negatively impact league attendances during a prolonged spell in the second tier, with the 1974/1975 average of just under 30,000 being around 5,000 more than 1973/1974. Improved results had had a bearing of this of course, whereas anybody signing up before the May 31 deadline in 1975 was certainly about to get their money’s worth again, with the Lads remaining unbeaten at Roker Park in Division Two as they went on to secure the title and a long-awaited return to the top flight.