Ipswich Town Supporters’ Club chair Liz Edwards says she thinks most fans will accept the club increasing season ticket prices by 1.5%.

The Blues kept prices frozen seven out of 11 years between 2003 and 2013 but have now increased them three years in succession – a seat in the lower tiers having risen from £390 in 2013/14 to £417 for 2016/17.

In a poll running on this newspaper’s website, 85% have said the increase in prices is unfair.

Edwards said: “Any increase in ticket prices is unwelcome, but keeping the increase to £6 over the whole season is not a huge deal. I think most fans will accept the increase, as it works out at only around £18 per match. Many fans choose to pay by interest-free monthly direct debit (which very few clubs offer, by the way), where the increase is just 50p a month.

“It’s also worth bearing in mind that the headline price only applies to people aged 20-60. There are discounts of a third for 16-19 year olds and for over-60s – most clubs start discounting at age 65.

“It’s good that matchday prices are frozen for next season – they are high enough already. The club have decided to scrap the grading of games, so we know the maximum cost in advance for the whole of next season, which will help those who want to pick and choose their games.

“Even if we don’t get promoted, it looks like we’ll have huge games next season against the likes of Aston Villa, Norwich and probably one of Newcastle or Sunderland – we’ll see huge crowds for those games, and I’m looking forward to them already.”

Ipswich Town season ticket holder and EADT / Ipswich Star columnist Karl Fuller said: “The club has quoted raising prices as being ‘in line with the retail price index’, which shows that football is more business orientated than ever.

“I guess they could not use ‘entertainment value’ to set prices against, otherwise we’d be seeing costs going down accordingly.”

– See tomorrow’s EADT for plenty of reaction to Ipswich Town’s decision to increase season ticket prices, plus a full match preview of the Blues’ home game against Nottingham Forest.