Highgate FC have decided to increase gate charges for their game against Hereford FC on August 15th. Adults will be charged £8 and concessions £4.
Highgate director Chris Hughes told their OS about their decision.
"We're aware of some comments on social media that in the opinion of a
tiny minority, some of the MFL clubs are out to 'cash-in' on Hereford's
huge support, but I can hand on heart say that is definitely not the
case here.
"We did think about making it all ticket, but were then informed by Hereford they would charge us a handling fee, and as we're trying to keep costs down for the supporters, we decided against it.
There's no doubt Hereford are a massive club by comparison to the rest of us in the MFL, but it's not new to us to have huge crowds at The Coppice, in recent years we've played West Bromwich Albion, Solihull Moors and Birmingham City in the Birmingham Senior Cup where we've had huge crowds and they've all gone smoothly.
"The price increase for the Hereford game is, as it was for West Brom and Blues, is purely to cover the additional overheads - costs of hiring portaloo's, extra catering facilities, hiring stewards, St. Johns Ambulance and the like, as the number of expected fans in unknown we've also had to notify West Midlands Police and that's still in progress.
"Granted, we should make our money back, but Hereford are an untried entity in this league and there's no guarantee the hoards they are boasting about on message boards are indeed going to turn up. This is Hereford's first Saturday 'away' league game and whereas they're playing in front of an amazing 4500 for their opening game, no team in this league know's what to expect in terms of the number of away support.
"The last thing we want to do is live beyond our means, Highgate United is a well run club and we're determined not to become a victim of overspending - I'm sure every genuine Hereford fan can appreciate what happens to a club if it can't pay its way and that's not a dig, that's just being honest.
"In a way we're 'testing the water' for the rest of the league as they will all look and learn from us. The directors at Hereford have been very helpful with suggestions but even they can't guess the numbers.
"We can assure all visitors though, that we're determined they experience a memorable and safe visit to Highgate …hopefully they might want to forget the result, but at least have an enjoyable day"