'Well plan to cut Old Firm prices

Boyle thinks football is too expensive for the average fan

Motherwell chairman John Boyle claims Scottish football is too expensive and Old Firm fans are being exploited.

And the club have announced ambitious price cuts to make attending live matches at Fir Park more affordable.

"Motherwell and other SPL teams have been abusing the fierce loyalty Old Firm fans have for their club by always charging premium prices," Boyle said.

"I've been very worried over a number of years about the price of football to the average fan."

The Lanarkshire club plan to reduce the entrance to home games involving Celtic and Rangers to £15 for all adults.

The number of Old Firm supporters travelling to Fir Park has dwindled in recent seasons and the price reduction represents a £10 saving for most fans.

"I've noticed over the last few years that attendances when Celtic or Rangers visit have been slipping and slipping," Boyle told BBC Radio Scotland.

"When I took over at Motherwell 10 years ago you were virtually assured a full house. We're now not getting anything like that. We have empty seats.

"We have assumed for too long that we can charge whatever we like and Celtic and Rangers fans will turn up - that simply isn't the case, and acutely isn't the case when financial circumstances are like they are at the moment."

Boyle is also determined to entice children back to Fir Park with the incentive of free admission to home league games.

"I'm particularly worried about a culture that is beginning to develop where children and young adults are not attending live football matches, which, in my opinion, is catastrophic in the long run for the game.

"So, it's about children and the fact that football is becoming too expensive."

Under-12s will be admitted free to all Scottish Premier League games, except those involving the Old Firm, if accompanied by an adult or juvenile season ticket holder.

"We're letting children in for free to get them back into the way of spending a Saturday or Sunday afternoon at the football," Boyle explained.

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And Boyle hopes to encourage Old Firm fans to bring along their children by introducing new cut-price tickets.

"Celtic and Rangers bring no children to the matches because they get very few concessions," Boyle continued.

"We're only going to charge their fans £15 to get in - which will be the cheapest they've ever been charged - and if they bring a kid along they'll only get charged £10.

"It means if you were bringing your son or daughter along to a football match you previously would have been paying £50, now you're paying £25.

"Now the effect of that is fairly dramatic."