Do I ask for ticket money?

Posted by Calgib@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 439 comments

My son and I have season tickets for our local football team. I was chatting to a 70-odd year old neighbour/friend from down the street, who I've known most of my life, about a big end of season game coming up. Knowing he used to go to the games, and still keeps up to date with the results and team news, I said "do you fancy coming with us? I'll get you a ticket". He was delighted, and really touched to be asked. He doesn't really associate with anyone, and doesn't have anyone else to go with, and me and my son get on well with him. It's really no big deal if he started coming along regularly tbh.

Only issue is money. What's the expectation here? I offered out of the blue, and said I'd get his ticket. It cost £10, which isn't going to impact on our family, and I have absolutely no issue buying it for him.

My wife seems to think I should ask him for the money. Neither me or him are struggling financially, and if I even mentioned it to him he would be straight into his wallet without question. But I feel weird asking, as I offered, and he's more a friend than a neighbour. I'll probably just tell him I got his ticket free through a scheme with our season tickets to avoid any mention of money, so I'm not looking for guidance on what to do personally, but what is the general consensus on how to deal with it?