Hamilton Accies have addressed ticket pricing concerns amongst their own supporters and other fans, but say they are operating several games at a financial loss.
The club’s new owners say they are in the midst of #NewEra, but relegation from the Premiership and Championship in recent seasons have left them rebuilding the club, which they say will take time and is “extremely challenging”.
Following dialogue between themselves and Saturday’s Championship opponents Partick Thistle, concession [over-65/under-18] prices have been dropped to £10. Adult prices for the fixture are £26.
A statement issued by the New Douglas Park club’s board of directors today read: “One of the significant factors contributing to our ticket pricing is the financial reality we face as a club.
“Given our current average attendance figures in the William Hill Scottish Championship, the operational costs of running our stadium on a match-day are approximately £21 per person, per game, assuming we enjoyed a 100 per cent adult attendance.
“The unfortunate reality is that inevitably we will be delivering a number of our fixtures each season by operating at a financial loss.
“Furthermore, our commitment to continuing to maintain and operate our elite youth academy through this transition period remains steadfast, even though we receive no financial support from the UEFA Solidarity Payments given to Scottish football.
“Any support that we do receive from the SFA, whilst it’s greatly appreciated and is certainly necessary, is only, unfortunately, a small percentage of the operational costs involved.
“We do, however, believe that investing in the development of homegrown youth is crucial for the future of our club.”
The statement added: “Currently we are tenants at our stadium, which further complicates our ability to manage ticket prices as effectively as we would like to.
“However, as part of our transitional phase we are actively seeking to acquire the stadium.
“Stadium ownership will undoubtedly provide us with the opportunity to positively reassess our finances, including ticket prices, and to implement reductions where feasible.”
Hamilton Accies say they regularly review ticket pricing structures and offer special access prices, to encourage greater attendance, and will announce any future adjustments.
Follow Lanarkshire Live Sport onX via@LanLiveSport, like us onFacebookor find us onInstagramfor the latest sports news, pictures and video.