Switch to another away game… or 624 will lose their tickets! Man United ask fans to swap their seat for Chelsea trip to a different fixture after Met Police cut their allocation – but a ballot is set to decide who the unluckiest few are
- Manchester United are set to remove 624 tickets from their clash with Chelsea
- United were initially allocated 2,994 away seats for the Stamford Bridge battle
- Metropolitan Police have reduced that to 2,370 due to ‘policing concerns’
- The game was postponed due to a policing shortage around The Queen’s funeral
Manchester United are set to resolve how to remove 624 tickets from the away end at Stamford Bridge in the next 24 hours ahead of their Premier League clash with Chelsea.
The game will now go ahead on Saturday October 22 at 5.30pm.
United had sold their allocation of 2,994 tickets but the Metropolitan Police wanted to reduce that to 1,500 over policing concerns.
Manchester United are set to resolve how to remove 624 tickets from upcoming Chelsea game
A figure of 2,370 has now been agreed after United appealed, but the club are unhappy and feel the cut is ‘unjustified’.
The Red Devils are, however, inviting fans to cancel and offering incentives as a preferred method than going straight to a lottery system.
Emails have now been sent out to 2,994 United fans who got a ticket for the Chelsea fixture. Sportsmail has seen a copy of the email, which went out this morning.
The game was originally postponed due to a policing shortage around The Queen’s funeral
Fans who chose to return their seat for the game at Chelsea can instead get a guaranteed ticket for an away game against Aston Villa, Fulham, Wolves or Arsenal, or even a full refund. ID’s will be required to collect the tickets.
Chelsea will then reallocate United’s entire allocation based on the reduced numbers.
It has even been reported that it may be that players’ families and friends are shifted to other seats in the ground to make room.
The decision has provoked a furious reaction from the football community, with Manchester Unites Supporters Trust considering legal action over the disruption to fans who had bought tickets in good faith and booked travel.
‘We are consulting lawyers about a potential class action for interference with contract and also a judicial review for what looks like an irrational decision,’ MUST said in a statement.
The Red Devils have had their initial allocation of 2,994 cut to 2,370 due to ‘policing concerns’
Oli Winton, MUST committee member also told The Athletic: ‘This sets a horrific precedent for all events, let alone football matches. Police should police a match and not the crowd size.
‘The Met were fine with a 60,000 crowd including 3,000 away fans at Tottenham v Newcastle at the same time on the same day, as that was the original Sky Sports fixture, so what is the difference here? The FA Cup final is also scheduled for 5.30pm.’
The Met did not respond to questions on why 3,000 AC Milan fans were allowed at Stamford Bridge for last week’s Champions League tie, which kicked off at 8pm.
The fixture was officially confirmed last week, with United releasing a letter to United supporters.
In a letter to supporters, United said: ‘The Premier League has today confirmed that our forthcoming away match against Chelsea will take place at Stamford Bridge on Saturday 22nd October, with a 5.30pm kick-off.
Over 3,000 AC Milan fans were allowed at Stamford Bridge for their Champions League tie
‘In recent days we have been in consultation with the Premier League and Chelsea FC after the Metropolitan Police proposed a reduction in our away allocation due to policing concerns.
‘The police initially sought to cut our allocation from 2,994 to 1,500. We have strongly opposed any reduction and worked with Chelsea to present a range of mitigations to the local Safety Advisory Group, which we believe could have allowed the game to proceed safely with our full allocation of fans.
‘Unfortunately, the police have continued to insist on a reduction. However, we have succeeded in increasing the allocation to 2,370.
‘While we are very disappointed by this outcome and believe it is unjustified, it is clear it is a final decision.’
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