Ipswich Town managing directors Ian Milne and Jonathan Symonds have explained the club’s decision to raise season ticket prices for only the second time in eight years.

All adult season tickets in the lower tiers around Portman Road have been set at £399 (a £9 rise on 2013/14), while price increases in the upper tiers are around six per cent (between £25 to £50 extra for the season depending on the seat).

Those prices apply for those who buy before the ‘early bird’ deadline of April 14. Supporters will once again be able to spread their payments over 12 months using an interest-free direct debit scheme, with junior prices once again kept low, as the club attempts to attract the next generation of fans (Under-11s pay the equivalent of 43p a game, U16s works out at £4.91 a game, while U20s is £10.05 a game).

“In an ideal world we would have liked to have held prices across the board, but with things like Financial Fair Play coming in it’s meant we’ve had to review the pricing,” said Symonds.

“The bottom line is that the season ticket, for 50% of our fans, is only going up by nine pounds. It’s still an increase, but we do feel it’s very fair when you consider what you get for it.”

When asked what their message was to supporters who were still in two minds whether to renew their season tickets, Milne said: “I would say to our fans, ‘this is not the time to wobble’. We appreciate it’s been 12 years of Championship football, but this is the best position the club has been in for a long time and a lot of foundations have now been put in place to make that next step forwards.

“We’ve achieved a lot over the last year and a half, both from the playing and non-playing side of things. We have exceeded expectations and that gives us hope that we can perform even better next year.”

Symonds added: “The league table speaks for itself. If you look at where we were 15 months ago it was a very different scenario.

“We recently had a survey carried out and the one word that came through was ‘progress’. There was a lot of positive feedback from fans and we appreciate that.

“We’re clearly looking to build on what we’ve managed to achieve this year. If we have the same level of growth over the next 12 months then there should be some exciting times.”