There was a big reaction from Aston Villa fans two years ago when their club announced their Champions League prices for the 2024/25 season.
Prices for season ticket holders have been set at £70 to £82 per home game. Aston Villa fans (members and others) had to pay between £85 and £97 per Champions League ticket for those without season tickets.
Last Wednesday night (14 October 2026) Villa hosted their first Champions League match in 18 months at the Park and I was surprised to see so many empty seats. This is despite Aston Villa operating at a much reduced capacity due to development works at the stadium.
A total of 34,705 people voted with their wallets, including several thousand Fenerbahce fans, as well as Aston Villa fans.
I took a look at the details and on the day of the match Aston Villa were still advertising tickets for the Fenerbahce match, tickets that obviously didn’t sell out.
Aston Villa fans were not happy that the extortionate Champions League prices of two seasons ago were increased further for this season. For Champions League tickets this season at Villa Park, season ticket holders will pay between £73.50 and £83, while non-season ticket Aston Villa fans will pay between £89.50 and £99.
Villa fans especially extorted this price because the first two Champions League matches against Fenerbahce and Viking were less attractive.
Fast forward a week and ahead of tonight’s Champions League match at Villa Park, I took a quick look at Aston Villa’s official ticketing website. It looks worse than last Wednesday night, with thousands and thousands of unsold tickets for this Vikings match around Villa Park just hours before kick-off.
The cost of football for fans in England is a big topic of debate right now as prices are reaching insane levels as the big clubs have more demand than supply.
As Aston Villa fans have shown, things can go too far and even Champions League matches end with empty seats.
Newcastle United fans have seen prices rise throughout the 2025/26 Champions League campaign, with a minimum of £69 for season ticket holders and £74 for United members for their final St James’ Park match against Barcelona.
When Aston Villa fans called out the club over extortionate Champions League ticket prices two seasons ago, Aston Villa’s president of business operations Chris Heck gave this blunt response/defense. “We recognize and understand the depth of passion felt among fans and their recent frustration with ticket prices. Achieving our sporting ambitions while respecting financial stability rules requires difficult decisions. Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules prohibit owners from paying shortfalls to fund this ambition, so we need to get as many tickets as possible to generate as much revenue as possible through ticket sales and sponsorship. wins.
If you end up with thousands and thousands of empty unsold seats for home Champions League matches, that’s a huge negative for both the club and the fans.