The decision to raise ticket prices for Gillingham’s upcoming FA Cup game against Cardiff City has been defended by chairman Paul Scally.

Adult tickets cost £25 for the match and increase by another £2 on Monday, December 31.

Mr Scally addressed the ticketing issue in a lengthy statement released on Thursday, where he hit back at critics. He had been approached by the KM on the matter after the pricing provoked debate among supporters.

“I believe the pricing to be totally appropriate,” said the club chairman.

“The last time we reached this round of the cup against Stoke (in 2012), we had the same pricing and the stadium was sold out. I don’t see Cardiff as a lessor opposition, in fact the opposite could be true.”

He went onto explain the costs involved.

He said: “We have to pay VAT of £4.16 to HMRC leaving a nett figure of £20.84 (from a £25 ticket).

“We have to pay police, stewards, Cardiff’s coach and hotel, floodlighting, medical and casual pitch labour totaling around £20k, around £2 per head if gate is 10,000, leaving a nett figure of £18.84 per adult ticket.

“From that figure Cardiff receive 50% and GFC receive 50% hence our nett income per head is just £9.42 per adult ticket and remember for concessions and juniors we receive much less.

“Our fixed overheads are in the region of £112k per week so the maths are quite simple, hence why the tickets are priced as they are.

“I hope all supporters understand and we manage to fill the stadium. If every supporter brings one person that hasn’t been for a while we should have a sell out and an enjoyable day for all.”

Mr Scally said the sales had been “brisk”. Tickets are currently on sale for season ticket holders only and go on general sale next Thursday.

Senior tickets cost £22, students £12 and under-18s £10 and all are subject to the £2 increase from next month.

Leslie Rudland, from Lordswood, was one of those who had questioned the pricing strategy. She said: “Even though Cardiff are not one of the big teams, I thought we could still attract a large home attendance.

“With a large crowd the atmosphere would have helped the players and hopefully the extra support would mean a win and progress to the next round, earning more prize money.”

But she was dismayed at the price hike, up £3 from a normal adult match ticket. Mrs Rudland added: “With a reduced ticket price he (Gills chairman Paul Scally) might have filled the ground but with the price increase I think he will be lucky to get 6,000 paying customers. A real shame as this could have been a great Gills occasion.”

The ticket cost had provoked debate on social media since being announced.

Paul Joslyn said: “I can’t get enthusiastic over it to be honest and I wonder how many Cardiff fans will bother.”

Gills fan Christian Hillam offered a different opinion, however, saying: “Are any of those Gillingham fans complaining about the ticket prices for the Cardiff game also imploring the club to somehow find the money to offer (Tom) Eaves a new deal?”

The Gills do currently have a ticket offer in place for their festive fixtures, starting this weekend.

Adults can watch the home games against Wycombe (on Saturday), Portsmouth (December 26) and Doncaster (December 29) for £54, a saving of £12 if bought individually.

There are also savings to be made for concessions. Contact the club for more details.

Gillingham will play Cardiff on Saturday January 5. The league game against Accrington, originally scheduled for that date, has been moved to Tuesday, January 29.