Chief executive Jez Moxey and sales and marketing director Stuart Cain canvassed supporters' views on future ticket pricing at last night's latest meeting of the Fans' Parliament at Molineux.

The club's determination to attract more youngsters prompted Stuart to ask: "How do we get more kids in? The fan base is getting older and we'd like to use ticket prices to get the next generation in."

And Jez said: "We're conscious of the need to replenish our support. We want to bring people in and for them to get the bug for a lifetime."

Much of the subsequent debate was about reducing admission charges, with Chris Cox insisting: "Pure and simple, it's the only way. My kids are too young for night games except in school holidays and prices need to reflect that fact for youngsters who have season tickets.

"How about £120 for the first one and a nominal sum for the next? In other words, discount for multiple purchases. We need to look at what the fans earn and ask what they can afford to pay on Wolves."

Jim Heath pointed out that Preston had offered free admission for under-10s and some clubs had charged only £20 for a junior season ticket, with Telford, at a much lower level, operating a kids-for-a-quid scheme at every match.

Jez pointed out, though, that Wolves' popular Early Bird scheme made watching at Molineux cheaper than at many clubs all over the country.

Wilf Hadley called the scheme 'a great idea,' with Wolves officials currently collating thoughts about ticket prices to take to new owner Steve Morgan.

Potteries-based student James Fielden outlined how he paid £414 for a Jack Harris Stand season ticket and spent £6.50 a time catching the train. He is reluctant to pay the lower match-by-match student charges on offer because they would not guarantee him the same seat and he would have to queue on arrival at Molineux for his ticket.

And Kulbinder Kular said: "I dread my kids turning 17 and Wolves asking me for £400 each (for a season ticket) because we won't all be able to afford one."

On the same theme, Wilf Hadley added: "My daughter is at Birmingham University and won't come to games because of the cost, although she loves Wolves and is in the habit of attending."

Wolves scrapped cheaper season tickets for students as there was evidence of some quitting courses but continuing to watch at reduced rates. James said he would be happy to provide proof he was still in full-time education if it meant qualifying for concessions.

Stuart Cain suggested that fans who proved they had been students throughout a season could perhaps get money off their season ticket the following season.

He outlined the occasional measures the club were continuing to adopt to attract the young. "We had 3,000-3,500 extra in for the Norwich game last season by offering discounted tickets to youngsters who play for FA-affiliated clubs in postcodes where our support is strong. We're doing it again for the Burnley game on December 8 and have launched the Come All Ye Faithful promotion for the Leicester game (December 22)."

Jez Moxey agreed the club should look at ways of 'easing the pain' of the rise in admission prices during the transition from child to adult.

Carolyn Skitt proposed sending more players into schools to spread the Wolves message while Georgina Savage suggested offering free admission to schoolchildren as long as they were accompanied by a (paying) adult.

Amid the discussion about targeting the kids, Terry Brearley urged the club not to forget the over-50s. "That's the biggest market," he said. "We also have to tackle that larger area."

Jez again discounted the idea of giving fans concessionary tickets when they reached 60. "We went through the pain of introducing 65 as the cut-off age about 5 years ago," he said. "To then lower it again would create all sort of problems and be unfair on those who have had to pay the adult prices during the past five years."

On a general theme, Chris Cox suggested an 'Easy Jet system' for the less-populated wing areas of stands. "You could experiment with 500 seats, with the first 20 costing a fiver and the next 20 a tenner," he said. "And what about a loyalty scheme, with money off for being a season ticket holder for five or ten years."

PLEDGE: The club will consider all ideas and report back to future meetings.

ACADEMY

Jez Moxey told the meeting the search for Chris Evans' successor as Academy manager had thrown up 'a very impressive list of people who have put their name forward.'

Chris is joining Bolton as one of Gary Megson's assistants and Jez said: "He's fought tooth and nail on behalf of the Academy and I'm sad to see him go. He has been a good colleague and a very visible head. I've been spending this week and last assuring his staff of the on-going plans we have for the Academy and feeling reassured myself that it is in outstanding hands.

"I'm confident we can find the right person and try to raise the bar again. He'll be a hard act to follow but it gives us chance to try and improve things even further. The Academy is very important and I'll not allow anybody or anything to derail what we're doing. We must speed up the integration of 18-year-olds and get even better players in the first team, so we don't go out having to spending big money all the time."

Jez reassured Peter Bagley that Wolves had attempted to keep Chris but the lure was the chance to work with senior players with a manager he had befriended on a coaching course. "He's itching to move on," he said.

Bob Adams said: "Rarely in all my years supporting Wolves have I known people hold a member of the backroom staff in such high regard. Can we get him on the pitch here, so we can show our gratitude?"

And Bob Crockett added: "We should thank Chris on behalf of the Parliament and wish him all the best." It was a feeling immediately endorsed by several other members.

Jez said the club would advertise Chris's position but the successful applicant wouldn't necessarily raise eyebrows. And he revealed it was unlikely to be an internal promotion.

PARLIAMENT CONCEPT

The meeting agreed wholeheartedly that the 16-month-old Fans' Parliament had been a success but that new blood would prevent it going stale.

Georgina Savage said newcomers should be phased in alongside existing members.

