SOUTHEND United’s chief executive Steve Kavanagh has defended the club’s high position in a BBC survey looking at the price of football.

The Shrimpers’ cheapest season card price of £350 was found to be more expensive than any other side in League Two.

And £28.30 as the cheapest possible day at a home game was the third highest in the division.

However, Kavanagh feels the survey does not provide a completely accurate report on attending a game at Roots Hall.

“My view is it is a survey and as such it merely scratches the surface,” said Kavanagh.

“For example they quote our cheapest ticket as £21 when it’s not, it’s actually £19 if you buy in advance, an under eight is £4 and actually technically free if you come with an adult in the family stand.

“The survey also ignores any initiatives we do especially the ‘Future Blues’ where we offer selected primary school children the chance to attend for free.

“For instance, at the Shrewsbury game we had nearly 1,000 local children all attending for nothing.”

Kavanagh also insisted the price of a season card at the Shrimpers was still reasonable.

Their most expensive price is 13th out of the 24 teams in League Two.

And Kavanagh feels the lay out at Roots Hall makes it hard to charge varying prices in different parts of the ground.

“When it comes to season cards our price when compared to the highest is very reasonable,” said Kavanagh.

“When you look to the lowest price we appear high, but we don’t have a terraced area and the problem with the ground is that from areas like the South Lower people can access the South Upper so pricing that low simply leads to substantial issues and increased stewarding costs.

“I have looked at how we have differential pricing but the stadium really doesn’t lend itself easily for a variety reasons. “ Kavanagh is keen to keep the prices down in order to attract higher attendances at Roots Hall.

But he added it was a complicated procedure to also ensure the club were able to compete on the pitch.

“Pricing at clubs is a complex issue and at Southend we want to make football affordable for families as we want a family orientated stadium,” said Kavanagh.

“The club is reliant on its holding company to survive and the simple answer would be to raise prices and sell off our best players.

“But we try to balance all these factors, especially while we are in financially difficult times.”