Yahoo News Aston Villa break silence on Champions League ticket anger as Chris Heck speaks out
Chris Heck has thanked Aston Villa fans for their patience and loyal support after general admission tickets for the club's home Champions League game against Bayern Munich sold out in record time.
Villa faced strong opposition to their ticket price policy for their four Champions League league phase games - against Bayern, Bologna, Juventus and Celtic - with a general admission adult non-season holders ticket costing as much as £97. Villa supporters who are season ticket holders in zones one and two will pay £79, while those in zones three and four will pay £70. Those prices increase by £15 per zone if you're not a season ticket holder.
"We want to thank all our season ticket holders who have recently exercised their right to buy tickets for our first Champions League game vs Bayern Munich and apologise to all those on the season ticket waiting list and to those general fans who were unable to secure seats for this game," Heck wrote in a statement while confirming general admission tickets had sold out.
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"We recognise and understand the depth of passion felt amongst the fans and their recent frustration around ticket pricing. Achieving our sporting ambitions while complying with Financial Fair Play Rules prohibit owners from covering shortfalls to finance this ambition, so we need to generate as much revenue as possible through sponsorships, merchandise and ticket sales to ensure that we can keep the club where it rightfully belongs - competing (and winning) at the top of English and European football.
"Additionally, we want to thank our fans for their patience and for their loyal support whilst we do our utmost to grow the club as a business, and ensure we are all doing our part to support our players on the pitch both home and away.
"Our priority will always be to match our collective ambition while ensuring that we are able to increase stadium capacity each season and provide the best matchday experience for all our fans. We are committed to ensuring the club’s enduring long-term success both on and off the field."
Villa fans have been reacting to his comments on X, with one saying: "I never fully liked the pricing, but understood they had a reason. Get behind the boys in the claret and blue and make this season's Champions League campaign one to remember."
Another posted: "It's your responsibility to keep AVFC within PSR rules - not ours." A third wrote: "Newcastle have the exact same issues as us, why were their tickets for PSG nearly half what ours are for Bologna?"
