Watching regular top-flight football in London hits supporters harder in the pocket than virtually anywhere else in Europe.

The BBC’s annual study into the cost of football indicates that ticket prices have risen at almost twice the rate of the cost of living since 2011 — a statistic that will anger supporters forced to make considerable financial sacrifices to watch their team.

At £2,013, Arsenal offer the most expensive season ticket in the country, while their cheapest, which costs £1,014, is well above the Premier League average of £508.55. Spurs’s cheapest season ticket — £765 — is seven times more expensive than Barcelona’s (£103.38) while a Bayern Munich season ticket costs just £109.65.

The trend is similar in most of Europe’s top leagues although, bizarrely, AC Milan’s costliest season ticket is an incredible £3,597.93.

In the Premier League, the only other clubs who charge more than £1,000 for a season ticket are Tottenham and Chelsea. The most expensive season ticket at White Hart Lane is £1,895 , compared with £1,250 at Stamford Bridge.

At £97, Arsenal also have the most expensive match-day ticket, although the Gunners would point out that this represents a substantial reduction on their highest price last season, which was £126.

The high premium of watching football at Emirates Stadium was highlighted last year, when Manchester City fan Richard Taylor held up a banner that read: “£62!! Where will it stop?” during his team’s 2-0 victory at Arsenal in January 2013.

BBC Sport’s Price of Football survey has discovered that the cost of watching the game in England has gone up by 13 per cent, compared to a 6.8 per cent increase in the cost of living. Not every club is squeezing their supporters, however. You can snap up a season ticket at champions City for just £299, while Charlton charge less than any other club in the top four divisions.

At £150, a season ticket at The Valley is easier on the wallet than anywhere else between the Premier League and League Two.

Charlton chief executive Katrien Meire told BBC London: “It’s part of our new strategy. Charlton don’t have a lot of people in the stadium and we want to make football affordable for everyone.We’re competing against a great deal of other clubs in London. We think £150 is a very good price and also for Under-11s, it will cost £25 for a whole season.”

Charlton are just two points off the top of the Championship and Meire refused to confirm whether such a pricing structure could be retained if they win promotion. She added: “If and when we win promotion, it’s a different ball game. For the moment, our strategy is to get as many people as possible to the stadium. The offer of £150 was taken up quickly and that area of the stadium is sold out. Two-thirds of the fans in that area are new fans.”

Premier League clubs will point to high attendances to justify their pricing policy. Crowds are on the way up, with last season’s average 36,695. Yet that has not prevented supporters’ groups becoming increasingly vocal. In August, the Football Supporters’ Federation led a march on the headquarters of the Premier League, for the second successive summer, to protest about ticket prices.

Katrina Law, a senior representative of the Tottenham Hotspur Supporters’ Trust, said: “THST is acutely aware of the extortionate price of tickets at both Spurs and across the wider Premier League, actively campaigning for a reduction alongside the FSF and our fellow Trusts. Pricing out the traditional fan base has led to a decline in atmosphere and a feeling of disengagement.

“With the game overflowing with money, there is an opportunity for the Premier League and their 20 member clubs to reassess pricing structures for the good of the fans and the good of the game. However, in numerous meetings we have sensed that there is a lack of will to address these concerns.”

A Spurs spokesman said: “When contacted by Standard Sport, Tottenham pointed out that match-day ticket prices have been frozen since the start of the 2012-13 campaign, while season-ticket price increases during that period have been made in line with inflation.”