Season ticket prices at Norwich City have risen by around 10pc as the battle to keep the Canaries flying high in English football continues for the club's management.

An increase of �2.50 per match for standard adult tickets - to an average of �24.79 - was announced yesterday afternoon.

However the club's chief executive, David McNally, insisted the price rises would be used to strengthen Paul Lambert's team and still represented 'good value for money'.

Mr McNally said: 'Behind the scenes at Carrow Road, we remain committed to doing all we can to support the first team and ensuring we serve our incredible supporters.

'Our business plan is designed to allow continuous improvements at the football club, on and off the pitch, and we will continue to do all we can in helping Paul Lambert in his efforts to win football matches whilst we continue to provide good customer service to all supporters.

'We also commit to you that any spare cash raised by the football club will be used to strengthen the first-team squad and so we are fully focused in growing all commercial areas at Norwich City.'

With City currently surprising everyone who predicted they would be relegated by sitting comfortably in ninth place in the Premier League, it is looking an increasingly good bet that top-flight football will remain at Carrow Road.

The increases have seen the price of an adult ticket in The Barclay stand and Thorpe Corner, known as The Snake Pit, rise by �47.50 to �471, an increase of just over 10pc.

Over-75 seats in the same areas - all calculated at the first opportunity to buy, before a deadline of Sunday, February 26 - have risen by �28.50 to �277.

Over-65 and under-21 seats have also risen by �28.50 to �310 and �201.50 respectively and under-12 seats have risen by �19 to �112.50.

The adult, over-75 and over-65 tickets are exactly the same in the family areas in the Norwich and Peterborough Stand, Aviva Community Stand and Wensum Corner.

Under-21 prices in these three areas have also increased by �28.50, to �201.50, and the under-16 and under-12 prices have both risen �19, to �80.50 and �55.50 respectively.

The season tickets go on sale this morning, ahead of Paul Lambert's side's Premier League home clash against Chelsea (12.45pm).

The club have confirmed that no new season tickets will be offered as they are capped at 22,000, of a stadium which now holds 26,816 and is almost always sold out.

Mr McNally continued: 'Inevitably, prices have increased for next season and yet this still represents great value for money whilst your season ticket remains the most affordable way to watch football at Carrow Road.

'We will never underestimate the support and commitment you give to your football club.

'The last couple of years have been very successful and great credit should go to Paul, his backroom team and those marvellous players.

'Now it's time to focus on the future and what happens next, that is what really matters.'

Prices of next year's season tickets in the Premier League have not all been announced yet but the new Carrow Road standard adult prices still compare favourably with the current prices.

Compared to City's opponents today, Chelsea - who are funded by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich - the Carrow Road tickets are still relatively cheap.

The home fans at Stamford Bridge stumped up a minimum of �750 and a maximum of �1,250 this season, second only to Arsenal, whose high-quality Emirates Stadium commands a minimum price of �985 and a maximum of �1,995 for season tickets.

The prices announced today would see City's cheapest adult seat of �471 slot into last year's rankings at eighth, although that is not an accurate reflection until all this year's prices are released.

However, this is still cheaper than local rivals Ipswich Town, whose cheapest ticket for this season was �493, the fifth most expensive in the Championship.

Robin Sainty, chairman of the Norwich City Independent Supporters Club, feels the increases are reasonable, saying: 'Last year, when it was very difficult to foresee that we would be in the Premier League this season, the prices were fixed at Championship level.

'So we have basically had a season in the Premier League at Championship prices, so I'm not unhappy at the rises and looking at Twitter and Facebook it seems to generally be a pretty positive reaction.

'We have to remember that the club is run strictly as a business now and they are thinking, hang on a minute, for every person that unfortunately can't afford the rise, we have got two or three people who have been waiting in the wings for months and months on the waiting list.

'I don't think that's the club being unfair because we all want to be an established Premier League side, we don't want to be a club that yo-yos, and it takes money to do that.'

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