In this week’s Gills online blog, reporter LUKE CAWDELL asked the question ‘Are football fans at all levels of football being priced out?’

It provoked a number of responses, including one from Bury director Mark Catlin, who defended the lack of fans that made the trip to Kent last weekend.

With Champions League ticket prices rocketing to record levels, and even League 2 fans being squeezed, it’s an issue that has touched a nerve with a number of football fans.

Join the debate! Do you watch professional or semi-professional football? Leave your comments below on whether fans are being priced out of football. Below is a selection of comments from what Gills fans have already told us.

Jim Staples (Greenwich)

The key factor in determining football's value for money is, in my opinion, to examine it compared to other activities. Away games in particular can cost a scandalous amount. When you add up travel costs, ticket prices and subsistence for a trip to somewhere like Shrewsbury it's going to be an £80 excursion.

Ticket prices have received lots of coverage in the last few days after UEFA announced the structure for the Champions League final at Wembley. They were quite simply a joke. Likewise, I have followed England as far afield as Russia and South Africa and tickets have cost as much as £100 for just a single game.

However, the thing that separates football from other activities and other sports is the loyalty of the fan base, and this has a direct correlation on ticket prices. They will remain high because fans, like me, will continue to pay.

I, despite openly admitting that I often feel conned with what I am shelling out, will continue to watch both Gillingham and England over the coming years. To be fair to League 2, some of the prices charged are more reasonable - sadly this is often justified by the quality of football on offer.

Sam Livingstone (Pangbourne)

I was fortunate enough to be in the Everton end at Stamford Bridge for the FA Cup replay against Chelsea, watching a thoroughly entertaining match along with 6,000 other Everton supporters. The football was brilliant and free-flowing and all this cost just £25 for my adult ticket - only £2 more than an adult ticket bought on the day at Priestfield.

In comparison, Gillingham, with the greatest respect, tend to play a more agricultural form of the game, hoofing it upfield and generally hoping for a flick on from Adebayo Akinfenwa. However, £23 is just for the ticket. Living relatively further away, I also have to pay for a train ticket and then the food and drink on the day to experience the fairly poor atmosphere at a half-filled Priestfield where the amount of away supporters can be counted on one hand.

This doesn't seem like value for money, so surely it would be better to lower the prices, advertise heavily and try to get more fans through the turnstiles, packing the terraces and urging on the players to a more successful and entertaining brand of football.

An average weekend of football can cost up to £100, which is far too expensive for mediocre League 2 and, realistically, prices need to be lowered, or fortunes on the pitch need to be drastically improved, if Paul Scally wants to keep his loyal fanbase and get larger turnouts.

Paul Blakeley (Maidstone)

Being a season-ticket holder, I don't feel that I get too bad a deal per match. I know football isn't as cheap as it was when I first started going, so if I attend all the games my season ticket allows it's a reasonable price. I would say value for money, but after seeing some of the hideous football played that wouldn't be accurate.

However £20 per match seems to be a tipping point for overpricing - especially when the grounds aren't full. Mathematically it makes sense to charge a couple of quid more, as the extra fans turning up at the lower cost won't make up for the shortfall, but it still seems rather pricey to see the basement level of professional football.

Another problem with the pricing is that when added together, matchday can get quite costly - train fare, food, etc. Of course most of this isn't the problem of the clubs, but for the fan it's something that has to be taken into consideration. I do feel though that the prices cannot go up again next year, regardless of whether we're in League 1 or League 2.

For more information on football pricing and further fan reaction see Friday's Medway Messenger newspaper.