Anfield Voted SCARIEST PL ground for travelling fans, Old Trafford voted BEST & Molineux WORST

Anfield garnered 15.33% of the vote when asked which Premier League ground is the most intimidating for away supporters.

Little over 100 more participants chose Liverpool over the nearest competitor, United’s Old Trafford, which was closely followed by Elland Road in Leeds which missed out on second spot by three votes.

It is interesting to note that subjects aged 45-54 believed Elland Road to be the most hostile atmosphere with just over 16% of the vote, while those aged between 16-24 swung the way of Manchester United.

At the other end of the spectrum, it would seem Nottingham Forests’ 20 year hiatus from the top-flight has caused fans to dismiss the City Ground as an intimidating place to travel, although Liverpool supporters may say otherwise after their recent away day defeat.

Forest picked up just six votes, while Southampton’s St Mary’s narrowly evaded tying them for last spot with seven.

It would be interesting to see where Celtic and Rangers rank on this pole if they ever competed in the Premier League.

When prompted whether the Scottish duo should be allowed to join the English top-flight, only 13% said they strongly agree.

Comparatively, 23% said they strongly disagree with the statement with the vast majority of those votes coming from the older generation aged 33+.

However, the overall net for agreeing they should be allowed narrowly edged the total vote with 37% to disagrees 35%.

Wolves And Molineux Voted Least Likely Ground To Visit

Despite being voted as the most intimidating, Anfield ranked third in the ground fans most wanted to visit with 10% of the total vote, behind only to Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium (10.35%) and United’s Old Trafford (14%).

All the way down in the mire, Nottingham’s City Ground fared slightly better in this pole (1%), pipping Wolves’ Molineux Stadium at the last which had just 12 votes.

For those aged 55 and over, Tottenham Hotspur’s brand new state-of-the-art stadium was the most popular choice, while the 16-24 category were eager to visit United’s ‘theatre of dreams’.

Fans Forced To Cut Back On Tickets Amid Cost Of Living Crisis

Among the 1,507 fans asked, the majority of participants (34%) said that the main football related cost they have had to cut down on is matchday tickets in general.

Elsewhere, getting to sample some of the intimidating atmospheres listed above has become a burdensome task for most amid the rising costs of fuel and train tickets. Just under 30% said travelling to away games was the main football affiliated cost they had to cut back on.

Other reasons included buying food and drink on a matchday (24%), paying to watch football live on TV (26%) and particularly for those aged 35-44 which was their second biggest cost with 32%, purchasing replica shirts (26%).

Financial Fair Play Viewed As Largely Positive Catalyst In Balancing The Scales

The introduction of Financial Fair Play (FFP) was an initiative aimed at balancing the scales and preventing clubs from spending more money than they earn, but larger clubs are seemingly still benefiting the most.

Despite this, the overall net vote in the poll for agreeing that FFP has made the Premier League fairer stood at 39%, compared to disagree’s net at 24%.

When delving deeper into the findings however, it is interesting to note that the largest share of the vote (28%) opted for neither agree nor disagree, highlighting the confusion around whether FFP does in fact make the league fairer.