Five-year season ticket holder Phil Taylor says Town are taking advantage of loyal fans by basing the five-year season ticket price on the early bird rate available to first time season ticket renewers, rather than the cheaper price for those season ticket holders who have renewed early for the last two seasons.
This year Town have brought in a three-stage season ticket pricing structure. Price A, £368 for a North Stand lower seat, is for fans who have renewed before the early bird deadline for the last two seasons and renew before April 4th. Price B, £392 for the North Stand lower, is for those renewing for the first time prior to April 4th, while Price C, £465, is for anyone buying a season ticket after this year's early bird deadline.
The Blues introduced a limited number of five-year tickets in 2004 at the height of the club's financial woes. Back then, the tickets were available at five times the cheapest single-season ticket.
This year, despite being told they can renew for a single year at Price A, five-year season ticket holders renewing on their existing terms have to pay five times Price B. In the case of a North Stand lower tier seat, this equates to paying £1960 (5 x £392) rather than £1840 (5 x £368).
Taylor told TWTD: "I feel they are taking advantage of the fact that being a football supporter is not like being a bank customer. You are loyal to your team and the club should repay that loyalty, not penalise it by charging those who chose to pitch in when the club needed it most by charging them the same rate as someone who is renewing for the first time.
"We are entitled to renew at the cheapest early bird rate, so should pay this whether we choose to renew for one year or five.â€Â
Taylor says that in other circumstances he would expect to receive a discount for committing for the longer period: "If you were buying in any other industry for five years up front you would almost certainly get an extra discount, not pay a premium.
"In any other industry companies compete for your business and you go elsewhere if the deal offered to you isn't as good as is available somewhere else. The club know this isn't the case with football supporters, we don't just change teams like that.
â€ÂBecause I support the team, I will renew my season ticket in some form, but it annoys me (to put it politely) that they know this will be the case, so they feel they don't have to take into consideration the lengths and costs that I and others go to in order to support the team.â€Â
Taylor says as a result of the club's decision he will reduce his spending in other ways: "This will end up costing the club more. Over the last few years I have probably spent somewhere between £500 and £1,000 per year in the club shop and elsewhere.
â€ÂAs a result of their refusal to budge on the price (I even offered a compromise solution of including the Gold Card in the price - which wouldn't actually cost them anything). I will be restricting my spending for at least the next five years, probably to around a quarter of that I normally spend.â€Â
A Town spokesman told TWTD that although the five-year season ticket is more expensive in the first year, subsequent price rises would mean that over the five-year period it could cost less than renewing on an annual basis: "The five-year season ticket offers an opportunity to lock the price over the next five seasons, although the base level for this is higher than if you elected to renew your seat for only one season.
"The club accepts that while in the current economic climate it might appear that price rises in the future are likely to be low or zero, there are several factors that will influence this including the timespan of the financial downturn, inflation changes in future years, increased stadium costs, increases in other costs and the level of revenues from centralised sources, such as television.
"Changes in any of these may result in the club reviewing its ticket pricing, and of course promotion to the Premier League could also trigger its own review.â€Â
Town also say that the Premiership Cashback scheme, which yields a 50% rebate for one season if Town reach the top flight, applies to five-year season ticket holders across the entire period as does the eight-month interest payment.