My PSR Contribution, Fan Wins, and Oasis Noel’s First 12-Inch

AVWTF15

Finally, the sleepy period of June is over. Every year, people seem to forget that the first few weeks after the season closes is the football industry's holiday season — the time when players cut loose and spend their hyper-inflated wages. Those same wages, of course, are at the root of the PSR (Profit and Sustainability Rules) flux that fans increasingly obsess over.

At the final FAB (Fan Advisory Board) meeting in May, the club admitted they’d been closely monitoring Chelsea’s attempt to sell their women’s team - essentially, to themselves. The London club have fast become experts in navigating PSR regulations. So while it might leave a similar taste to fans copying another club’s song, as the motto goes: if you can’t beat them, join them.

In the face of the increasing corporate creep of English football, it's becoming increasingly clear that the rules governing the game need a rethink. Many are no longer fit for purpose - from tokenistic attempts to protect heritage assets to financial rules that aim to stop clubs overspending but end up being anti-competitive.

Premier League Rule Change Meeting

Earlier this month, I attended a Premier League stakeholder meeting about rule changes for the 2025/26 season. I was one of about 15 supporter reps present - a positive step, with supporters now officially considered stakeholders in the game.

The meeting followed an in-depth survey (that included video football footage scernarios addressing intepretation of the rules). While the meeting's content is still confidential (the Premier League still has to consult club captains, managers, and others before going public), I can say, that a few of the proposed tweaks are aimed at reducing player in-game time-wasting.

It would have been remiss of me not to mention what happened at Old Trafford on the final day of the season, especially with both Premier League and PGMOL representatives present.

VAR is supposed to eliminate injustice. But when the desire for a higher contact threshold is paired with a policy of letting play continue for VAR review - and then undermined by PGMOL’s push for on-field referee primacy via “referee’s call” - the contradictions become clear.

As we saw at Old Trafford, if the referee gets it wrong, the entire VAR protocol is compromised.

PGMOL admitted to me that the referee made a mistake. A fat lot of good that does Villa now. So what's the solution - or is human error just an immovable part of the game?

Opening Day Fixture Deal

At the last FAB meeting, we learned that, due to the redevelopment of the North Stand, Villa have requested to begin the 2026/27 and 2027/28 league campaigns away from home. This is to give contractors maximum time to make the stadium fit and safe - even an extra week helps.

In turn, the club proposed to the Premier League that they open this coming season at home, leading to the now-confirmed opening fixture: Newcastle United at Villa Park.

According to Opta Analyst, Villa have the easiest opening five fixtures in the league. Hopefully, Unai Emery’s men can take advantage of it.

Ticket Price Insider Stories & Win-Win

Today was the deadline for renewing season tickets. While there's a 5% rise for most, some key improvements - which I directly helped bring about - deserve attention.

The Villa FAB, which I co-chaired last season, had called over three ticket consultaton meetings between February and May for a price freeze. But Ben Hatton, the club’s Chief Operating Officer, predictably moved forward with a 5% increase.

That said, this was the first time the FAB (or its predecessor, the Fan Consultation Group) went into consultation properly prepared. In previous years, I’d heard some frankly ludicrous comments from fans supposed to be representing others at such meetiings.

For example, one member once told the club to "charge whatever you think you can get away with" for a Carabao Cup match against Liverpool.

Another, last season, suggested £200 tickets for Cat A games - reasoning that if United or Liverpool fans bought tickets in the home end, at least the club would make money.

When asked what Champions League tickets should cost, another said: “Charge me what you like” - seemingly unaware that he was cosplaying the "take my money" meme.

Needless to say, this kind of feedback emboldened Chris Heck and his team to gouge prices during an anniversary season that should’ve been celebratory, without any bitterness.

Consumer Apathy

Some fans still wave the white flag and say there’s nothing they can do. But apathy is the enemy.

In 2013, I was the only Villa fan marching on the streets of London to protest rising ticket prices at the Premier League offices. The main focus at that time was on away prices - fans were faced with increasing prices, like being charged £62 at the Emirates. From that came the “Twenty’s Plenty” campaign to cap away tickets at £20.

I organised the Villa Park arm of the national protest and joined a second London march with a handful of fellow Villa fans.

The result? Away tickets were capped at £30, a cap that remains in place this season.

