Raymond-Kopa Stadium was unusually quiet before Angers welcomed Marseille on Sunday, with large gaps in the stands and even the hospitality areas ahead of the 3pm Ligue 1 kick-off.
Key takeaways
- Angers hosted Marseille in the seventh round of the Ligue 1 season.
- Attendance was expected to remain below 15,000 at the 19,800-capacity Raymond-Kopa Stadium.
- Standard tickets started at €61, while admission for children under 12 was priced from €45.
- Premium seats reached €181 for the match.
- Angers introduced the pricing approach after Marseille players celebrated in front of travelling supporters following a previous visit.
High prices leave empty seats
Marseille usually bring noise, colour and a significant travelling following wherever they go in France. In Angers, however, the pre-match picture was markedly different.
Minutes before kick-off, the home ground had not filled, with vacant seating visible around the stadium and a subdued atmosphere in the boxes. The club’s ticket policy was the central reason behind the limited crowd.
Angers set a minimum full-price ticket at €61, with under-12 tickets beginning at €45. At the top end, premium access cost as much as €181.
A response to a previous Marseille celebration
The pricing was intended to prevent a repeat of scenes from two years earlier, when Marseille’s players marked the end of the match with their supporters in a manner more commonly associated with a home victory.
Angers chose to make access particularly expensive for this fixture, but the result was an expected attendance of fewer than 15,000 spectators — well short of the stadium’s 19,800-seat capacity — for one of the afternoon’s most eye-catching Ligue 1 meetings.
