THERE are plenty of things to divide opinions among football fans.

Beautiful Game being ruined by pure greed

Jose Mourinho – is he God’s gift to management or the devil in disguise? Pep Guardiola – is he anywhere near as good as his publicity? Was Gary Neville daft to take the Valencia job? And who is going to win the Johnson Paints Trophy?

But for all our differences there is one topic that, on evidence available, unites us all. The cost of watching the Premier League is way too high – and supporters are getting a raw deal.

It is unlikely that Liverpool owners Fenway Sports Group will take much notice of the 10,000 or so fans who staged a 77th-minute walk-out during the weekend game against Sunderland as a protest against the price of tickets (£77) for seats in the new stand next season. They should.

That is an £18 a match rise on the present price. Liverpool were leading 2-0 at the time, yet almost a quarter of the official attendance walked out rather than cheer them to victory.

Can there be a clearer message that the fans feel that the game is ruled by greed?

Whether it was just a coincidence that they eventually drew 2-2 is open to question. The Premier League clubs who tried to get the price of an away fan’s ticket limited to £30 were unsuccessful in a week when it was announced that the TV deal from next year will amount to £8 billion.

In Germany you can pay as little as £15 to watch a top Bundesliga game and Bayern Munich and the rest don’t seem to have much trouble attracting the big names. Or the big crowds. Now transfer deals and big money signings in China are challenging the already dodgy claim that the Premier League is the best in the world.

The relentless hike in ticket prices has been blamed on foreign owners; foreign players, greedy agents, mind-blowing wages.

Even with £8 billion from the TV deals; millions in sponsorship; over-priced souvenir shops and a fiver for a pint of flat beer many clubs are treating life-long supporters with contempt. While they can fill their corporate boxes and entertain people who know or care as much about football as I do about Kabaddi nothing will change.

And those sparkling new red and blue seats will look very pretty on TV – empty. It may be some time away but eventually those 10,000 disgruntled Liverpool fans will be joined by many others who will say enough is enough until even the greediest of owners are shamed into remembering where their loyalties lie.

VICHAI Srivaddhanaprabha isn’t a name that crops up in everyday conversation – at least not in any of the places I call for the occasional pint.

But the 57-year-old Thai billionaire is the talk of the town down Leicester way.

The founder of King Power travel group and owner of football’s fairytale surprise package Leicester City is no long distance, stock market drooling follower of his club. He has already received a reward for services to business and sport.

“I came to Leicester because of my love of football. The club and its fans have already repaid me seven times over with their passion and loyalty,” he said.

We await a similar announcement on behalf of Fenway Sports, The Glazers, Randy Lerner and the rest of the Premier League owners.

AS a long-term fan of Leicester City (honest!) I hesitate to tip them to win the Premier League title because any prediction from this quarter could risk putting a curse of Claudio Ranieri’s team. It appears to have happened before.

Less than a month ago I suggested that Darren Ferguson could be forging a managerial career that might lead to him being mentioned in the same sentence as his dad.

Since then Ferguson junior, who led Doncaster Rovers away from a relegation fight and into a play-off challenging place, has not been able to win a match and Rovers are back in the mire. Apologies to Darren Ferguson.

FINALLY, sorry to have missed the Broncos’ win over the Panthers in Super Bowl 50. Was it any good?

PETER WILSON