The replacement of some members is likely to be at the end of this season, with Stuart Cain suggesting there was room for another five-to-ten people to bring the number up to 25-30.

"We set it up to create a formal dialogue and feel we're very open," he said. "The choosing of the new change kit and the season-ticket prices for youngsters, including under-12s, shows actions have been pursued. I'm aware we need to keep it fresh, though, so it can operate for the next three or four years."

Jez Moxey argued: "I'd be extremely disappointed if you didn't see it as valuable. I don't think we could have done more to expose you to senior staff, management and owners. We set the policy at the club but it's important to me to be able to look you in the eye and ask what you think about it. I want the Parliament to evolve and for people to look in five or six years time and say it is more powerful than when it started."

Chris Cox thanked the club for taking the idea seriously, as shown by Sir Jack Hayward and Steve Morgan attending meetings. "This is a fans' oracle that you (the board) should be singing the praises of, not feeling you have to defend," he said.

And Jim Heath concluded: "It has gained a lot of credibility and I think you'll have a lot of people wanting to stand, because you have taken action on some of the points discussed. It's important it's not just seen as a talking shop."

Roger Fellows said the only complaint was that fans may not know how to contact members, so a list of names should be published in the programme.

Dan Lavelle argued that if the dialogue wasn't always high-profile, it was because there weren't as many burning issues around the club now as at the start, when Wolves were manager-less and with an owner who was looking to hand over.

PLEDGE: Wolves to further consider (s)election of new members and to think about producing an A5 flier to publicise the Parliament.

PROGRAMME

Concerned by falling programme sales, Jez Moxey asked for a show of hands on buying habits: Six said they bought one at every match, four occasionally and the rest never.

Stuart Cain said the club worked on the assumption of 20 per cent of the gate buying a programme but Bob Adams said: "I have no problem with the quality of it but it's an add-on cost and there comes a time when something has to go."

Chris Cox said some away programmes, particularly Norwich and Sheffield Wednesday, had more reading in them. "We need more articles," he said. "Only two are must-read articles; those by Mick McCarthy and Jez."

Chris proposed that a bedroom-wall poster could be included while Roger Fellows said it was very well produced but had 'far too many' adverts, '23 pages out of 68' for a recent issue. "There should be paid-for articles," he reasoned. "What about a referee's page or a piece by a celebrity. I'm not interested in reams about away players."

Stuart said the advert page ratio should be one in four but Jim Heath said the publication was a massive improvement on last season when it was 'very poor.' "But £3 is a bit excessive," he said.

Dave Bissell pointed out the print media was in decline anyway and the collectible nature of programmes was more important than their content. He asked whether lower-grade paper could be used and the price lowered.

Muriel Bates said sales had been very good in the Premiership but Jez said it remained a useful medium for ads for the club's many partners. Although he would not be held to it, he indicated the price may remain at £3 for a few years to come as a way of overcoming criticisms about price.

Simon Anslow said: "Everybody's charging £3 and the programme is very good. Even in the Premier, there aren't many better. The information is the important force."

Bob Crockett proposed that a 50p team sheet be produced to tell fans who opposition players were.

PLEDGE: Wolves will look at getting programmes into local pubs as so many fans arrive at games just before kick-off. Also, other clubs' programmes will be studied as some members said they were more likely to buy a copy at an away game.

SMOKING BAN

Stuart Cain answered Bob Adams' question about a half-time smoking area by saying: "Logistically, it's difficult to open the doors, as Leicester do, because of the nearby roads." In answer to reports of fans smoking in toilets, he warned fans: "It's the law, please don't do it. We were softly, softly at first but there have now been a couple of ejections and offenders will be banned if they persist."

PLEDGE: To speak to the stadium manager about the possibility of stewarding the toilets.

STADIUM EXPANSION: Jez Moxey said Wolves were looking at all options. "We're pretty confident we could get the capacity to 50,000 but should you do it when you are averaging 23,000?" he asked. "Steve Morgan is an experienced developer and it's what I want to talk about because one of the component parts to realise the potential here is to look at increasing the capacity. We're looking at redevelopment primarily."

BAR PRICES: Georgina Savage said there was congestion on turnstiles close to kick-off because people wouldn't pay £2.90 for a pint in the ground. Stuart Cain and Jez admitted the concourses and hatches were too small. The club have promised to look into complaints about fans drinking in family-enclosure alley ways overlooking the pitch.

FIXTURE CHANGES: Kulbinder Kular said the decision to have the last two pre-Christmas Molineux games kicking off late for TV was tough for fans. Jez said the club had had to scrap 1,200 places at Christmas parties as a result but said: "You can't tell the TV people which of your games they select. Not even if they choose three games in a row."

ANY OTHER BUSINESS: Jon Lockley was told it was highly probable a player or more would attend a future meeting and Wilf Hadley asked if contingency plans were in place to avoid a repeat of when Albion fans were allocated the entire Jack Harris Stand for last season's FA Cup fourth-round tie. Jez replied: "We still have a problem (with access) because of Molineux Alley being closed and we have written to the FA ahead of the third-round draw to remind them of this. As regards the play-offs, the argument we successfully made before the Albion game has prompted the League to change its rules so clubs now need give away clubs only ten per cent of their ground as opposed to 15 per cent previously."