£1bn debts for footy fans

Abul Taher|Metro13 April 2012

Football fans will run up almost £1billion in debt this season watching their favourite teams in action, a survey has found.

Dedicated followers are happy to splash out £1,000 each on credit cards buying match tickets, team shirts and pay-per-view programmes.

As the cost of watching the beautiful game goes up, three in four fans are increasingly turning to plastic cash to help them get through the season.

And if their dream teams make it in Europe, fans will spend up to £600 on at least two away trips, the survey by Virgin Money found. Once in the grounds, fans shell out £10million on tea and pies.

Scottish fans are the biggest spenders in Britain, splashing out an average £332 per season, while supporters in the North-East and Yorkshire spend the least - just £191.

In England, the biggest spenders are in the South-East and East Anglia, who spend £295. On average, British fans spend £240 per season.

Most of a fan's budget goes on buying tickets at around £32 each.

A 'fanatical fan' will buy seven match tickets a season, six pay-per-view games at £48, one team strip at £35.60 and two European trips that will cost £567 in total.

In total, British fans spend more than £2.7billion a season on football, which has been the most popular spectator sport in Britain for almost a decade.

Scott Mowbray, spokesman for Virgin Money, said: 'Football fans are passionate about their teams and this research shows they're happy to spend a small fortune to see them in action.'

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