Pompey braced for season ticket sale drop

The Blues broke through the 7,000 barrier on Friday as supporters return for a second successive League One campaign under Kenny Jackett.

However, Mark Catlin has admitted the indications are the club will not match the 14,595 sold for last season.

Although, the Blues still anticipate registering the second-highest figures since coming out of administration in April 2013.

The chief executive said: ‘We have now gone through the 7,000 barrier, but I think we’ll probably fall short of last year’s 14,000, if I am being honest.

‘Last year was a fluke year in regards of a new league, new manager and new owner, so there was a lot of enthusiasm – it was a perfect storm in regards of season-ticket sales.

‘We knew that was a little bit of a one-off, so our aim this time is to get as near as we can get to that figure. Privately, we have set ourselves a target and are on course to hit that target.

‘I don’t think we are going to be that far short, while existing figures are still on for the second-best season since coming out of administration.

‘But we are slightly behind last year’s figure.

‘There remains a chance we could still go close (to last year), you never know. We have the end of the month, people get paid and we are still well within the realms of we could beat last year’s figures.

‘But this time last year you could tell by a mile we were better than previous years. Compared to last year, we are just behind.

‘You have to be realistic, the sales are still fantastic, incredible for where we are and still fantastic compared to previous years, well in advance.’