WANDERERS chief executive Neil Hart has defended the club’s matchday pricing policy, insisting season ticket value remains the number one priority.

Debate was sparked last week when the home opener against Wrexham was confirmed as a Category A game, meaning the price of an adult ticket starts at £30.

Bolton froze their matchday ticket prices this season and remain one of the most expensive in League One.

Hart argues, however, that prices are fair, especially when contrasted with the season ticket offering, which is among the cheapest in the division.

“Yes, we are top three or four prices in the league, the higher end of match prices,” Hart told The Bolton News. “But our season tickets sit in the bottom five. That is where the value is, we want people to buy season tickets and lock in that loyalty with us.

“The Direct Debit deadline is passed now so people would have to pay for a season ticket up front, but at the start it was £30 a month – that’s as much as one Category A game. The value is in season tickets, and I say that everywhere I go.

“Match by match prices, we are top three or four, and so we should be. We are one of the largest clubs with facilities and stadium to match that, so we think they are priced in line with market value.”

Seats will go on sale this week for all home games up to and including the visit of Wigan Athletic in mid-December. Hart explained the process behind grading each game and deciding upon the pricing bracket.

He said: “At the start of the season we look at fixtures and asses them on a Category A, B and C basis. Lots of factors inform up on that, away following, interest in games, when the game will be played, and then what feeds off the back of the weighted allocations and the size of the crowd is the policing costs and operational costs for us.

“I’ll be very clear, Wrexham at home is a Category A game, all day long. Televised or not.

“It goes into that category along with Wigan, Birmingham and other games like that, and it is the same price as a Category A game was last year.”

Sky TV’s new broadcasting deal has injected some extra funds into the EFL but Hart admits the operational costs of running a League One club aiming at promotion means some tough decisions must be made on pricing.

“There is a little bit of extra money coming in with the new broadcast deal, we are slightly better off, but it is offset by the fact we can’t broadcast domestic games on Wanderers TV,” he added.

“We will lose hundreds of thousands of pounds through that, even though we can broadcast internationally.

“Overall, we are slightly better off, but at this level operating a club of this size and trying to have a competitive budget it doesn’t outweigh what we spend on the football side. We try to invest in the team, in the facilities to give the team the best possible chance, and it all comes as a cost, unfortunately.

“I like to think we are being pragmatic and fair with the supporters and when you look at everything with a bit of context, we are operating in a very fair way from a business point of view.”