FOOTBALL clubs are feeling the pinch as the cost of council-owned pitches has risen.

New data has shown the price to play on Worcester City Council-owned football pitches has increased by 15% since 2019. 

And a city football team has said the quality of the pitches needs to match the price increase.

Revealed in a freedom of information request to Worcester City Council, the price for a senior team to play on a council-owned pitch has gone up from £47 in 2019 to £54.80 in 2024. 

The cost for a season (12 games) has jumped by nearly £100, costing £502.10 in 2019, now costing £584.33.

Josh Jones, player and club secretary at DC United who play at Perdiswell Sports Centre said: "Sadly the prices to play football have been going up which is not ideal. 

"We have been affected but so have most teams in the area.

"We have to pay around £60 a game and that has had a knock-on effect for the players as we have had to increase the subs.

"I think our biggest problem is the quality of the pitch, we don't mind the prices going up and we understand why the costs have gone up, but the quality still needs to be there.

"We have had issues and it disrupts our preparation if we are missing equipment, if we are paying increased rates you would expect everything to be spot on and we have been left chasing." 

The team practices every couple of weeks and Mr Jones said that the team has thought of moving but said that private pitches had gone up just as much.

Mr Jones said: "The costs are sky high in general and other pitches have gone up just as much as the council ones. 

"For some teams, I think the facilities are just not there and there are no options in Worcester which will lead to them looking outside the city and to the villages. 

"It's not an easy fix and I sympathise with the council, but if you are going to start charging more, you need to make sure it's a good quality."

Worcester City Council put the price increases down to inflation.

A Worcester City Council spokesperson said: “Fees and charges are approved each year by council and are increased in line with inflation to ensure that where appropriate the increased costs of providing a non-statutory service such as the provision and maintenance of football pitches are met from the additional income it generates.

“The Council has recently invested in new goals and are in the process of renovating the pitches over the summer ready for the start of the new season.”