BST column: Seasiders’ fan relationship is in stark contrast to Premier League pair

It has been another busy month for us and, among other things, we continue to pay for a BST mascot at every home game.

By the season’s end, we will have sponsored 25 families in the 2023/24 season and plan to do the same next year.

We also sponsor a pair of adult/child tickets in the family stand at every match, helped by one of our generous benefactors.

These tickets go to families who are active in children’s football in the Blackpool area.

Our young people’s representative, Tom Ghee, continues to work with UK and European counterparts on the Future of Football project.

Many of you will have seen that we responded in full to the club’s proposals for future fan engagement.

This work is highly topical; getting it right will leave the club well placed for the introduction of an independent regulator.

This is the time of year when clubs are looking at budgets for next year, doing their contingency planning, identifying recruitment targets and making decisions about a number of things that supporters care a great deal about – like ticket prices.

Our club has pursued a reasonable course under Simon Sadler; prices are competitive but generally in line with others.

It’s not quite the same elsewhere. Arsenal and Tottenham have attracted bad headlines after announcing significant rises in the price of season tickets.

At Tottenham, there is added disgust as they are scaling back on concessions offered to seniors.

Both clubs have big stadiums to fill and so-called ‘football tourists’ – people who may attend only one or two games a season – tend to buy a lot more merchandise and expensive food and drinks than the average season ticket holder.

If maximising the value of every seat is what you care about, then a significant number of fixed-income pensioners taking up valuable real estate might not be ideal.

The first thing that strikes the casual observer is the simple greed of the clubs involved.

Both cite expenditure pressures as part of their reasoning but they receive nine-figure sums in broadcast revenue and neither is forced to pay the huge wages they do.

The second revealing aspect is what it shows about these clubs’ attitudes to their most loyal supporters.

We do not have this problem at Blackpool, having offered very detailed feedback on the club’s plans for fan engagement, and look forward to working with them in a constructive way.

Finally, we would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who supports us.

If you are a BST member, you give us a mandate, and new members can join at https://www.blackpoolsupporterstrust.com/join-us

Supporters of the 1953 Sweepstake are giving some of our youngest supporters a day to remember through the mascot programme and supporting every charitable initiative we undertake.

New players can join at https://www.blackpoolsupporterstrust.com/1953-sweepstake

Finally, to the anonymous – but extremely generous – benefactors who continue to give us unconditional financial support, you are the very best partners we could have and we would never want to be without you.