Writer, analyst, podcaster, Spurs fan. Three out of four is not bad. If there is a data angle, I will find it.
PREMIER PINTS
When it comes to watching English football at the Premier League level, or any level for that matter, three things can be considered the holy trinity when it comes to matchday purchases – the programme, the acca with the bookmaker, the pie and the pint.
Three items are intrinsically linked to the football matchday experience. Although the programme may have gone digital and the pie is usually stone cold, a pint has thankfully stayed true to itself and is still a pint.
Although beer servings may have stayed the same, the price of 568ml of amber nectar usually increases due to factors such as inflation or a captive audience who have nowhere else to drink after going through the turnstiles.
Once in, there is no out unless you want to forfeit your ticket and a pint and as the race to be Premier League champion is won by earning the most points, the race to be the best ground for a pint is won by being the cheapest in the top tier.
Champions of Your Wallet
Allstar Picture Library Ltd / Alamy Stock Photo
With 20 clubs in the mix when it comes to trying to win this alcohol-based honour, we have carried out the necessary research across the class of 2024/25 and the results are in:
| Rank | Club | Pint £ |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manchester United | £3.00 |
| 2 | Liverpool FC | £3.30 |
| 3 | Ipswich Town | £3.50 |
| 4 | AFC Bournemouth | £4.25 |
| 5 | Everton FC | £4.55 |
| 6 | Manchester City | £4.60 |
| 7 | Newcastle United | £4.90 |
| 8 | Brighton & Hove Albion | £4.95 |
| 9 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | £5.00 |
| 9 | Crystal Palace | £5.00 |
| 11 | Brentford FC | £5.25 |
| 12 | Aston Villa | £5.20 |
| 12 | Nottingham Forest | £5.20 |
| 14 | Tottenham Hotspur | £5.19 |
| 15 | Southampton FC | £5.50 |
| 16 | Chelsea FC | £5.70 |
| 17 | Leicester City | £5.80 |
| 17 | Fulham FC | £5.80 |
| 19 | Arsenal FC | £6.35 |
| 20 | West Ham United | £7.30 |
Although Manchester United’s ability on the field of play has diminished somewhat since Sir Alex Ferguson's departure over a decade ago, the Old Trafford outfit can at least bask in the glory of having the cheapest Premier League pint this season.
At just £3 a pint, the Theatre of Dreams may have to be renamed the Theatre of Cheers. Thanks to such cheap pricing, if United fail to hit the high notes under new manager Ruben Amorim, supporters can at least console themselves without their wallets taking too much of a dent.
Not only have Manchester United won the most English league titles (First Division and Premier League) at the expense of Liverpool – 20 compared to 19 at the time of writing, but the Old Trafford outfit have also edged their local rivals into second in this measure.
Whereas the cheapest pint is £3.00 in the red half of Manchester, it is £3.30 in the red half of Merseyside and considering how good Arne Slot’s men have been playing at the start of this season, there is no real requirement when it comes to drowning your sorrows after a defeat.
A rare occurrence for Liverpool and a rare occurrence to see Ipswich in the Premier League after more than two decades in the wilderness. Not only have they secured back-to-back promotions in the past two seasons but they are celebrating by having the third-cheapest pint in the division.
£3.50 at Portman Road and 75p cheaper than that of Bournemouth in fourth. If there were Champions League places handed out on the basis of cheap pints alone, it would be the Cherries who snatch the final invite at the expense of Everton in fifth.
The Toffees charging £4.55 and just five pence less than defending Premier League champions Manchester City in sixth at £4.60 and when looking at clubs that charge less than £5 per pint, only Newcastle and Brighton are the other outfits to sneak below that benchmark (£4.90 and £4.95).
If they are the teams that would earn European places due to their pint prices, it is time to look at those who would be relegated for the same reason and the first of three clubs to go down would require a playoff between Leicester and Fulham.
Both the King Power Stadium and Craven Cottage charge £5.80 a pint and it may need a Foxes and Cottagers fan to see who can down a pint the fastest in order to keep their beloved club in the top tier of English football.
If we work on the assumption that it is Leicester’s supporter who swirled theirs the quickest, then it will be an all-London relegation at the end of the season and joining Fulham in the pint Championship would be fellow capital clubs Arsenal and West Ham.
