Town boss Paul Jewell hopes there’ll be a 20,000-plus crowd at Portman Road on Saturday as the Blues get their Championship campaign under way with a game against newly-relegated Blackburn Rovers. The club have set prices at the reduced Grade C level with adult Sir Bobby Robson Stand and Sir Alf Ramsey Stand lower tier tickets at £20.

Eventually, Jewell wants to see Portman Road sold out week in, week out, but for the moment he’d be happy with two-thirds of that figure: “The dream is to get 30,000 every home game, that’s the ultimate dream.

“I know it’s going to be a hot summer’s day on Saturday and if we could get a 20,000-plus crowd at Portman Road that would be fantastic. And hopefully they’ll see a good game of football in which we come out on top.

“But it’s a long season and our fans have been long-suffering. We want to give them hope for the future and the younger players will give us hope with one or two more experienced players added to that along the way. But players who are going to come here and be here for, hopefully, three or four years.”

The Town manager is in no doubt about where he wants to take the club: “We all want to be in the Premier League, the Holy Grail eventually is to get in the Premier League.

“I think someone said to me that we’re the longest serving team in the Championship now. It’s a great club, it’s a big club but we’ve been in the Championship for 10 years.

“Looking at the club, maybe it’s stuck still a little bit. We’ve got to progress. We’ve got to get the team as almost a part of the community.

“I know you can’t just have kids in the team but you can have a fair smattering of them in the right age group, added to one or two key experienced players and I think supporters will look at that and think ’These lads need our help here and we’re right behind them’. As long as the players are giving their best, I’m sure the supporters will stay with them.”

More details on ticket pricing for Saturday’s game can be found here. Prices increase by £1 for under-16s and £2.50 for other price bands when purchased on the day of the game.

Photo: Action Images

debenturedave added 07:57 - Aug 17 These price increases on tickets purchased on the day should be scrapped, especially if you are buying more than one ticket. With over 15,000 empty seats to sell for home games every effort should be made to fill them , not put people off on the day for the sake of a few pounds!
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Mark added 08:14 - Aug 17 The first home league game of the season, ex-Premier League opposition, reduced match ticket prices...COME TO PORTMAN ROAD, TOWN FANS!! You can order your tickets online today and print them out at home to avoid the on-the-day surcharge. Let's get behind this young blues side as we build for the future.
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algarvefan added 08:17 - Aug 17 Can someone explain why tickets are more expensive on matchdays?
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Karlosfandangal added 08:35 - Aug 17 Bottom line is the fact that Town have supporters who go season in and season out they make up about 10000, the only way we will get a full house is if we are top of the table or in the Prem, Losing at home 2-0 to Stockport on a Wednesday night in the early 90's there was 8000 of us by the end of the season you could not get a ticket as we were top of the table

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hollywoodginge added 11:01 - Aug 17 I was there Karlos, league cup I believe, Alun Armstrong brace if memory serves me correctly, I think the lowest attendance I can remember was against Barnsley in an absolute deluge!! I think £20 is very reasonable under the circumstances
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painterman added 11:42 - Aug 17 its not about the money, alot of us earn well but at the end of the day its about the quality of football, if it was only £5 to get in we would not fill the ground.
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reaper added 12:05 - Aug 17 Reason behind more expensive tickets on match day is simple. If people have already bought their ticket they are much more likely to turn up. Whereas if you can buy it on the day then maybe if they went out on Friday and are hungover or maybe if its pissing it down with rain then they could easily change their mind. It's about getting people to buy their tickets and commit to the game early - and "rewarding" them for it.

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TractorBoy666 added 14:14 - Aug 17 Got my season ticket and going to every home game this season! Didn't have one last year and that was the right decision. I'm hoping their will be a big crowd for Saturday, lets get behind the team like we did against West Ham last year. COYB!
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