Monday was the cut off point for season ticket sales at the ‘early bird’ prices. Fans were promised ‘substantial’ savings if they bought before this date.

The new prices were due to be announced on Wednesday but were put back to allow staff to deal with the ‘backlog’ of applications following a ‘frantic’ final day.

The problem is the club have dug themselves into something of a hole with the use of the word ‘substantial’. If sales are high and most fans have renewed, possibly they could raise the prices substantially. If the uptake has been low however, a substantial rise is likely to alienate existing season ticket holders who have yet to renew. On the other hand, those that have renewed early will be miffed if the increase is negligible.

How frantic the last day really was has not been quantified in terms of volume of sales. Certainly there was no problem getting through to the Commercial Centre throughout the day though. All the signs are that the uptake rate has been disappointing.

There are a number of reasons for this, the prices have increased, results at The Valley have been disappointing, the style of play has not been the ‘easy on the eye’ one that was promised either.

Also, although there is enormous goodwill for Chris Powell, these are difficult financial times for people. The board now have to try to find the balance to keep everyone happy, a far from easy task.

Many northern clubs announce their entire pricing strategy in March. Not only the ‘early bird’ price but the prices for each of the subsequent sales phases too. Perhaps it is a policy the Addicks should consider for future years.