With next weekend’s six-point match between leaders Chelsea and Manchester City destined to perhaps be the game that decides the Premiership champions, ticket touts have taken their unscrupulous job to a new level by printing flyers to advertise their services.
Despite Premiership football tickets being so expensive, the demand for tickets not just domestically, but from around the world remains high enough for people to buy tickets and then resell them at a much higher price.
Yet despite the practice being illegal all you have to do is go on the web, or walk out of Fulham Broadway tube station on a Chelsea match day and you will have people offering to sell you a ticket with in view of a uniformed police officer.
The unhindered access that touts seem to have in purchasing tickets reduces the amount available to fans who would like to purchase tickets at the official price, forcing people who want to watch the game pay over the odds on the street.
Touts are able to go about their business without fear of prosecution with only the real fans that want to see the match being gouged over the price of a ticket, and depending on the match can often pay several times the face value of the ticket.
All this is despite the clubs and the FA saying they want to make tickets available at a fair price to real fans yet this business of touting tickets will continue to grow until there is a concerted effort to shut these businesses down by the authorities.
