Ferguson Rejects Sutcliffe's Ticket Price Criticism

Sir Alex Ferguson today hit back at the sports minister Gerry Sutcliffe's criticism of Manchester United's season-ticket prices, pointing out that prices were far higher at Arsenal and Chelsea.

At a sports summit in London yesterday, Sutcliffe condemned United for this season's 13% price hike as well as the 'automatic cup scheme' which forces season-ticket holders to buy tickets for cup games whether they want to attend or not. Sutcliffe also branded the reported £130,000-a-week pay packet of Chelsea skipper "obscene", but it was his comments about United which drew Ferguson's ire.

"It is unfair and inaccurate," said Ferguson. "If you want to talk about obscene, he should look at the prices they charge at Chelsea and Arsenal. He works in London, I am sure he knows where Chelsea and Arsenal play, so he must know about their ticket prices. They are almost double ours, so I do not understand why he is picking on Manchester United.

"He is a United fan is he? He will not be coming back again," added Ferguson with tongue firmly in cheek. "He can go and watch that mob United FC."

Ferguson famously got drawn into a debate on United's ticket prices - and Malcolm Glazer's controversial takeover - with irate fans and sympathizers of FC United, the club set up by those disenchanted with events at Old Trafford, at Budapest airport three years ago. In that instance, his reported "go and watch Chelsea" jibe was a misrepresentation of a comment advising his accusers to see how much it cost to watch at top-flight game at Stamford Bridge.

This time, Ferguson was prodded into a response by a government minister who has since tried to reign back the bluntness of his comments. However, even on the subject of player wages, Ferguson was not entirely happy.

"You have to put these things into perspective," he said. "There are some tennis players and golfers earning enormous amounts of money. Is that wrong? People tend to think that because they are individuals they deserve it. But football is the national game. Without question, it is the biggest sport in the world. It is very easy to say footballers get paid too much. In some cases, I would not argue with that. However, there are also some tennis players who get great sponsorship deals but never win a tournament."