Reds Fans punished by the FABEMUSED United fans have less semi- final tickets than opponents Watford as the treble-chasing Reds attempt to make history by playing in the first FA Cup final at the new £757m Wembley.
United have been allocated only 17,600 tickets for the April 14 clash at Villa Park with the FA revealing their supporters have been punished for breaching rules on standing up.
Watford fans will get 17,800, which is actually more than their average home attendance of 17,200 this season.
That brought a flood of criticism from United fans, whose own allocation is less than a quarter of the average crowd at Old Trafford this season.
Some have suggested that the game should have been switched to Arsenal's Emirates Stadium or the Millennium Stadium, both further to travel for Manchester-based fans, but with much bigger capacities than the 42,500 seats at Villa Park
One angry United fan contacted M.E.N. Sport and said: "I thought one of the lessons learned from the Hillsborough disaster was to not give a smaller club more tickets than the other team, because at that semi-final in 1989 Liverpool got 23,000, and Nottingham Forest 29,000."
Decision
And the decision was roundly condemned by the Independent Manchester United Supporters Association (IMUSA), which claims that the FA has repeatedly failed to consult supporters.
IMUSA chair Mark Longden said: “It’s ridiculous. Watford have an allocation which virtually reflects their average home gate, while ours is a fraction of our attendance.
“I think the real issue here is why the supporters were not consulted. If Chelsea fans can go up to Old Trafford for their semi-final, there is no reason why United fans could not have gone down to Ashburton Grove, with a 60,000 capacity.
“It seems that every year we have these issues over venue and allocation, but no-one ever asks the supporters what they think.”
The FA has responded by saying that part of the problem is a history of United fans standing up in seated areas at Villa Park, with Aston Villa’s safety officer advising that their allocation should be cut as a result.
An FA spokesman said: “The difference between the allocations is a total of 200 tickets, and we have to divide the stadium somehow.
“If you incorporate the hospitality areas, there will actually be more Manchester United fans inside the ground.
“The United allocation was also reduced on the basis of advice from Aston Villa’s safety officer, due to the fact that they persistently stand when they go to Villa Park.”
Well look at the FA looking mugs again.
