Aston Villa clash against Viking FK in the midweek is in danger of having empty seats again just like in the previous outing versus Fenerbahce.
Aston Villa are set to welcome Champions League debutant this season, Viking Stravanger FK. The Norwegian side is not exactly the favourite, nor is it as popular as the sensational Bodoe/Glimt, which could reach further to the round of 16 in UCL’s campaign last season. Thus, there has been a concern that the tickets for this upcoming match would not be sold out.
Last week when The Lions routed Fenerbahce 6-0, some empty seats were seen, as reported in themag.co.uk.
“A crowd of only 34,705 including a couple of thousand Fenerbache fans as Aston Villa fans voted with their wallets.”
Such was less than Villa Park’s full capacity this season during the North Stand renovation, which is 36,887. It means more than two thousand seats were not occupied.
The empty seats in Fener clash was certainly shocking. It was the first home game in the Champions League after their absence. It was expected to be a tight game as the Turkish side have a number of top players such as the former Ederson Moraes, Romelu Lukaku, NGolo Kante and the ex-PSG loanee who stayed in the remainder of the 2024/25 season, Marco Asensio.
Unfortunately, the fans did not see Fener game as exciting to watch as they believe Villa were still superior to them, which they did. Such affected to the number of tickets sold. The official site of the club, avfc.co.uk, reportedly still advertised the tickets for Fenerbahce game on the day of the match.
If the duel against Turkish outfit had not been attractive enough, let alone the clash against the Norwegian side next Wednesday. Aston Villa can only hope that Viking’s previous result while holding Bayern Munich in a 3-3 draw would trigger the fans’ curiosity to look at the teams closer by watching the game live at Villa Park. Viking FK could not be as bad as they imagine and perhaps would stumble Unai Emery’s side, if they look down on them.
Another possible reason is the price itself. The current price is already £89.50 to £ 99 for the fans without seasoned ticket. It is already higher than two seasons’ ago. Meanwhile, for the seasoned ticket holders, it already costs £73.50 to £83.
The current economic situation is unfortunately not in favour of most of the fans. It is sometimes not ideal for them to pay the high price ticket for the non-entertaining or important games, even in the top level competition like Champions League.
For the club like Aston Villa, they have to deal with the other issue.
“The price of football for fans in England is now a huge talking point as prices reaching crazy levels, based on the fact that the big clubs have far more demand than supply.”
Such situation only makes it worse. The uneven demands would make the sides like The Lions, The Magpies or perhaps Brighton next season suffer the same issue again. In the end, it all comes down to the economic situation. It will be interesting if the club could find solution to avoid it in the future with certain package, discount, certain sponsorship or so to reduce the price a bit at least.
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