Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish has slammed the lack of competence the Football Association has shown in allocating just 55% of FA Cup Final tickets to the finalists.
Fans of Liverpool and Chelsea will make up just 55% of Wembley Stadium (that’s if Chelsea sell out, which, despite it being just up the road from their own home, could quite well not happen), with the remaining 45% being saved for FA patrons, partners and sponsors.
This has left thousands of Reds fans unable to get their hands on face value tickets, and encouraged a black market for fans desperate to see the game on May 5th.
Dalglish has called upon the FA to show fans more respect. He said,: “For me – and it’s not just about fans of this club but every fan – I think they should be given a bit more respect. They’ve rebuilt Wembley but I don’t think 25,000 is any greater number of tickets than what it was when I was playing. That’s for the FA to answer.
“The fans should be given more respect and taken into consideration more. There’s a lot of things to be taken into consideration for a kick-off time – the police, the television – but the fans seem to be the ones who come third. As a fan I would be disappointed.”
Dalglish was also referring to the final taking place on a day which Virgin Trains have scheduled big engineering works on lines from Liverpool to London for 18 months.
The club have written to Virgin to urge them to delay the plans and avoid problems for traveling fans on FA Cup Final day.
Dalglish continued, “I won’t support anyone other than the fans. It would be better if they were given greater consideration when the FA are looking at the kick-off time. I don’t think anyone’s got a voice for them and, let’s be honest, it wouldn’t be such a special occasion if the fans are not there, would it? Sometimes the problem comes when fans are taken for granted. I don’t mean just the fans at this club but fans everywhere. If people have a complaint I’d advise them to complain to the relevant authorities. It hasn’t been made easy for them by any means but I’m sure they will get there.”
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