- Oldham and Southend will go head-to-head for a League Two spot next Sunday
- Each club has been handed an allocation of 17,500 due to closure of station
- LISTEN NOW: It’s All Kicking Off! Should Oliver Glasner leave Palace for Spurs?
Pressure is mounting on officials to up the controversial cap on ticket sales to the National League play-off final to ‘between 60 and 70,000’, Mail Sport understands.
Fans of both Oldham Athletic and Southend United reacted angrily when it emerged that, thanks to the closure of Wembley Park Station for engineering works, each club would only be handed an allocation of 17,500 for next Sunday’s decider at the National Stadium.
Each club believes demand will far outstrip that number, and while extra tickets can be sold they will only be available at this stage to those who have booked coach travel.
Talks are ongoing, and the provision of additional transport links in recent days has led to hope that the number can be lifted significantly.
Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham explained: ‘We are talking about two ex-EFL clubs with huge fanbases who have both been through incredibly difficult time. To stop some of those fans from seeing their teams walk out at Wembley does not seem fair.
‘We all understand the importance of safety but, since the decision was made, more services have been added on the Bakerloo Line and on Chiltern Railways to Wembley Stadium. This should allow the authorities to increase the capacity safely and we would now ask them formally to review their decision in the light of this new information.
Oldham and Southend will go head-to-head for a place in League Two next Sunday
Oldham and Southend will go head-to-head for a place in League Two next Sunday
Fans have reacted angrily after each club was handed an allocation of 17,500 at Wembley
‘We are hoping that will unlock the issue and that we can get the capacity raised to between 60 and 70,000 with no restrictions on how people get there.
‘Wembley Station and Wembley Stadium stations are still open, and there is a lot of infrastructure in the area. There are Premier League stadiums with less which don’t face any such restrictions.’
Tickets from initial allocations went on sale on Saturday and around 23,000 have already been snapped up.
A Wembley spokesperson said: ‘The safety and security of fans at Wembley Stadium is of paramount importance. The safety requirements of each event are assessed individually, and we work with several key stakeholders including TfL, Chiltern Rail and the local authority to ensure supporters can safely arrive and depart the venue.’
Fans groups from both sides and politicians, including Mayor of London Sadiq Khan and Leader of Oldham council Arooj Shah, have been lobbying for an uplift, with talks ongoing.
