Football / Fan's Eye View: The real cost of relegation: No 82 - The price of loyalty

SUNDAY, 14 August. First day of the season - Swindon v Port Vale and I'm driving merrily down the M4. But for the first time in seven years I'm heading away from Swindon. Instead I'm travelling to Wales for the Brecon Jazz Festival.

Talk among football fans always turns to loyalty: how many games you've been to, how far you have travelled to reach a game, how we hate Manchester United fans who have never been to Manchester.

Town fans huddled together on a freezing Wednesday night to witness a 1-0 defeat by Chelsea in the ZDS Cup, will chant, 'Loyal supporters'. Part-timers who only turn up for the big games are insulted on the terraces. 'I suppose Swindon still play in red,' we ask loudly behind them. 'Whatever happened to Bryan Wade?'

Because being a football fan is all about loyalty, about proving yourself to be more committed than your fellow supporters. But what loyalty does the club give you in return? Does Swindon Town FC actually care about you? How do they repay your dedication?

My first match at the County Ground was in 1987. Entrance to the Town End was pounds 3, and a programme was just 50 pence. You could go to any pub in the town before the match, turn up just before kick-off and watch the game surrounded by truly dedicated supporters all willing the club to do well.

In 1992-93, admission for the unemployed was pounds 4, and pounds 1.20 for a programme. Contrast this with last season. All but one of the pubs was shut (and that was full of away supporters), the streets were jammed solid with traffic, and parking restrictions prevented you leaving your car anywhere near the County Ground. Once you had battled through the crowd and queued up for half an hour, you were finally allowed in the ground. There were no concessions, with admission costing pounds 8 and a programme pounds 1.50, plus the fact you were probably surrounded by part-timers or away fans.

Admission this season is pounds 10.50, again there are no concessions and, to make matters worse, you have to sit down. You might be sitting next to anybody] At least on the terraces if you didn't like the after-shave of the person next to you, you could always move somewhere else.

All this has put me off watching football at Swindon. In effect, I have been priced out of the game by a club who value financial support over anything else. They are not prepared to stand up for their fans' rights, approving any plan that will make them more money.

Living in Bristol, a home game for my girlfriend and I would now cost almost pounds 40 (including tickets, programme, lunch, drinks, bus from the nearest car park etc). Away games are twice as much, so in an average month of four games (two at home, two away) you are looking at almost pounds 250.

Instead, I go to watch non-League football. You don't have to travel far, it is cheap to get in and you can stand wherever you want, including swapping ends at half-time to be behind the goal the home team is attacking. Alcohol is served in the bar at the ground, you don't get searched by burly policemen, harrassed by officious stewards, or threatened by racist, yobbish supporters and you certainly don't get stuck in the car park for ages after a game.

I know the football isn't as good, but it's not as bad as you might think. You should try it. It's cheap, cheerful and the clubs are welcoming. In fact, it's football as it used to be at the County Ground. And you never know, you might even come across Bryan Wade playing for Frome Town in the Great Mills Western League.

Tim Lezard, Journalist