By Chris Wheeler

PUBLISHED: 10:24 EST, 8 January 2013 | UPDATED: 07:03 EST, 9 January 2013


Manchester City supporters have hit out at Arsenal's 'ridiculous' ticket prices after returning almost a third of their allocation for Sunday's Barclays Premier League clash at the Emirates Stadium.

Roberto Mancini's champions face a huge game in north London as they try to claw back ground on leaders Manchester United, currently seven points clear at the top of the league.

But it has emerged that 900 of the 3,000 away seats will be empty after City fans showed their disgust at being charged 62 for a ticket.

London calling: City lost 1-0 on their last visit to the Emirates

London calling: City lost 1-0 on their last visit to the Emirates

Kevin Parker of the City Supporters' Group said: 'In 2009 a ticket to Arsenal was 32.50, so in under four years they have gone up by almost 30 and now they're the most expensive in English football. It seems a ridiculous amount of money.

'Some fans are saying, "I'm not paying 62 whether I can afford it or not because I've got to draw a line somewhere", while others can't afford to pay 62. We play Southampton on February 9 and they are charging 38 a ticket. 'But we go to QPR on January 29 and they are charging 55 a ticket. I think some clubs are losing touch with the ordinary man.'

Arsenal are not the only club to have been criticised for expensive tickets but they were revealed to be the hosts of English football's most expensive day out by a BBC survey in October.

Hike: City fans have been forced to pay in excess of 60 for their tickets

Hike: City fans have been forced to pay in excess of 60 for their tickets

Five most expensive away Premier League ticket

Arsenal 62
Chelsea 59
QPR 55
Tottenham 54
Man City 51

Football Supporters' Federation chairman Malcolm Clarke said: '62 is almost obscene. This is an industry with eye-watering amounts of money coming into the Premier League. It's time fans got more benefits of that.

'You would expect Manchester City against Arsenal to be a guaranteed sell-out but if City are sending 900 tickets back then that speaks volumes.

'They have a reputation for being some of the most loyal fans in the country. In the economic circumstances, straight after Christmas, this is an outrage.'

No move: Balotelli won't join AC Milan

No move: Balotelli won't join AC Milan

In the past the FSF have broached the subject of a flat rate for ticket prices across the country. This, however, is considered unworkable by the football authorities.

Meanwhile, the hopes of City striker Mario Balotelli moving to AC Milan have been dashed by the club's president Silvio  Berlusconi.

'Balotelli is a rotten apple and could infect every group, even Milan,' said Berlusconi on Tuesday.

Berlusconi has again hinted that former Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola is being lined up for the manager's job at City.

The Italian previously said that Guardiola would replace Roberto Mancini following the arrival at the Etihad of former Barcelona pair Txiki Begiristain and Ferran Soriano.

Berlusconi said he had given up on bringing Guardiola to the San Siro: 'Since we spoke other clubs have come forward - including those who have friends of his.'

City refused to comment but have indicated before that Mancini's position is safe.

The comments below have not been moderated.

I thought City were made of money though? ;) - Stephanooblus, Naas, 09/01/2013 14:57 That doesn't mean to say that the fans are. And it's arsenal that set the ticket price right?

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What I don't understand about the Manchester City returns is that the club's own website (check News>Tickets&Travel - Mail Online doesn't accept links) reported the Arsenal allocation was sold out a couple of weeks ago. I'm a Blue member and had been keeping an eye on them with a view to travelling down. Now I see 900 have been returned! Why did the club announce them as 'sold out' if so many still remained? - scotandbrit, Scotland - UK, United Kingdom, 9/1/2013 14:54 From what I can gather, the block of 900 tickets was returned to Arsenal sometime around December 20th. I find that a bit odd because it was still over 3 weeks before the match but maybe the club weren't confident of selling the full allocation and Arsenal wanted them back in good time to sell them to their own fans. As it happens, the other 2000 or so sold out 13 days before the match so we might well have sold the other 900 after all.

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I thought City were made of money though? ;)

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What I don't understand about the Manchester City returns is that the club's own website (check News>Tickets&Travel - Mail Online doesn't accept links) reported the Arsenal allocation was sold out a couple of weeks ago. I'm a Blue member and had been keeping an eye on them with a view to travelling down. Now I see 900 have been returned! Why did the club announce them as 'sold out' if so many still remained?

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What I don't understand about the Manchester City returns is that the club's own website (check News>Tickets&Travel - Mail Online doesn't accept links) reported the Arsenal allocation was sold out a couple of weeks ago. I'm a Blue member and had been keeping an eye on them with a view to travelling down. Now I see 900 have been returned! Why did the club announce them as 'sold out' if so many still remained?

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Simon ! - Are all City fans stupid. 'London' wasn't complaining about the price he was just stating that that comes from the inflation the likes of which are caused by City itself. He's fine to pay the price it's your lot who are moaning like women. - London, london, United Kingdom, 9/1/2013 12:47 Well you obviously don't know many Arsenal fans then because plenty of them are up in arms about their ticket prices too - are you forgetting the furore when that Twitter pic of an Arsenal v Tottenham ticket costing 94.50 went viral a couple of months ago? Are you forgetting that Arsenal fans themselves have protested about high ticket prices? Either way, to say you're ok paying the price smacks of a despicable "I'm alright Jack" attitude. And before you try and blame it all on MCFC again, I'll point out that Arsenal's ticket prices have been astronomical ever since they moved into the Emirates in 2006 which, funnily enough, was a full 2 years before Sheikh Mansour bought MCFC you clown.

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- manctofu , Manchester, 09/1/2013 13:38: +++++ Please grow up, it's not the City fans that have the wealth but the owners of the team. And how a mediocre team like Arsenal can charge such ludicrous prices is beyond me.

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If city didnt pay Barry, Milner, Lescott, Clichy, 3 times what they are worth, oh and remember Adebayor's 170k A WEEK!!! City came in and completely destroyed the system.

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Quite ironic that this comes from the supporters of a club that have hugely inflated transfer fees & wages, hence, they have in effect pushed up the ticket prices that they complain about. Let's forget why we have suddenly become successful overnight when it suits shall we. You have to laugh.

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Simply charge arsenal away fans what your fans had to pay at the Emirates. - lodge60, abergavenny, 9/1/2013 10:44 It's generally accepted that rather than this, clubs should not charge away supporters more than home supporters for equivalent seats, although I'm not sure whether this is a rule or a guideline. Under your plan, the fans of well-supported clubs could be truly ripped off when going to away grounds, and ultimately away fans would be completely priced out of the game.

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