Newcastle United revealed as the cheapest club to watch in the Premier League

The annual BBC Sport Price of Football study ranks clubs according to the cost of their cheapest adult match day ticket, plus the price of a programme, pie and cup of tea.

For the third year running, Newcastle come out on top with a total overall cost of £23.30, which is made up of a £15 ticket (the cheapest in the Premier League), £3 programme, £3 pie and £2.30 cup of tea. Hull City are their closest rivals, with the same package costing £24 at the KC Stadium.

Sunderland are ranked seventh in the top-flight, with their cheapest match day ticket of £25 meaning their overall package comes in at £33.20.

Chelsea offer the most expensive match day experience in the top-flight, largely because the cheapest match day ticket for a game at Stamford Bridge costs £50. Liverpool and Manchester City are the next most expensive clubs with their lowest-priced tickets £37 apiece.

Middlesbrough’s match day experience cost of £28.80, with their cheapest match day ticket coming in at £21, means they are ranked 12th of the 24 clubs in the Championship.

Hartlepool United’s figure of £25, with a cheapest ticket of £20, leaves them the fifth most expensive club in League Two. However, season tickets prices have pegged back again and were avaiable for just £180.

Lee Marshall, PR and supporter liaison manager at Newcastle United, said: “Keeping football affordable is an important commitment for us so we are pleased to see that our prices reflect favourably in the Price of Football survey once again.

“In addition to competitive match day prices, our long-term price freeze offers on season tickets, vastly increased family area and reciprocal away ticket deals with other clubs are helping us to make Premier League football as accessible as possible.”

The BBC study, which is the most extensive of its kind, shows that the average price of the cheapest tickets across all four English divisions has risen at almost twice the rate of inflation since 2011.

The average price of the cheapest match day ticket in the Premier League to League Two has increased 13 per cent, compared to a 6.8 per cent increase in the cost of living during that time.

In the Premier League, the increase is 15.8 per cent, while it is 31.7 per cent in League One and 19 per cent in League Two. In the Championship, the average price has actually dropped by 3.2 per cent.

The survey reveals that Arsenal continue to have the most expensive season ticket in the Premier League (£2,013), with the cheapest season ticket at the Emirates (£1,014) costing more than the most expensive season ticket at every other top-flight club apart from Tottenham and Chelsea.

Reigning champions Manchester City have the cheapest season ticket in the Premier League (£299), while Charlton’s £150 season ticket is the cheapest in England’s top four divisions.

The two Manchester clubs – United and City – charge the most for an adult replica shirt (£55), with Hull offering the cheapest shirt in the top-flight (£39.99). Conference club Barnet charge £49.90 for an adult shirt, which is more expensive than the price at 11 Premier League clubs.

Another Conference club, Kidderminster Harriers, sell the most expensive pie (£4.50), with Crystal Palace, Manchester City and Southampton proving the costliest in the Premier League (£4).

The high cost of watching football in this country is highlighted by a comparison with some of the leading European sides. The cheapest adult match day ticket at Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich costs £11.75, with Champions League holders Real Madrid coming in at £18.80, Barcelona charging £18.01 and French champions Paris St Germain offering tickets at £11.75.

The study also encompassed women’s football, with a matchday experience at Sunderland Ladies (£7) and Durham Ladies (£8.50) in Women’s Super League 2 proving much cheaper than anything in the men’s game.