March 2014 - Swansea City Wiretap

EPL Clubs Charge Up To $940 For Kids To Be Mascots

Dec 18, 2014 12:38 PM

More than half the Premier League clubs have been accused of “excluding families from poorer backgrounds” after a Guardian study found that a few of them are charging as much as $704 for children to be mascots, with West Ham United’s the most expensive package at $940.

The average price of a replica kit for a junior fan costs $100, according to the study.

11 Premier League teams, most of whom have spent time in the Championship in the past 10 years, ask a fee for being a mascot on matchday. Queens Park Rangers and Swansea City both charge £450 plus VAT for their packages while West Ham’s prices range from £350-£600 depending on the fixture.

The packages vary between £250-400 at Tottenham, £300-400 at Leicester City, £150-425 at Crystal Palace and £330-390 at Stoke. Burnley, West Bromwich Albion and Hull City also charge, while Newcastle United’s corporate hospitality packages of £3,000-4,000 include mascot places.

Some clubs, including Spurs, QPR and Newcastle, do, however, offer a number of free mascot places through competitions and charities. Others do not charge at all: Arsenal, Aston Villa, Chelsea, Everton, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Southampton and Sunderland.

The majority of the mascot packages include hospitality places at the designated match, a free kit, signed footballs, photos of the day, match tickets, and other benefits. Some clubs, including Swansea and Stoke, describe the deals as “great value for money” and say that there are long waiting lists, yet supporters have questioned the need for Premier League clubs, many with super-rich owners, to charge such prices.

James Riach/The Guardian

Tags: Tottenham Hotspur, West Bromwich Albion, West Ham United, Arsenal, Aston Villa, Burnley, Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Everton, Hull City, Leicester City, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Newcastle United, Queens Park Rangers, Southampton, Sunderland, Swansea City, Stoke City

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Sam Allardyce Chose Andy Carroll Over Wilfried Bony

Dec 5, 2014 1:14 PM

Sam Allardyce passed up the opportunity to sign Wilfried Bony for West Ham United, buying Andy Carroll instead. Allardyce revealed he had been scouting Bony when the Ivory Coast international was in prolific form at the Dutch club Vitesse Arnhem in 2013 but a move never materialized as he was able to strike a deal with Liverpool to sign Carroll on a permanent basis instead.

Bony subsequently completed a move to Swansea and has been in scintillating form, scoring more Premier League goals in the calender year than any other player, and will be looking to continue that form against West Ham on Sunday.

Allardyce said: “We signed Andy Carroll and it was one or the other. It couldn’t be both and we ended up getting a deal done with Andy so our interest ended because we couldn’t do both. We didn’t have enough money in the budget that year.

“We spent big money on Andy and the rest had to be proportioned out for the considerable amount of other players we needed at the time.”

Press Association

Tags: West Ham United, Swansea City, Misc Rumor, Transfer Rumor

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