IAN White says raising the price of tickets for Weymouth matches is probably the “hardest decision” the board has to make after responses quickly grew to the Terras announcing their prices this week.

The prices have risen from £12 to £14 for a ticket to a Weymouth game ahead of their season in the National League South.

White said: “I understand, I get annoyed if my electric bill goes up, of course I do, but I think this is probably the hardest decision the board has to make.

“Five, six, seven years ago we all sat in that room, we all sat in that bar at the fans’ forum and we all decided that we were going to let the club live within its means and that is very very important because we have to let it live within its means.”

White emphasised the need to be sensible financially, nodding to other clubs that have had financial difficulties.

White said: “We need to be sensible, you see so many other examples of where you have got Bolton at the moment, Gateshead, there is all sorts of things going on where people just go mad.

“People just go crazy and what we accomplished last season, we accomplished promotion without breaking the bank.

“It is always a horrible decision to have to do something with the gates, but if we want to progress we have to look at the best ways that we can progress.”

White added: “We haven’t got a sugar daddy, and we want to live within our means and we have proved this season that we can do it.

“I do understand how the fans feel, as I have just said I am a fan, most of the board if not all the board buy season tickets, so we are not on a free ride at all.

“We all get involved in paying our way and it is quite important for us as well.

“We did look at all of the other National League sides, We did look at the whole National League South side of things and see what other people are charging and we settled on what we settled on.”

White also praised the current management set up at the Bob Lucas Stadium, but said that to achieve promotion the club have to fund it, but must do so within their means.

White said: “What we have got, this is the best management we have had in the 23 years I have been at the club so we have to back them. If we do not back them they will go and do what they do so well somewhere else and we do not want that.

“I know from the passion of the fans they did not want us to stay in the Evo-Stik Southern Premier South, they wanted us to go to somewhere better but to do that we have to fund it but we have to fund it within our means.”