Shropshire people are among the highest spenders in the land when it comes to following sport. Ben Bentley investigates.

For Rob Hughes, loving Telford United doesn’t come cheap. But the 28-year-old teacher, who goes to every home and away game, says “It’s worth every penny – especially with how we have started this season.”

Such are the trials and tribulations of a Shropshire sports fan in 2010. The question is: Just how much does it cost to be a county sports supporter these days? Furthermore, in hard-pressed times, how can we afford to follow our favourite football, cricket or rugby teams?

The sight of empty seats at some Premier League grounds would seem to provide one unequivocal answer.

Yet sport is big business in Shropshire and the West Midlands, with the region’s fans spending more on related events than anywhere else in the UK, according to research.

And all this at a time when many people are on pay freezes and struggling to meet rocketing grocery bills, fuel prices and utility bills.

In Shropshire, adult fans of AFC Telford can expect to pay £11 for home games with concessions pegged at £8 and children under 16 £1. Adult season tickets, for league games, cost £198, while a family season ticket is £405.

But the cost of a ticket doesn’t tell the half of it. For Rob Hughes, the bill can easily triple once entrance to the ground, fuel costs, food and drink, a programme, raffle tickets and car parking are taken into account.

With 45 games a season, for fans like Rob that means around £1,350 before any “extras” such as successful cup runs.

“These amounts are on average for each of the 45 games a season we could play,” explains Rob.

“Living in Staffordshire, there is the cost of travelling back to the New Bucks Head, just as there is in travelling all over the country.”

He adds: “Being part of the football club community, though, there are the added aspects such as club merchandise, shirts and jackets, easily adding a couple of hundred pounds to the total outlay.”

Over at the Greenhous Meadow, Shrewsbury fans are forking out between £16 and £19 for advance tickets and up to £21 on match day.

Then there are the incidental costs which tot up – parking, for example, at the The Brooklands Hotel is £5 per vehicle. Alternatively, travel to the stadium on a supporters’ coach from south Shropshire is typically £6 for adults.

Conceivably, when Saturday comes the beleaguered Shropshire football fan can be forking out nigh on £30 before a ball is even kicked.

For the hardened supporter, an away trip is an added cost. Seated tickets for the recent game against Macclesfield Town were £18 for adults and £14 concessions. Terrace tickets were £4 cheaper on both counts.

On top of this, of course, is the cost of away travel.

Glyn Price, right, with fellow Shrewsbury Town fans Murray James, and Dave Matthias

Shrewsbury Town fan Glyn Price, a 28-year-old transport planner from the county town who is married with an eight-month-old daughter, reckons that once he’s totted up all the extras it costs him around £2,500 a year to support his team.

With the average salary in Shropshire now standing at £24,677, this accounts for more than 10 per cent of Joe Public’s wage. And although Shrewsbury have held ticket prices this season, Glyn’s feeling the extra costs in areas such as fuel. Town’s programmes have also gone up from £2.50 to £3.

There are plenty of Manchester United fans in Shropshire, too, who head north to Old Trafford where season tickets have gone up by an average of 48 per cent since 2005. Fans can now pay up to £50 on match day.

Of course football is not the only sport costing fans a fortune. How about a trip to The Oval to see a test match? Darts? F1?

And for those who don’t wish to miss a moment, a full Sky TV package is around £20 on top of other Sky bundles and can add up to £70 a month to their costs, or £840 a year for full multi-media packages.

But Rob Hughes says that while some fans are priced out of their passion, those who can afford it are prepared to pay.

He says: “When rewarded with passion and commitment from the people you go to support, results and performances provide you with a sense of pride, a feeling of belonging and you don’t begrudge handing over your hard-earned money, for the privilege of what my mother-in-law says is a few men kicking a bag of air around a field.

“People that haven’t been don’t understand.

“I don’t drink, I don’t smoke. Football is my addiction, AFC Telford United is my vice.”

What gives? In 2010, the cost of sport versus the cost of living could well turn out to be the biggest crunch fixture in recent years.