Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has admitted that the club needs to find “a solution” to the growing opposition to the club’s hike in ticket prices following Saturday’s mass walkout of nearly 10,000 fans.
Klopp, making a sudden return to the hot seat after undergoing an appendix operation on Saturday, said: “It’s not what we want. We want fans to stay until the game is finished. I have to collect more information.”
Klopp was reacting to the incident in the 77th minute of the game against Sunderland at Anfield when supporters registered their unhappiness at tickets in the new Main Stand rising from £59 to £77 next season.
The protest was backed by the club’s iconic former defender Jamie Carragher—a season ticket-holder in the Main Stand who, according to the Liverpool Echo, joined the 77th-minute walkout—its former striker John Aldridge and ex-manager Roy Evans.
Speaking ahead of tomorrow’s FA Cup replay at West Ham, Klopp said of the walkout: “It’s not too easy for me. Now I know it’s my problem too. Anything I’d say now would make it more complicated.”
With unfortunate timing, his comments came as the club announced it had cancelled a question and answer session with its chief executive Ian Ayre over the ticket price rise.
Ayre was scheduled to answer queries sent in by fans via Twitter about the controversial 2016-17 pricing structure on the club’s television station yesterday. However, the event was cancelled.
With season tickets in the Main Stand increasing from £869 to £1,029—despite the Premier League attracting an £8.3bn windfall of television money from next season—the club’s owners Fenway Sports Group held talks with senior management on Sunday, raising the possibility of a review into the tickets hike.
After fans had chanted “You greedy b*****ds, enough is enough” at the weekend, Evans tweeted: “Liverpool fans have every right to protest. They’ve always stood up for what they believe in. LFC wouldn’t be what it is without them.”
Aldridge joined in, tweeting: “I can understand the walkout! Scousers know how to throw a proper protest.
“Just horrible when it coincides with a horrible result.”
The exodus appeared to destabilise the players on the pitch, with Liverpool throwing away a 2-0 lead against relegation-threatened Sunderland in the absence of Klopp.
Meanwhile, media reports said Liverpool owners will consider a review of the price hikes. The Fenway Sports Group held emergency talks after Saturday’s protest and again on Sunday, British newspapers reported.
Fans have meanwhile threatened more walkouts in looming key games against Chelsea and Manchester City.
The board talks are set to continue this week, the reports said. But a review is possible even though the English club’s management insist that about two thirds of Main Stand ticket prices will remain stable or fall.
Jay McKenna, spokesman for the Spirit of Shankly supporters group, said Saturday’s protest was “a good indication that supporters are very angry at prices and this will just be the start of taking more action.”
“For us, it is unequivocal,” added McKenna. “We don’t have a firm idea of what we will do yet as this has all happened very quickly, so we will take the next two days to take stock and talk to the supporters about what we do next.
“But we will be taking action because we need to. It wasn’t about letting off steam, and saying we are a bit angry but we will carry on. We really need Liverpool Football Club, the owners, and the executives to think to themselves: ‘Is this the right approach?’”
On the pitch, Liverpool and Sunderland served up a desperately poor first half—the home side with the ball and the visitors in terms of their intent—before Roberto Firmino punished defensive lapses to head home James Milner’s cross and set up Adam Lallana for a straightforward second that should have sealed victory.
Instead, Sunderland sensed opportunity from the moment Johnson’s free-kick beat Mignolet. Defoe’s predatory quality provided it.
“I think we need six wins from 13 games,” said Sunderland manager Sam Allardyce. “They’ve done it before, haven’t they? They’re good at miraculous recoveries here, let’s hope we are again. Jermain could be our saviour if the lads at the other end don’t let goals in like they did against Liverpool. It’s a great comeback, a great point and a spirit I hope will stay with us until the end of the season.”