How can Sheffield Wednesday fans effectively protest against the ticket price hike?

No one wants to pay more for something than they have to, but a sense of value for money is paramount. It is a lack of this sense that enabled new Sheffield Wednesday owner Dejphon Chansiri to hike home matchday ticket prices - using a plethora of inexplicable categories for games - to as much as £52.

The anger at the sudden decision has enraged Owls fans and supporters organisations. The general feeling has been that this is an obscene amount to pay to watch second division football at Hillsborough which, last season in particular, has not exactly been home to spectacular top dollar football of late. It is unreasonable to expect a family to pay this (not least as the old ground hasn't exactly got great family facilities) when people are still struggling to find work in South Yorkshire and the next generation of kids who want to go may be deprived of the experience. What's more, the timing of the decision, after all the cheap early bird season tickets have finished sale, meant those on those on the fence about renewing or buying a season ticket who didn't have been heavily stung if they want to visit Hillsborough a bunch of times this season.

As an ardent fan proud that we were amongst the cheapest teams to go and see in the league it has been a painful turn of events.

To put the decision into context, Chansiri bought the club in January, taking over from Milan Mandaric - widely seen to have saved the club and who was even granted a 'Thank you Milan Day', unusual among chairmen. But, as Mandaric agreed to stay on to advise, we must assume he had some say in the ticket pricing decision. Chansiri, who has been popular with Owls fans, keen to see the seafood magnate spend big to achieve his much stated goal of reaching the Premier League. 

"Chansiri has approached his reign like a Prime Minister's - charm on arrival before dropping bombshells"

In a delayed letter explaining the ticket price hike, he used funding transfers (the only language that gets fans on side, we hardly want to hear the ticket cash is being spent on plush back room facilities) as a justification. It's pathetically transparent behaviour: bang on about attacking football, which of course everyone wants to see (but can be difficult in a tight division led by a new manager inexperienced in English football) and then demand the fans pay for it.

But is this really fair? In the Premier League, ticket income vastly lags TV rights and advertising revenues to fund multi-million pound transfers. With reduced access to that in the Championship, Chansiri has clearly decided the fans, rather than canny deals brokered by his business, will fund his ambitions. It appears he has approached his reign like a Prime Minister's parliamentary term - charm on arrival and shortly afterwards before dropping the bombshells, knowing you've bought yourself some time before the masses can really turn on you.

In response to the price hike - to £39, Bristol City fans have understandably decided to boycott the season opener at Hillsborough on August 8. We've seen a propensity, particularly at Premier League level, for teams to raise away prices against those who overcharge their fans and the temptation with a well supported club like Wednesday will doubtless be they will see the blue and white pound and do just that.

But I think this may be what it takes. As an exiled Owl in London, I go to plenty of games in the south and am always proud to stand amongst a heaving WAWAW faithful. If this number starts thinning out, the supporter numbers are held up against previous years and - after a few seasons of inflated revenge pricing - we become a less lucrative club to host, then Chansiri may be shamed into cutting prices. Empty seats at Hillsborough is one thing, but a true protest needs to reverberate far wider.

Although his background is very much not a footballing one, the more the new Owls owner becomes embedded in the flash, trophy asset world of football club ownership, the more his reputation will play a part. If this is as someone charging Premier League prices to see sub-par football, this may just force his hand.

How Liverpool Ladies broke Arsenal's title monopoly

Liverpool Ladies’ title win shattered Arsenal’s decade-long grip on the FA Women’s Super League (FAWSL) title. Alex Lawson looks at how they achieved it. 

Liverpool Ladies midfielder Louise Fors could have been forgiven for feeling a little nervous as she stepped up to take a first half penalty for the Reds against Bristol on Sunday. The spot kick was a crucial moment in a title decider few would have predicted at the start of the season.

Liverpool top scorer Natasha Dowie

As the new season opened, Liverpool had notched just two wins in the previous two seasons as they finished rock bottom in each. However, the Anfield club’s US owners ploughed money into its women’s team and brought in new manager Matt Beard to lead the side.

Moreover, a handful of classy foreign signings from the US, Sweden and Germany – who were given English lessons funded by the men’s team – were brought in to gel with the core home grown talent in the side.

Under Beard, Liverpool became the first team in the FAWSL to train full-time and a winning mentality was bred. Beard’s publicly stated aim of a mid-table finish has been blown out of the water by a team which scored 44 goals on the way to Sunday’s title decider, spurred on by former Crystal Palace and Coventry manager Iain Dowie’s niece Natasha.

Dowie, the league’s top scorer with 19 goals, was snubbed by former England manager Hope Powell for the squad for the summer’s Euro 2013 finals but took the rejection in her stride.

She has also spoken of the incentive that hunting down Arsenal Ladies – a team which bore comparison to the relentless winning machine of Manchester United’s men’s side in the 1990s – gave the side. With foreign players on board, the stigma of beating the dominant Gunners has been quelled and both Liverpool and Bristol have outclassed them during this 14-game this season.

So when Fors stepped up, there was a deal of pressure to see through what has been a significant journey for Liverpool. But she cooly dispatched the penalty and when Icelandic midfielder Katrin Omarsdottir struck home from Dowie’s pass Liverpool had secured a momentous victory at the Halton Stadium.

So what does Liverpool Ladies victory mean for the game? Firstly, there’s a new sense of vitality and competition to the league as Liverpool became the first league victors who weren’t Arsenal since Fulham in 2003. Moreover, it provides some healthy coverage for the women’s game after the poor showing by England at Euro 2013 damaged perceptions of domestic women’s football.

However, the pattern of Powell’s sacking after a lacklustre tournament and a team with significant financial backing surging up the league to take the title via a raft of foreign players is a familiar one. While the likes of Chelsea and Manchester City have clinched the Premier League title with a handful of English players, neither can seriously claim to be aiding the blooding of homegrown talent.

The British spine of Liverpool’s team – namely Dowie, midfielder Fara Williams and captain Gemma Bonner – may take experience from this victory but there remains work to be done if the national side is to remain undamaged by the lack of opportunities for young home grown talent.

For Arsenal, who were deducted three points for fielding an unregistered player but would still have lost out to Liverpool, this may provide the shot in the arm to kickstart a fightback.

Article originally appeared on Footymatters.com