Yeovil Town Football Club have dismissed as unfair, unrealistic, and totally misleading, a survey which allegedly shows  that fans at Huish Park pay more than supporters at other clubs including Real Madrid.

“To compare Yeovil Town with Real Madrid is ludicrous,” said director Ron Budden, who has responsibility for some of the pricing issues at the Somerset club.

“The Spaniards have capacity for 81,000 fans at the Bernabeu and a reported annual turnover of 604 million euros.  We have a stadium capacity of 9,000.

“They are one of the world’s richest clubs so, of course, they can afford to set their ticket prices accordingly. Clubs like Real Madrid do not rely on gate money to the extent that we do.

“At Yeovil Town we are continually looking at the best deals we can offer our committed fans. We also look for innovative ways to boost our gates – hoping new fans will come again – such as free admission last season for the Barnsley fixture for under 21’s, and kids for a quid. But, of course, we cannot make these sort of offers on a regular basis.

“We have discounts for booking tickets on-line, and this year we have sold 2,569 season tickets. During the last season we were in League One we sold just 1,975 season tickets so we are clearly doing something right.

“And buying a season ticket equates to eleven free admissions.

“We do all we can to give our fans a good deal, and we are particularly keen to nurture the fans of the future.

“Our season ticket for youngsters under the age of sixteen is just £39 and £16 of that goes to support our Junior Glovers section which is flourishing.

“It must be remembered that we are a business, and for the club to survive we have to set prices that will ensure that survival and also give our dedicated fans a good deal, and a good day out.”

Booking on-line up to 11pm the night before a match earns a discount of £5 with a transaction fee of £2.50.  But if a fan books, say, four consecutive matches there is only one transaction charge.

Another way to save money is to buy a ticket during the week in person at Huish Park, saving £2.