"It was not mathematically confirmed until the Latvia game a month later, but as I watched Ezri Konsa turn in the third goal away to Serbia in early September I smiled to myself in the Stadion Rajko Mitic, knowing England were going to the World Cup. But immediately, a key question surfaced: was I? The answer came on Thursday, with the announcement of the ticket prices that the most loyal supporters of international football would have to pay."
"If you had asked me as a hypothetical what seeing England in a World Cup final was worth, I might have said: Priceless. But $4,185 3,130 just for the match ticket? No, no, no. As a fan, I have been to 14 tournaments nine European Championships and five World Cups dating back to Euro 92. I have the money, or at least could get it by dipping into my pension pot, which I was braced to do for hotels and flights."
"The prices announced on Thursday were for the supporters who have already trekked across their own continent, creating the atmosphere at and around national-team matches. It's to these supporters, in each country's membership scheme, that the competing teams' allocations of tickets go, 8% of the total in each ground. That 8% provides a much higher percentage of the atmosphere, not just at the finals but in the qualifying matches that give meaning to the jamboree."
England's qualification felt certain after Ezri Konsa's goal, but ticket-price announcements made attendance unaffordable for many loyal supporters. Single match tickets were listed as high as $4,185 or 3,130, and the total cost to follow a team from group stage to final can reach about $5,000. The writer has attended 14 international tournaments since Euro 92 and could find the money, but refuses to spend such sums. National-team membership schemes receive 8% of stadium tickets, and those travelling supporters supply a disproportionately large share of the atmosphere at matches.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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