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Banners and flags could be absent from the Kop in Liverpool FC’s crucial Champions League tie decider with Basel on December 9, fans have warned.

An open letter from fans to LFC’s owners said they will stop flying flags until the club meets with them over what they regard as exorbitant ticket prices.

The move follows Saturday’s protest during the clash against Stoke City, in which traditional flags and banners were replaced by ones reflecting the surge in ticket prices.

Flags at the protest pointed out that the price of tickets increased from £4 in 1990 to £24 in 2000, then to £43 in 2010.

A fourth flag was daubed with a question mark to signify fans’ fears over how much a match ticket will cost in 2020.

A huge flag was also emblazoned with the words “Let me tell you a story of a poor boy”, the first line of the Reds’ anthem Scouser Tommy.

The letter, addressed to club owner John Henry, comes from fan groups The Spirit of Shankly and Spion Kop 1906.

It read: “This isn’t merely a withdrawal of our ‘support’. It’s because we support the team and this football club so much that we persist in protesting. No, this is something much bigger. It is a warning of what is to come.”

Jay McKenna, Spirit of Shankly chairman, told the ECHO: “The flags will not come back until Liverpool agree to meet with us.

“The question they are going to be asking is ‘what do Liverpool want for the future’? Are they happy pricing people out?

“They are pricing out the people who provide such passion week in week out.

“We, the supporters, are going to be here in 20 years’ time when the owners are long gone. We are not making unrealistic demands.”

The most expensive single match adult ticket at Anfield now costs £59, while the cheapest is £37.

Mr McKenna hit out at the club for being “greedy” and said: “We will not be doing the things that they use to market the club,” such as appearing in images that can be sold on.

“Last year LFC made approximately £40m more than the year before due to TV deals and coming second in the league. That same season, match-day revenue was £45m.

“They could have let us all in for nothing, and would not have been worse off. It’s just greed.

“In two years’ time, many of the people who do these flags will not be able to do it. They do it in their own time and with their own money. It’s a sacrifice for them.”

The open letter asked the club: “Just what is important to OUR football club – the colour of our flags or the colour of our money?”

Ex-footballer and pundit Gary Lineker tweeted: “With the huge amounts of money from TV and sponsorship there is no excuse for such avarice from Premier League clubs.”

Mr McKenna said: “When the people who work in the game say it, it’s a cause for concern. Everyone knows it is a problem now.”

He added: “We’ve got the opportunity to lead the way.

“We have had conversations with fans around the country, and we have got a lot of support from them. We’ve also been in talks with Everton supporters about what to do at the Derby next year.”

The open letter continued: “We don’t do this just for ourselves. This is not merely self preservation. It’s about the long term future of our support, our culture and our traditions. As our current owners and custodians you have a responsibility, a very significant one, to preserve and safeguard the future of this football club.

“This does not just exist on a spreadsheet under profit and loss – it is about the future of our support and ensuring that the things that have made the club famous and successful in the past continue into the future.

“The current generation of support face being priced out, so how can we expect a future generation to take their place? It leaves us asking a worrying question – just what will our support be like in the next five, 10 or 15 years?”

In October, supporters held up a giant banner emblazoned with the words “£NOUGH IS £NOUGH” and black flags were flown during the Reds’ game against Hull City.