Children charged up to €765 to be Premier League club mascots

More than half the Premier League clubs have been accused of "excluding families from poorer backgrounds" after a Guardian study found that a few of them are charging as much as €575 for children to be mascots, with West Ham United's the most expensive package at €765.

With the average price of a replica kit for a junior fan costing €83, according to the study, parents faced with forking out for matches over the festive period are having to count the increasing cost of following a top-flight club.

Eleven Premier League teams, most of whom have spent time in the Championship in the past 10 years, ask a fee for being a mascot on matchday. Queens Park Rangers and Swansea City both charge €575 plus VAT for their packages while West Ham’s prices range from €445-€765 depending on the fixture.

Hospitality packages

The packages vary between €318-€510 at Tottenham, €380-€510 at Leicester City, €190-€540 at Crystal Palace and €420-€490 at Stoke. Burnley, West Bromwich Albion and Hull City also charge, while Newcastle United’s corporate hospitality packages of €3,800-€5,100 include mascot places.

Some clubs, including Spurs, QPR and Newcastle, do, however, offer a number of free mascot places through competitions and charities. Others do not charge at all: Arsenal, Aston Villa, Chelsea, Everton, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Southampton and Sunderland.

Excluded

Clive Efford

, the British shadow minister for sport who is campaigning for fans to be represented on club boards, said: “I find it extraordinary that clubs which are getting so much money from TV rights then exclude kids from poorer backgrounds by imposing a fee.

“It means that a certain class of kids will never be able to be a team’s mascot. It seems ridiculous that some will be excluded because their parents can’t afford to put them on a waiting list.” The majority of the mascot packages include hospitality places at the designated match, a free kit, signed footballs, photos of the day, match tickets and other benefits. Guardian Service