It's only for the 200 best seats and it's only for the six best games but £77 tickets have, over the past week, come to define the struggle against English football losing touch with the fans. It's the working class losing it's game according to some. It's fairly simple economics according to others.
The truth may lie somewhere in the middle. It's business people trying to find a balance between the value of their asset and the necessity to keep the locals onside. It's a tough balancing act that has largely been lost at the likes of the Emirates Stadium. While not all Arsenal fans will agree, it's a lovely place for a day out but it continues to feel a bit sterile. That's something that Liverpool fans simply can't stomach.
The first response was Saturday's 77th minute walkout at Anfield. It's been given countless column inches, it's the hot button topic in football at the moment and yet, somehow, one Dubliner is being given more attention than almost anyone else.
The Redmen TV spoke to some fans outside Anfield on Saturday and, as irritating as these fan videos can be, this man succeeded in stepping off the set of Peaky Blinders and putting himself in the centre of the debate with his expletive laden diatribe acting as a significant talking point for fans. (Continued below)
The video has jumped to the top of /r/soccer and it's been watched hundreds of thousands of time with plenty of people keen to let it be known what they think of his views. Essentially they fall into three camps.
Positive Liverpool fans
Negative Liverpool fans
League of Ireland fans
There's plenty more responses than just those across the various media that the video has been doing the rounds but they do a fairly good job of summing things up. As for whose right, we'll leave the League of Ireland argument to one side. We've been there before and no one comes out looking particularly positive. It's an argument for another day so we'll concentrate on the reincarnation of James Joyce and his particular argument.
Paul Duggan may be a bit strong in how he's putting his point across but he's correct, it's got nothing to do with the players on the field. Pointing at Jordan Henderson and James Milner and suggesting that they're the reason fans are angry is extremely unfair. In reality, the battle has probably already been lost if the 'battle' really is about keeping clubs like Liverpool for local fans.
But that's not to say the fans who walked out shouldn't be commended and encouraged to continue. If it really was about what was happening on the field then they'd be better off giving up their seat to someone who was willing to pay double the current price. But that's not what it's about.
Writing in the Daily Mail today, Jamie Carragher has summed it up rather nicely.
If you hit the jackpot on the lottery this week, what is the first thing you would do? I’d say you would go straight to your mum and dad and make sure they were looked after.
They are the constants in your life, the ones providing support when it is most needed. Could you imagine reaching a point where money was no longer an issue but not looking after those closest to you?