Stopping 200% Season Ticket Hikes

A couple of seasons ago, a major pricing overhaul - including new zones, concessions, and categories - was presented to the Fan Consultation Group. I jotted down numbers during the meeting. Later, back home, I did the maths.

It turned out some season ticket holders were facing three different compounded increases, with some older and youth concession fans looking at a rise of over 200% on their season tickets.

I flagged this to the club. They quickly capped rises to 50% - still high, but far better than what could’ve been.

If the club were going to hit fans with another increase for this coming season, then it was important to get some wins for supporters, especially with season ticket holders facing increasing diminishing returns.

We knew there is a major concern in terms of the rising average age of match-going fans, so there was always a good chance for a price freeze on youth concessions and capping domestic cup games at £25 (which had proved successful in attracting new and younger fans).

The key issue for me was the 20% fee season ticket holders were charged if they couldn’t attend a game and used the club’s resale platform.

Given how fixture dates change at short notice - sometimes with just five weeks’ notice - it felt completely unfair, especially with this coming season seeing even more televised games. No other club had a fee that punitive. Until last season, Spurs even allowed fans to resell at general admission prices to make a profit.

After surveying fans, it became obvious: the fee was stopping people from using the platform.

Now, the twist in the story… it also resulted in lost revenue for the club.

Consider this: from the figure presented to the FAB, 5–6% of season ticket holders can’t attend any given game. If all those tickets were resold, the extra money the club makes on resell, when you consider both Category A and GA+ mark-ups - could potentially bring the club in circa £1 million extra across the season.

It was clear across the meetings that Villa’s commercial team struggled to believe there was such a 20% charge. It was something they had inherited and it had flown under the radar.

Thankfully, they saw sense to remove it for this coming season.

It was something of a win-win for all concerned - certainly, in terms of tackling PSR, my idea of removing it was better than that idea of charging fans £200 a ticket!

Interest Free = Interest Free

Another issue on the table was the club’s proposal to introduce an arrangement fee for the monthly payment plan - something over a third of Villa fans use. Other clubs do charge fees, but if Villa had gone ahead, it would’ve potentially amounted to an additional 5–10% price increase, on top of the general 5% increase.

Hatton had tried to frame the cost to the club of arranging such finance, as “equivalent to a 3% price increase” to justify any overall price increase that might come later. You would assume that the cost of finance would have already been baked into ticket pricing over the years. It smelled like a backdoor hike.

We surveyed supporters through the FAB. The message came back loud and clear: adding fees to payment plans would hurt many fans and further erode goodwill. For some, it would actually put them off renewing.

The club again saw sense and kept the interest-free option - genuinely 'interest free'.

Change doesn’t happen overnight. But when supporters speak with clarity and conviction - and back it up with facts - clubs listen. Better outcomes are possible, even in a game increasingly dominated by spreadsheets, suits, and sportswashing.

It starts with showing up - and not waving the white flag.

Oasis’s Brum Significance

This week sees the Oasis reunion tour kick off in Cardiff. I won’t be forking out a fortune to see them, but I was lucky enough to have been around when they first appeared on the scene, and I saw them live a couple of times in the first half of the 1990s. I was living in North London at the time and would spot the Gallaghers almost every week - in bars, clubs, and on the streets of Camden, when it felt like the centre of the universe for a year or two.

A curious little fact I only learned fairly recently: Noel Gallagher actually first laid eyes on a physical copy of the first Oasis record while he was in Birmingham. It happened when Oasis supported Saint Etienne back in December 1993 (I had personally seen Saint Etienne earlier that year - Pulp supported them on that occasion).

Here, Saint Etienne’s manager at the time, Martin Kelly, recalls a defining moment for Noel in a 2020 interview:

“Bob [Stanley of St Etienne] had a copy of the Oasis demo tape and we were keen to seem them play live. Saint Etienne had a string of Christmas shows coming up, so we asked if they would support.

“December 1st was the opening date in Birmingham. Tim Abbot from Creation Records turned up in the afternoon with a box of Columbia 12 inch singles. I remember being stood in their tiny dressing room as the box was cracked open and Noel - with a beaming smile - picked a copy off the top. The first Oasis record he’d seen.

“After a few seconds looking at it he said “here you go” handing me this very copy.

”During the sound check he walked over and asked how much of the PA could they have - ie how loud could they go - I replied “all of it” and they didn't disappoint.”

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Pictures - The ‘God’ one is from Brigada 1874, while the two others are from my own collection.

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