Portsmouth cap ‘could be increased’ after season ticket update – Exclusive
Portsmouth have one of the most loyal fan bases in English football, and there is plenty of demand to fill out Fratton Park.
John Mousinho guided Portsmouth back to the Championship after 12 years away, and helped keep them there as they beat the relegation battle to stay up comfortably.
Portsmouth fans are excited for another season in the second division, especially given that they will face Southampton in the league for the first time in well over a decade.
Pompey fans are eager to secure their seats, and there could be a promising development regarding season ticket allocations.
Portsmouth have ability to increase season ticket capacity
Fratton Park has a capacity of 20,688, and as it stands, the number of season ticket seats for loyal fans is capped at 15,000.
As of 5 June, 14,600 fans have renewed their season tickets for the upcoming campaign, but while the overall capacity is capped, there are 3,000 fans on the waiting list, eager to get their own.
Speaking exclusively to Pompey News, football finance expert Dan Plumley revealed that there is no strict rule on season tickets being capped, meaning that Portsmouth can increase the allocation if they want to.
“There’s no rule from what I’ve ever seen, in terms of a hard number on it,” Plumley said.
“It’s different for different clubs, isn’t it, because of the size of the stadium and the fan base, so there’s no hard and fast rule that I’m aware of.
“Clubs will set their own limits, and they’ll look at that based on their average attendances and the size of the stadium and things like that.
“You do need to keep some tickets back for general sale, it’s not fair the other way, just to block out all your season ticket holders and not allow walk-ins, and again that can change depending on the opposition, it could depend on the way the season’s going.
“Clubs have to give that leverage for, and that opportunity for walk-ins. They can set individual ticket prices, and then they know they’re paying more because it’s cheaper to get a season ticket, so clubs will take individual decisions on a number of season tickets.
“They’ll be tracking an average attendance figure to arrive at that number of capped season tickets, and that might change season to season, dependent on the league that they’re in as well.”
Portsmouth fans could demand Fratton Park expansion
Fratton Park was a sell-out nearly every game last season, with an average Championship attendance of 20,259.
The long-awaited return to the Championship boosted demand, and this is set to continue and even grow if they continue to perform well on the pitch.
If Portsmouth find themselves climbing the table to become a stable Championship side pushing for promotion, then fans may demand an expansion so they can cope with the increasing interest in tickets, but this may not be in the works for some time.