The Gunners charge £6.35 a pint to finish second bottom of the table and if you think that sounds rather expensive, you may want to avoid a trip to the London Stadium anytime soon – especially if you want a pint and have to part with £7.30 to get your hands on it.
Pouring Revenue Away
Keith Erskine / Alamy Stock Photo
West Ham with the unwanted honour of having the most expensive pint in the Premier League but on the flipside it could also offer the East London club reason to celebrate when looking at matchday revenue.
If we were to take the attendance of each Premier League stadium and multiply it by the price of a pint in the opening table, it will allow us to calculate the revenue from pint sales per home game. From there we can then produce another league table.
(assuming the sale of pints averages at one per person – some fans may by more but other fans will be under 18)
| Club | Attendance | Pint Price | Revenue Per Home Game |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Ham United | 62,500 | £7.30 | £456,250 |
| Arsenal FC | 60,704 | £6.35 | £385,470 |
| Tottenham Hotspur | 62,850 | £5.19 | £326,192 |
| Manchester City | 62,000 | £4.60 | £285,200 |
| Newcastle United | 52,338 | £4.90 | £256,456 |
| Chelsea FC | 40,853 | £5.70 | £232,862 |
| Manchester United | 74,879 | £3.00 | £224,637 |
| Aston Villa | 42,682 | £5.20 | £221,946 |
| Liverpool FC | 60,725 | £3.30 | £200,393 |
| Leicester City | 32,273 | £5.80 | £187,183 |
| Everton FC | 39,571 | £4.55 | £180,048 |
| Southampton FC | 32,384 | £5.50 | £178,112 |
| Wolverhampton Wanderers | 32,050 | £5.00 | £160,250 |
| Nottingham Forest | 30,445 | £5.20 | £158,314 |
| Brighton & Hove Albion | 31,800 | £4.95 | £157,410 |
| Fulham FC | 25,700 | £5.80 | £149,060 |
| Crystal Palace | 26,047 | £5.00 | £130,235 |
| Ipswich Town | 29,673 | £3.50 | £103,856 |
| Brentford FC | 17,250 | £5.25 | £90,563 |
| AFC Bournemouth | 11,329 | £4.25 | £48,148 |
West Ham bottom when it comes to the most expensive pint in the Premier League but when you consider that their London Stadium has a capacity of 62,500, it generates an average revenue of £456,250 per home game.
While Arsenal can also have reason to celebrate here and although they may be charging £6.35 a pint, it also means the Gunners can recoup an average of £385,470 every time Mikel Arteta’s men play a home Premier League game.
Just under £60k more than local rivals Tottenham in third and with their pint price coming in at £5.19, the 62,850 capacity at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium generates an average beer revenue of £326,191 per home game.
Rounding out the top four are Manchester City and although they may only charge £4.60 a pint, a capacity of 62,000 at the Etihad means that the current kings of the Premier League can recoup an average of £285,000 per home game through beer sales.
The blue half of Manchester earning just under £30k less than Newcastle per home game and although the Magpies may charge 30p a pint more, their St James’ Park ground currently houses just under 10,000 fewer supporters per match day.
In terms of the bottom three, a combination of cheap beer prices and smaller capacities will be the undoing of any club and with Crystal Palace just keeping their pint glasses above water, it is Ipswich who are the first of three outfits to be sunk.
Although Portman Road has a capacity that is just short of 30,000, the price of a pint is only £3.50 and this means the East Anglia outfit can only generate an average of £103,855 per home Premier League game.
With that said, they did at least manage to generate six figures worth of income via this method, something that cannot be said for Brentford in second bottom and with their GTech Community Stadium home only housing 17,250 supporters, it means just over £90k in pint revenue is earned.
Then again, that is almost double what Bournemouth at the bottom of the table can generate and with their Vitality Stadium having a capacity of 11,329 that combined with pints being sold for £4.25 means they only earn £48,148 per home game.
To put this into further context, West Ham can make £408.102 more than Bournemouth per home game and if you multiply that by 19, it means a difference of more than £7.7m across the course of the campaign.
Considering all food and drink sales will help balance the books of any Premier League clubs, West Ham fans may have to keep putting the pints away in order to keep the East London outfit in the top tier of English football.
SOURCES
https://footballgroundguide.com/most-expensive-pint-uk-football-grounds/
https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/premier-league/besucherzahlen/wettbewerb/GB1
Data Correct as of November 30th 2024
