In a recent poll involving 1,507 football fans commissioned by Fair Betting Sites, participants revealed Anfield to be the most intimidating Premier League ground to go to.
15.33% of the vote swung in favour of Liverpool’s home, while their eternal rivals Manchester United was voted as the ground fans most wanted to visit with 13.47%.
Elsewhere, participants were largely in favour of Celtic and Rangers joining the Premier League, while the issue of Financial Fair Play remains a contentious topic.
The cost of living crisis was shown to be having an affect on the match-going fan, with 33% saying they buy less tickets due to trying to cut back on spending.
- Anfield voted the most hostile atmosphere for travelling supporters.
- Wolves’ Molineux gets just 12 votes as the least likely to visit ground in the league.
- 22.63% strongly disagree that Rangers and Celtic should be allowed to compete in the Premier League.
- 33% of fans cutting down on matchday tickets amid cost of living crisis
- 27.47% neither agree nor disagree that Financial Fair Play has made the Premier League fairer.
Anfield Voted the Most Intimidating Ground for Travelling Supporters in New Poll
It is no secret that the driving force behind much of Liverpool’s success has been down to their unwavering fanbase who, on more than one occasion, have almost certainly been the reason for some staggering comebacks; 4-0 against Barcelona and the 4-3 with Dortmund in 2016 spring to mind.
The bubbling, feverish atmosphere that Anfield exudes onto the pitch not only unsettles opposition players, but travelling supporters are often drowned out by a chorus of Liverpudlians bellowing out ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’.
Anfield garnered 15.33% of the vote when asked which Premier League ground is the most intimidating for away supporters.
Little over 100 more participants chose Liverpool over the nearest competitor, United’s Old Trafford, which was closely followed by Elland Road in Leeds which missed out on second spot by three votes.
It is interesting to note that subjects aged 45-54 believed Elland Road to be the most hostile atmosphere with just over 16% of the vote, while those aged between 16-24 swung the way of Manchester United.
At the other end of the spectrum, it would seem Nottingham Forests’ 20 year hiatus from the top-flight has caused fans to dismiss the City Ground as an intimidating place to travel, although Liverpool supporters may say otherwise after their recent away day defeat.
Forest picked up just six votes, while Southampton’s St Mary’s narrowly evaded tying them for last spot with seven.
It would be interesting to see where Celtic and Rangers rank on this pole if they ever competed in the Premier League.
When prompted whether the Scottish duo should be allowed to join the English top-flight, only 12.45% said they strongly agree.
Comparatively, 22.63% said they strongly disagree with the statement with the vast majority of those votes coming from the older generation aged 33+.
However, the overall net for agreeing they should be allowed narrowly edged the total vote with 36.43% to disagrees 34.51%.
Wolves and Molineux Voted Least Likely Ground to Visit
Despite being voted as the most intimidating, Anfield ranked third in the ground fans most wanted to visit with 9.89% of the total vote, behind only to Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium (10.35%) and United’s Old Trafford (13.47%).
All the way down in the mire, Nottingham’s City Ground fared slightly better in this pole (1%), pipping Wolves’ Molineux Stadium at the last which had just 12 votes.
For those aged 55 and over, Tottenham Hotspur’s brand new state-of-the-art stadium was the most popular choice, while the 16-24 category were eager to visit United’s ‘theatre of dreams’.
Fans Forced to Cut Back on Tickets Amid Cost of Living Crisis
Although a matchday is indeed one of life’s simple pleasures as a football fan, the UK finds itself in the midst of an ongoing cost of living crisis, forcing people to cut back on perhaps unnecessary leisurely activities.
Among the 1,507 fans asked, the majority of participants (33.38%) said that the main football related cost they have had to cut down on is matchday tickets in general.
Elsewhere, getting to sample some of the intimidating atmospheres listed above has become a burdensome task for most amid the rising costs of fuel and train tickets. Just under 30% said travelling to away games was the main football affiliated cost they had to cut back on.
Other reasons included buying food and drink on a matchday (23.95%), paying to watch football live on TV (25.55%) and particularly for those aged 35-44 which was their second biggest cost with 31.76%, purchasing replica shirts (26%).
Financial Fair Play Viewed as Largely Positive Catalyst in Balancing the Scales
It has become customary for clubs across the league to facilitate large scale takeovers given the ever-increasing stock of the Premier League, which in itself has become a commercial behemoth.
10 clubs are now owned, or part-owned, by American owners, while Manchester City and Newcastle have benefited from oil-rich investors from the far East.
The introduction of Financial Fair Play (FFP) was an initiative aimed at balancing the scales and preventing clubs from spending more money than they earn, but larger clubs are seemingly still benefiting the most.
Despite this, the overall net vote in the poll for agreeing that FFP has made the Premier League fairer stood at 39.22%, compared to disagree’s net at 23.89%.
When delving deeper into the findings however, it is interesting to note that the largest share of the vote (27.47%) opted for neither agree nor disagree, highlighting the confusion around whether FFP does in fact make the league fairer.
This was the consensus across all age groups, although the older participants held more trepidation over its effectiveness.
