Liverpool owners cancel ticketing increase, apologise to supporters

Liverpool's owner, Fenway Sports Group, performed a massive U-turn on its ticket pricing plan for next season, apologising in an open letter to supporters Wednesday for the "distress caused" and announcing it would cap the most expensive matchday ticket at its current £59 value.

An estimated 10,000 fans walked out of Saturday's match against Sunderland in the 77th minute in protest of the hike, with the costliest match ticket set to jump up to £77.

But the ownership group had a simple response: "Message received."

FSG decided to make the following "major revisions" as a result of the uproar:

• Remove game categorisation, which means no one specific match will cost more to attend than another
• Freeze the highest general admission ticket at £59
• Offer 10,000 tickets at £9 for every one of its Premier League matches across the season
• Keep the highest season ticket at £869
• Reduce the lowest season ticket a further £25 to £685
• Maintain the same ticketing structure for the next two seasons

Further plans for league-wide stadium walkouts were reportedly being discussed, but FSG - led by principal owner John W. Henry, chairman Tom Werner, and president Mike Gordon - has made the first move in an attempt to restore supporters' faith.

"It has been a tumultuous week. On behalf of everyone at Fenway Sports Group and Liverpool Football Club, we would like to apologise for the distress caused by our ticket pricing plan for the 2016-17 season," the letter read. "The three of us have been particularly troubled by the perception that we don't care about our supporters, that we are greedy, and that we are attempting to extract personal profits at the club's expense. Quite the opposite is true."

Related - PHOTOS: Liverpool supporters walk out in 77th minute to protest ticket prices

FSG added that it was "mistaken" to believe the price increase would help repay the £120 million spent on renovating the new Main Stand, and emphasised it wouldn't rely on the matchgoer to make any further revenue.

"We believe we have demonstrated a willingness to listen carefully, reconsider our position, and act decisively," it said.

Premier League clubs will greatly benefit from a new domestic television deal worth £5.1 billion over the next three years. With more revenue coming from TV, fans argued for a break in costs.

Liverpool's initial proposal would have only yielded a reported £2 million extra in funds, which wouldn't greatly affect the club's position in the transfer market or its overall influence in attracting talent.

The protest at Anfield - which occurred just before Liverpool blew a two-goal lead in an eventual 2-2 draw with Sunderland - worked in the end. It could have ramifications across the country, according to former player Stan Collymore, who hopes the news "reverberates from the Emirates to St. James' Park and all between."

Spirit of Shankly, a Liverpool supporters union, hailed the announcement as a "positive step in repairing the relationship between owners and supporters."