ROD Brown admits Bromsgrove Sporting want to be more ambitious next season with the club to increase ticket prices.
Rouslers boss Scott Adey-Linforth guided Sporting to safety in the Southern League Premier Central last term after he replaced Paul Smith in the Victoria Ground dugout in November.
And Sporting chairman Brown hopes the club can use the momentum gained from the end of the 2024/25 campaign to climb further up the league table next season.
Brown said: “The dust has settled on the end of the season and we finished with a certain level of momentum on and off the field.
“Our objective before the season was ‘could we finish mid-table’ and we finished 14th which was fantastic considering the position we were in before Christmas.
“We started the season with Paul Smith as manager and it didn’t quite work the way we were hoping.
“His assistant at the time, Scott Adey-Linforth, was given the opportunity which he grasped with both hands.
“He had his work cut out at the time but he galvanised the squad leading into the Christmas period.
“We could never have believed the results we had over that period which gave us a bit of a bounce to get out of those bottom positions we were in.
“For the remainder of the season, we were toing and froing to try and get further up the league and safety.”
The club have also confirmed ticket prices will increase at the Victoria Ground next season.
Sporting will raise the price of a matchday ticket by £2 (£1 if booked online) for the 2025/26 season.
It will now cost adults £14 on the gate (£13 online) with concessions £11 (£10 online).
The club had frozen ticket prices at £12 for adults for the last five seasons.
And Brown admits the increase in prices is necessary to help the club remain sustainable at Step Three.
Brown added: “The challenges for the club are immense every year, there is no magic wand, and unfortunately finances are the necessary evil of sustaining any business and also Step Three football.
“It’s five years since the club has had any increase in ticket prices, we’re no different from any other business which has incurred increased costs.
“It’s the first time in five years, we’re going to have to increase [ticket prices] to keep the sustainability of the club.
“We try and do the best we can to sustain this level of football but in real terms, compared to the league, we’d probably be in the bottom third of the league in terms of budgets.
“We want to try and improve on that, we want to try and move forward and be a bit more ambitious.
“We’ve already started ground maintenance and the pitch has been in the best condition for quite a few years, we’re investing in the pitch again this year.
“We’ve had two or three issues this year where we’ve had increased gates, we’ve already made a commitment to increase the stewarding in order to make the fan experience the best it can be and as safe as it can be.”
Brown also believes Sporting’s squad is the most stable it has been for a number of seasons heading into the 2025/26 campaign.
Brown added: “To maintain Step Three football is very difficult from a football perspective.
“The budget restrictions we have here, for obvious reasons, we don’t have the flexibility of having revenue streams coming from 4G surfaces.
“We rely heavily on the loyal support of the town and the community and key sponsors and we’re thankful for all of that.
“It’s hard work and it will continue to be going into next season, however, this is probably the most stable the squad has been for a while going into the next season.”
