Everton supporters groups are calling on some of football's governing bodies to cap the price of tickets for cup matches.
Ticket prices for travelling fans are limited to £30 for Premier League games but no such policy exists in the FA Cup and Carabao Cup. Adult tickets for Blues wanting to go to Old Trafford for the FA Cup third round game with Manchester United reached as high as £46.
A collection of fan groups, led by Everton's Fan Advisory Board, are now calling for a similar limit to awayday costs in the cup competitions.
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All 20 Premier League clubs agreed to maintain the £30 cap on away tickets for league matches back in the summer - marking the extension of a policy in place since the 2016/17 season. At the time, the Premier League said the move reflected the "importance of supporters in generating the best possible atmosphere at matches".
Blues fans are now calling on the Football Association, which runs the FA Cup, and the English Football League, which runs the Carabao Cup, to adopt a similar strategy. The move comes after full price adult tickets for Everton supporters wanting to attend the third round game in Manchester far exceeded the league cap.
Everton sold out all 9,400 tickets allocated to the club. In a statement, the fan groups - led by the Fan Advisory Board, which worked in partnership with other organisations including the Everton Shareholders Association, said: "Whilst we appreciate the generous allocation that will allow more than 9,000 Evertonians to support our team at the FA Cup Third Round tie at Old Trafford in January, we were shocked that Manchester United chose to raise the ticket price for away tickets to 150% of what the equivalent Premier League fixture would cost.
"The fixture will take place almost a year to the day that one of their most prominent footballers [Marcus Rashford] was instrumental in raising £200,000 through the ‘Full Time Meals’ campaign and against the backdrop of a national cost of living crisis. Such a pricing policy is a slap in the face to everyone who has campaigned for sensible and affordable ticket pricing for visiting supporters."
The group said they are now calling on the Football Association and the English Football League to introduce a similar cap for FA Cup and League Cup fixtures and "put the interests of football supporters first".
Manchester United have been contacted for comment.
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