IT would be remiss of me not to talk about the current key issue with Newport County AFC staff and supporters, the attendances at games and the pricing of match day tickets.

To recap, Newport County attendances began the season at 3,000+, dipped to as low as around the 2,400 mark and manager Justin Edinburgh felt the issue needed addressing, not once but twice.

The fans responded by both using their feet and their fingers to make their feelings known, Saturday’s crowd of over 3,000 showing that the message had been heeded and the online anger at the financial burden of football is seen by fans as a key reason why attendances dipped in the first place.

And I find it impossible not to side with the fans on this one, while I accept that Newport County are competitively priced, as indicated by the recent BBC price of football study, the Exiles so proud of themselves that they have a piece about it on their official website.

However, the fact is clubs across the board in the UK need to get real in terms of the ridiculous prices we are being asked to pay to watch 22 men kick a ball around.

County might be competitively priced in comparison to other League Two clubs, but they aren’t competitive against the Bundesliga or the Eredivisie and that isn’t right. With enough forward planning, it would be cheaper to go and watch Bayer Leverkusen or Ajax than travelling to see Newport play away at Carlisle and there is only so long fans are going to endure that situation.

It would be far more prudent to let school kids in for free every week than have thousands of empty seats and a re-structuring of under-16 pricing next season would win Newport plaudits, from their own fans and further afield.

Would it honestly be so crazy to follow the lead of Newport RFC and offer exceptionally cheap season tickets for kids? Hell, why not explore the possibility of a dual ticket, giving access to not only every Newport County match but also the Newport RFC games, because crazy as it is to me, some people do like both sports!

County should do more to help their fans but they are far from alone in that. Ticket pricing is football’s problem and it’s one that has gotten out of control.