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However, the Trust has a number of concerns about the club's pricing policy. Already we have been approached by a number of supporters with tales that do not sit well with the club's proud boast of family friendly pricing and best ever value. In one example, a long standing supporter who purchased one Adult and one Child ticket in the Family enclosure this season for a total price of £325 is now faced with a renewal price of £382 for the same seats, an increase of £57, or 17.5%. The result is that next season the Adult will be moving to the Town End while the Child will not be coming at all. Another fan purchased a Family package last season comprising two Adult and two Child tickets for £540. This season's price for the same tickets is £774, a staggering increase of 43%.
Swindon, in common with many other clubs, has suffered in the past from short-termism in the form of unaffordable spending in the pursuit of a rapid payback from success on the field. As an organisation dedicated to safeguarding the club's future for all its fans, TrustSTFC does not advocate a return to this policy. However, on seeing the ticket price details, our fear is that the club have merely replaced one form of short-termism with another.
The current pricing structure is clearly designed to maximise income from the existing fan base. Club officials have repeatedly stated the need for the club to maximise income, a need that TrustSTFC does not dispute. However, to truly maximise its income for the long term the club must have a strategy to broaden its fan base by attracting new supporters. Few, if any, supporters attend their first match as season ticket holders. Most fans will be familiar with the transition from not attending at all, to attending the occasional match, and from there to becoming a regular or season ticket holder. The match day prices remain a serious barrier to this process and consequently a serious barrier to the club truly maximising its income.
The fall in average attendance this season clearly demonstrates the danger of the current ticket prices to the club's long-term prosperity. TrustSTFC will continue to lobby the club for a more realistic pricing structure for fans paying for their tickets on a match-by-match basis, in particular an end to the deeply flawed policy of charging a premium price for more than three-quarters of the seats in the stadium. With this and new replica kits to be launched in each of the next three seasons, it’s a very expensive time to be a Swindon Town fan.