How much Aston Villa family day out will cost as Champions League ticket prices revealed
Aston Villa's Champions League clash with Viking next month is not going to be a cheap day out for fans.
With Champions League football back on the menu at Villa Park this season, many supporters will be looking to snap up tickets.
Unai Emery's side appear to have turned a corner over recent weeks too, and will enter the competition with confidence levels largely restored.
But with the North Stand of course closed as expansion work continues, fewer fans will get the chance to witness these games.
Naturally, that increases the demand for tickets, and offers new possibilities from a business perspective.
Villa owners NSWE, however, have got their ticket pricing plan completely wrong.
How much is the cheapest adult ticket for Aston Villa vs Viking?
The Villains open their Champions League home campaign against Fenerbahce on 14 October.
Following that, they'll welcome Norwegian champions Viking to B6 on 21 October in an 8pm kick-off,
Monday has seen Villa release official ticket details for the fixture via the club website.
For zones three, four and wheelchair bay tickets, non-season ticket-holding adults will pay £89.50, over 66/under-21s pay £71.50 and under-18s/under-14s are charged £31.50.
Armed forces discounts apply, with zones one and two costing £88 and zones three, four and wheelchair bays priced at £79.
Meanwhile, for zones one and two tickets, adults will be charged £99, over 66/under-21s £89.50 and under-18s/under-14s are priced at 31.50 for zone two and £88 in zone one.
Working of the premise of a family ticket being two adults and two children then, the cheapest price for four tickets is £200, if the adult ticket is an armed forces one.
For season-ticket holding customers, the cheapest package would be £179, and the most expensive family package would be £374 for non-season ticket-holding customers.
Aside from the obvious of charging £99 for a non-season ticket-holding adult, why have NSWE made a clear financial blunder here?
Villa sure to lose money on Viking game now
NSWE may think that simply by setting extortionate ticket prices, the club will make profits on ticket sales for Viking.
However, with all due respect to the Norwegian side, they're not a name that will have most fans rushing to get tickets anyway.
Even less so now that the price of going to the game will be far too expensive for the average hard-working supporter to justify.
As a result, Emery's side can expect to be playing in front of a Villa Park crowd that won't be near capacity even with the North Stand closed.
Had ticket prices been far more reasonable, Villa Park would no doubt be a sell-out for this game, and that would see just as much if not more revenue pour in.
Instead, many Villains are now likely to keep their money in their wallets, and wait for headline ties against Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund later in the season.