Leicester City chief executive on how club is shaping up

The start of the new season may be more than a month away, but Leicester City chief executive Lee Hoos is hard at work.

American-born Hoos has been putting in long hours for the past few weeks while overseeing a new ticket-pricing structure for the Championship campaign.

The new system, which has received a mixed response from fans, will see tickets cost £27 for the six highest-profile matches at the Walkers Stadium, up £4 from last season. Tickets for the remaining 17 games will cost £25, a rise of £2.

Hoos is annoyed the increases received some negative reaction from fans, saying the higher prices reflect the step up in class from last season's third-tier football. It also forms part of the 47-year-old's plan to end three consecutive years of losses, which peaked at a £14.1m in the year to May 2008.

"It's about trying to do value for money," he said. "We never go out and deliberately irritate the fans.

"I think it's more value for money to pay £4 more to see Newcastle than Cheltenham."

Speaking about the yet-to-be published financial results for last season, he said: "We will have sustained a loss, but nowhere near the same as last year."

He expects turnover to have fallen by nearly a third to £10m, although it is likely to rise this year because of higher gate receipts and increased television income.

Hoos, who has been in the job a year after a stint as chief executive of Southampton FC, says the aim is for the club to next year break even on an operational level – which doesn't include interest payments.

The club has been able to absorb more than £20m of losses over the past three years because of the backing of multi-millionaire owner Milan Mandaric.

But, says Hoos, the club must find the everyday running costs itself – although Mandaric's help will still be needed when it comes to bolstering the squad.

"We have to stand on our own two feet," he said.

"I know the fans want to see the club do well. But they don't want to see the balance sheet and how efficient we are.

"They want to come here to see what's happening on the pitch – and players aren't cheap."

Hoos plans for boosting income do not include holding pop concerts at the Walkers Stadium.

At the moment, the ground is unable to host major gigs until reinforcement work on the infrastructure takes place. Currently, only 14,000 are allowed to attend such events.

"It would cost £220,000 to reinforce the stadium," he said. "We had pop concerts at Southampton. I know how little they make." Hoos claimed earlier this year that the economic downturn could help City's Premier League promotion push next season because transfer fees and wages would mean the spending power of Mandaric would increase.

"I think there's a downward pressure on wages," he said. "But good players are still going to be good players. When you get these guys it's still going to cost you. This is where our manager (Nigel Pearson) has been very good in terms of balance. The strength of the team itself is not just a particular player."

The club has undergone a shake-up of its backroom operation in recent months, appointing a new marketing team, which helped to oversee the new ticket-pricing structure.

Hoos said the club, which employs around 40 administrative staff, has everything in place behind the scenes to fulfil Mandaric's promise of securing Premier League promotion next year.

"Right now we are a stronger organisation," he said. "We have a stronger management structure. But at the same time don't diminish what we did last season. Leeds are still there and it took Nottingham Forest three seasons to get out.

"We got out at the first attempt and only lost four games."

Hoos – who was born in Maryland – is a long-term follower of English football, having been in the country for the past 13 years.

A qualified lawyer, he worked in the legal and operations side of parcel giant UPS at various places across the United States before being head-hunted by millionaire businessman Mohamed Al Fayed's team and working at Harrods in London and his other companies.

One of these was Fulham FC, where he spent eight years and helped oversee the creation of a new management infrastructure at the club as it went from the third to the top tier.

Hoos then spent two seasons at Southampton, ending up as chief executive and working with Pearson.

Hoos, who is engaged and has three children from a previous relationship, said the job took its toll on family life.

"I put in ridiculous hours," he said. "It's very stressful spending weekends not seeing my family. I remember the Leeds game when Steve (Howard) scored (a last-minute winner which all but clinched promotion). I screamed and looked at her (his fiancee) and said 'this is why I do it'."

But running a football club is not just about wearing your heart on your sleeve, you also need solid business acumen.

"Passion alone is not enough, as we have seen elsewhere," he said.

"You use three things when running a football club – your heart, your head and your gut."