Price of soccer has gone up -- way up -- in England

Arsenal hasn’t won the English Premier League title in a decade and seven games into the current season finds itself buried in the middle of the pack once again. But the Gunners lead the league in one not-unimportant category: With prices ranging from $1,614 to $3,204, Arsenal has the most expensive season tickets in Europe.

By way of comparison, mid-priced Dodger season tickets last season, for four times as many games, ranged from $984 for the reserved level to more than $2,100 for loge infield box seats.

Arsenal’s match-day ticket price of $156 -- down more than $46 from last season -- is also the most expensive in the EPL, according to the BBC’s Price of Football study. And its cheapest season ticket is more expensive than 17 of the other 19 EPL teams are asking for their most expensive ones.

The cost of attending a game in England has risen at nearly double the rate of inflation since 2011, the survey found, with the average cost of a season ticket topping $800, nearly four times what fans pay in Germany. Similar tickets in Italy’s Serie A are $335, in Spain’s La Liga $293 and $318 in France’s Ligue 1.

Which isn’t to say there aren’t bargains to be found. Season tickets to see Manchester City, the reigning EPL champion, start at $476, the cheapest in England’s first division. And if you fancy a spot of tea with your football, that will cost you just $2.89 at a City game as opposed to a league-high $4 across town at Manchester United’s Old Trafford home.

Manchester City (along with Crystal Palace and Southampton) does have the most expensive pie -- it’s not what you think -- in the EPL at $6.43, the same price as a game-day program at Southampton.