New season ticket scheme launched by football club

A football club has introduced a new tiered subscription scheme for fans wanting to buy season tickets.

Reading FC's One Royal scheme allows fans to pay monthly for a season ticket with extra benefits, including member-only prize draws and exclusive experiences.

Under the new scheme, members who pay more can gain more loyalty points, which Supporters Trust At Reading (STAR) has raised concerns about.

Co-chief executive of the League One club Joe Jacobson insisted "there won't be any fans that miss out because of this".

Under the new model, season ticket prices have been frozen at the 2025/26 rates until 15 June.

The monthly subscription fee for a seat in the Upper West Stand - the highest price - is £67.74.

Different levels of membership also include perks such as discounts on food, merchandise and stadium parking.

STAR said that it was broadly supportive of what it said was an "innovative, inclusive and flexible model that provides value and added value and choice to fans"

It also welcomed the effective freeze in season ticket prices.

The fans group also said there was "a lot of new information to take in" and raised concerns about an "imbalance in the distribution" of loyalty points used to prioritise who gets tickets for high-demand matches.

"Elite members who attend every home game, but barely travel away, will have a substantial loyalty point advantage over core members who watch home games and travel away with greater regularity," it said in a statement.

"While we understand football is a business, fans who pay more and see us play less should not have such a sizable advantage over fans who pay less and see us play more.

"When affluence is rated higher than attendance, they are royalty points, not loyalty points."

Jacobson said the club wanted to ensure the scheme was implemented "with fairness" and that members "can't just buy your way to the top".

Football finance expert Kieran Maguire said similar membership schemes were "fairly common" in football clubs.

Manchester United has a similar scheme called United Membership.

"I think clubs have to balance their commitments to loyal Reading fans who do go week in and week out along with the fact that they're operating a business as well."