Price rise and player sales unlikely to slow season ticket demand

The 2013/14 season tickets are to go on sale to current AFCB season ticket holders on Wednesday 21 May and while AFCB have tried to keep prices down supporters are in for a 20 per cent increase on last seasons prices across the board. The club will be hoping that not only all of the regular seat warmers at Dean Court sign up again, but that a whole host of new fans sign up for the first time after 2 June.  To play Championship football comes at a price, especially with gates as low as 10,000 compared to 25,000 of the top clubs and some of the cost is  being put into the season ticket price following modest prices last year. AFCB have to try and up their income to offset the Financial Fair Play rules and it was probably to be expected that the club would ask fans to back them as they aim higher. A full list of the prices can be found on the club's official website. 

The potential loss of Lewis Grabban will not make much of a dent in the number of season ticket holders and even with a much changed team, fans will be looking forward to see what a line up with a few new Cherries would be able to achieve under Eddie Howe. Dan Gosling should be the first of several new signings this summer.

Dean Court has seen many full houses of late.

The Championship is where I feel the club should be at the moment and a new adventure is waiting to unfold in August. Before then we can certainly feel that anything is possible and with players perhaps departing it is easy to be a bit uneasy about seeing change again when the Cherries have had such a good season. But all of last season is in the past and we move on. You have the opportunity to buy a season ticket for the next chapter of the story. Some of the lines will be the same and while a few of the players may change, the underlying feel and style of the book will not change. It is time to write some new pages in Bournemouth's history and to reach the next level things have to change some more.

I see the next stage as just another challenge. Just like staying in the league and getting promotion from Leagues Two and One, AFCB have a target and there are probably many ways to go about getting to that next stage. What is crucial though is that the supporters come and the football remains entertaining. I hope that the prices are affordable to families and supporters who were unable to buy more than a few tickets to games last season. In the past few seasons football at Dean Court has been exceptional value and I don't believe the style of play will be any less entertaining in 2014/15. We will get behind the players that wear the shirt and any new supporters to the club we welcome. UTCIAD!

What do you feel about the season ticket price rise? Will you go to less away games or miss some pre-season friendlies to save some cash or will you attend as many games as you can no matter what?