Tickets, please

Blues have 13,500 season ticket holders.

There are thousands who have lapsed and have either got out of the habit of going to St Andrew's, or are now just casual visitors.

The club had the maximum allowed on promotion in 2002. There were around 22,500 eager and excited souls right behind them at the beginning of the Premier League adventure.

The novelty wore off, the team could have kicked on but went backwards, the yo-yo effect set in, the board looked for profit and an exit strategy.

It's a tall order to expect return to that number and the new regime seem to be aware that not everyone will come rushing back all at once, if at all.

After announcing the new price structure - season tickets went on sale on Monday - they believe that they have shown the right intentions, at least.

The feedback initially, on the whole, seems favourable.

A 'loyalty discount' has been implemented, the comparison to match by match pricing is there to see already.

No catches, transparency, were the words coming from St Andrew's.

Michael Dunford has instigated 'supporters' surgeries' since the Chinese takeover and has got a grasp on what the gripes have been, and are.

And the board are carefully considering whether to move from St Andrew's in the near future.

The CEO says: "Seeing the level of home support gradually increase over the season, we'd like to see it continue to grow.

"But that will be down to results on the pitch and trying to win the hearts and minds back of those supporters who have felt very frustrated with the club over a period of time.

"I do sense that due to what's happening on the pitch and from the general PR of the club, which is improving all the time in the eyes of the supporters, they realise we do care and understand that it is not easy to afford to come to football today.

"When you look at the price comparisons with other clubs - and although we are only interested in our supporters - we will still be in the top six when it comes to cheapest pricing, which I think is fair and reasonable.

"As I say, we have an average gate of around 25,000 and we would love that to increase.

"But people have got to remember that we are also competition against a lot of teams who regularly have 10,000 or more than we are having week in, week out. So it has got to be run as a business.

"It's not a gripe on our part, it's a reality. But our business is football and understanding our supporters and listening to them.

"People I have spoken to in the supporters' surgeries and meeting in the supporters' clubs, I have tried to explain to them where we are coming from on our new policies and there seems to be a general acceptance that we are moving in the right direction.

"I have seen some articles in the press saying some clubs are going to reduce their season ticket levels. That maybe the case. But we do hope that this pricing structure will put the ability to become a season ticket holder within the grasp of a number of others who previously didn't want to come back to St Andrew's.

"I don't know how many more season ticket holders we can achieve. But I would like to say on record a big thank you to those 13,500 who committed themselves early in 2009 and during the summer, before the takeover."