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Hull City to scrap season tickets for membership scheme

Hull City have announced plans to scrap season tickets next season and replace them with a new membership scheme which could save fans up to £282.

The club said the new Earn Your Stripes Season Membership will ensure they are one of the cheapest clubs to watch in the Premier League should they win promotion, with savings of up to 47 percent if they remain in the Championship.

Vice-chairman Ehab Allam said: "For too long, the price of football in this country has been much too high. This new scheme will at least ensure the same cannot be said of Hull.

"The membership scheme is about rewarding the supporters for their fundamental part in this remarkable story and ensuring that, wherever the team start their new campaign, the club and the fans will be doing it together."

Hull are said to be the first English club to offer a such plan, with monthly membership starting at £21 up to £51 a month -- £13 a game if they were in the top flight -- and new Oyster-style smart cards used for entry to the KC Stadium.

The current annual season ticket charge will be replaced by a rolling direct debit, while a large number of fans will have to move from existing seats to take advantage of the savings.

The club said on its official website: "There are three tiers of Membership -- One-Stripe, Two-Stripe and Three-Stripe, with Two and Three-Stripe Membership giving access to a range of extra benefits including away match ticket priority, the option to sign-up to Away Direct and discounted away match travel.

"However many stripes you sign up for, from the start of 2016-17 the KC Stadium will be split into five different price zones (one of which will be for corporate clients only) offering a 'one price per zone' payment plan."

The club added: "To put it in its simplest terms - signing up for Membership means you will be able to watch the Tigers in Sky Bet Championship action for as little as £11 per game, or just £13 per game should we be successful in gaining promotion to the Barclays Premier League -- which would be one of the cheapest offerings in the top flight."

The club said the Upper Stand would be closed, meaning 1,800 fans must be relocated, but would be opened for high profile matches and while the scheme would mean an increase in price for a minority of existing concessionary season tickets holders, they would have first option on new seats.

"From the brink of extinction to the Premier League, an FA Cup final and European football, our story is a script which could never have been written -- it's been nothing short of unbelievable," Allam added.

"Our new Earn Your Stripes Season Membership offers a fairer and simpler pricing plan and is just one of the ways in which the club can ensure that there is no financial barrier to watching our script unfold."