Villa's thoughtless Champions League ticket prices are a pisstake of the highest order

The top line is this: Villa have priced their Champions League tickets for home fans at such a high price that it cannot be viewed in any other way than pure opportunistic greed.

I wish I could say that was an biassed statement framed from my annoyance at the way 'the game' is going, but after doing my own 'benchmarking' and looking at the figures, this decision - signed off on by Chris Heck and Aston Villa's execs - reeks of cynical opportunism at the expense of a loyal fanbase.

It was all going so well off-the-pitch as well.

Last season, Villa entered the Europa Conference League, got to a semi-final, and then into the Champions League via a fourth-placed finish. Delightful. European football continued to be on the cards, new sponsors were signed, and the club was richer for it.

The ticket prices for home tickets to that entry-level UEFA club tournament were smart and thoughtful by Villa. The club knew it would have extra home games to secure cash from, and an additional TV revenue stream. It put on an offer for three group stage games for £86 that got you access to Villa vs Zrinjski Mostar, Legia Warsaw, and AZ Alkmaar.

It was a delightful time. We paid our money, watched our club and had a riot across Europe. You felt like the club, maybe, were listening. Even when this summer came, and prices went up - you knew why, and hey - it wasn't that bad. The noise coming from Heck was that certain things had to be changed. GA+ and hospitality offerings had to be ramped up, to increase those revenue streams - but the core fan would be looked after.

Today, Villa announced their per game ticket prices for home Champions League fixtures against Bayern Munich, Juventus, Bologna and Celtic. If you're not a season ticket holder, you wouldn't get a single Champions League game for the cost of three Conference League games.

£60 would've been steep, but fine. £50 would've been acceptable. £45 would've been seen as a mind-blowing bargain. Asking for £94 - £79 for season ticket holders in Zone 1 for a single game is so far past unacceptable that it's not even funny.

My basis for that? Villa - by default - get meaty Champions League TV revenue (A share of €2.467bn). They'll get €17.87m paid, and then €2m per win in the competition. The first payment gives them around £14m - £4m shy of their entire 2023 matchday revenue. Three wins in an eight-game group stage gives them £5m-ish. The club could've matched their offer from last season and made money. They could've, rightly, tripled it's cost, and made loads of money.The club could've even made the silly decision to give these games away for free and eclipse 2023's matchday take! That is an absurd amount of wealth flowing into the club.

So, with all that in mind, on top of multiple GA + and hospitality plays, the regular season and TV revenue, they decide to charge close to £100 for a game of Champions League football.

It might well be Europe's elite competition, but that is a stone-cold pisstake, and not many others are doing it like that. You won't find those fees being charged at Liverpool, Man City, or Celtic. Hell, Newcastle United face their own 'revenue stream' issues and still managed to get away with £55 tickets. Union Berlin charged 75 euros for a three-match Champions League package. Celtic are charging £184 for a four-game package that includes fixtures against three of Villa's away opponents (Club Brugge, Young Boys, RB Leipzig).

How will they cope? I'm struggling to see what on earth Villa benchmarked this against, other than their own desire to make a spreadsheet sing.

Now, let's get it straight. Villa's first Champions League home game against Bayern Munich will sell out. Maybe Juventus and Celtic do as well. Bologna might not. After all, demanding £70-94 a pop from your fans who shell out a lot already might be a bridge too far. Having empty seats for a Champions League game, even if it's only one, would be embarrassing. It probably won't happen, but I've found myself doubting my own attendance for the first time ever. I can't be the only one.

The speed in which Aston Villa have transformed from a club in the doldrums staring at financial oblivion into a Champions League club that is challenging the elite must be applauded. No doubt about it.

It just stinks that, even at a time when ticket price hikes were expected, Heck took the decision to slam them up to the highest point possible at the first possible opportunity.

I have purposefully left out mention of PSR and FFP rules. 90% of us will never understand the calculations used in the PSR rules. They are so convoluted that they cannot even be correctly applied by experts and lawyers correctly (see: overturned punishments for overspending). They are not meant for the layman. Thus, it's an extremely easy PR win for a football club with an overspending habit to point at PSR rules and shrug their shoulders in lieu of an actual explanation. It's a boring conversation and always the excuse.

Villa will break their own revenue records this season, but they will lose a lot of goodwill they have worked hard to gain. If Heck is ever in a position where he needs it - and ideally he isn't, because that takes the good times away - he will find it lacking.

The club had a chance to act mindfully, thoughtfully and smartly. They turned that down to make the percentage number bigger on the takings. They have acted so incredibly thoughtlessly.

At the end, it is the 'this club is my life' fan I feel sorry for the most. Not that you need my pity. Perhaps it offends you. But you're being taken for a chump. As you spend, and spend, on this thing that is the centre of your life, it is not thinking about you at all. Not once.