Arsenal have rescinded a planned surcharge on season ticket holders who attend the club's Champions League game against Barcelona after a barrage of fan complaints.
Arsenal had written to Gold club members late on Thursday saying an additional cost of up to £30 would be added to the renewal price of their season tickets for the next campaign unless they opt out of going to the Barcelona match.
The announcement caused outrage among many fans already upset about Arsenal charging the highest ticket prices in England, especially as it came after a four-game winless in the run in the Premier League that has seen the club's title challenge dented.
Arsenal responded by issuing a statement on Friday evening saying they were scrapping the surcharge, which was described as being part of a regular policy that had seen season-ticket holders get money back last season.
"We have listened to our fans and recognise that there is confusion about the basis of our long-standing policy on charges for the seven cup games in our season ticket package," the statement said.
"We believe that this policy, which last year resulted in a refund to fans and this year would result in a surcharge, is the fairest of the possible alternatives, but we accept, on the basis of the reaction to our recent announcement, that we need to improve our supporters' understanding of how the system works.
"It was never our intention that we would upset those fans who are amongst our most loyal supporters. Having listened to their feedback, we are announcing on this occasion that we will not ask fans to pay the additional amount due under our season ticket conditions for the game on Feb. 23."
That game against Barcelona had been classified as a "Category A" match because of the high-level opposition, and Arsenal said it is written into their policy that ticket holders may have to pay more for bigger matches. That was the justification for the surcharge, even though seven cup games are included in the season-ticket price and the Barcelona game will the seventh of the campaign.
"We remain of the view that our approach to our season ticket package of 26 games is the fairest it can be and is designed so that our season ticket holders pay the correct price each season for the matches they watch.
However, it is clear that our fans have not been fully aware of the fact that even if we do play 26 games in some years they will get a refund, which happened in 2014-15, whilst in other years they will need to pay extra. This is linked to the teams we draw in the cup competitions," the club statement said.
"The feedback since our communication last night has demonstrated that we need to find a way to create a better understanding for season ticket holders on how their season ticket is structured. We will commit ourselves to communicating this, and the rationale, very clearly to our fans going forward so that there is no such confusion in the future. Work has already started to address this."