Tottenham Hotspur are facing a rebellion among their own fans amid allegations of ripping supporters off with ‘legalised touting’.

The Premier League club are being urged to drop a controversial partnership with secondary ticketing agency StubHub, which allows season ticket-holders to sell their seats at extravagant prices.
Tickets for this Saturday’s London derby against Chelsea are being offered for as much as £1,265 on the Tottenham-approved StubHub website.
Now a Change.org petition has been launched by the Tottenham Hotspur Supporters’ Trust and an alliance of Spurs-supporting authors, bloggers and fansites such as Total Tottenham, The Fighting Cock, Spurstalk and Tottenham On My Mind.
Tottenham – who ran their own ‘Out The Tout’ campaign in 2006, urging supporters to report so-called ‘scalpers’ – changed their ticket resale policy this summer.
In the past fans could sell unwanted tickets back to the club at a 25 per cent loss on the original cost.
The three-year deal now signed with California-based, eBay-owned StubHub allows season ticket-holders to set their own prices – prompting fears some are demanding exploitative fees.
StubHub receives a 12 per cent commission on each sale.
Other Premier League clubs with a StubHub partnership include Everton and Sunderland.
Tottenham have also been accused of mishandling the redistribution of resold tickets, which can only be collected at the stadium.
Lengthy queues to collect tickets built up outside White Hart Lane for the club’s first home game of the season against Swansea City, forcing many to miss much of the first half.

 

A statement published today by the supporters’ trust and allies described the Stubhub deal as ‘intrinsically against the best interests of supporters’.
They said: ‘The absence of restrictions on prices has led in some cases to tickets being listed at up to 1,000 per cent of face value.
‘We would like to have seen an upper pricing limit introduced.
‘The deal with StubHub should be terminated at the earliest possible opportunity and replaced with a scheme in which the club buys back and sells tickets at face value.’
Secondary ticket agencies like StubHub have been labelled ‘legalised touts’ by the Football Supporters’ Federation chairman Malcolm Clarke.
But Tottenham have defended the new system, insisting it allows season ticket-holders unable to make a match to obtain a fairer refund than in the past.
In a Q&A on the club’s website, Spurs said: ‘The club does not benefit financially from sales on the site and StubHub only receives commission on tickets sold – there is no fee to list.
‘While we understand that some fans might be frustrated to find prices higher than they hoped, it is the season ticket member’s prerogative to list their seats at whatever price they choose.
‘Ultimately though, it is up to the potential purchaser to determine if they are prepared to pay it.’