Manchester United and Crystal Palace were given 57,000 tickets between them for the FA Cup final this year, which will take place on May 21st at Wembley stadium in London. Compared to previous finals this is a significant increase, with the FA often fielding widespread criticism about their reserving thousands of seats for the wider footballing community and corporate partners in past finals rather than them being made available for fans.
Due to overwhelming demand, all tickets from both the Manchester United and Crystal Palace websites have now been sold out. The Football Association is now warning fans against purchasing tickets from other unrecognised websites with no official tickets left to be had, with prices on these websites said to reach up to £6,400 per ticket.
Meanwhile, the FA revealed on Tuesday that season ticket holders with access to Club Wembley and Bobby Moore Club hospitality areas of Wembley stadium have been banned from wearing the colours of either club on the day of the final.
Replica shirts have never been allowed in the Club Wembley seats but the club branding clothing restrictions now extend to scarves, hats, flags, foam hands and any clothing items, including club ties, bags, face paint, badges and lanyards. Season ticket holders were sent emails detailing the changes in policy, with the warning that those wearing banned colours will be ejected from the stadium.
The policy, known as the ‘No Club Colours’ crackdown, was instigated by FA management after a number of unsavoury incidents involving rival fans sitting in the corporate seats occurred during both semi-finals this year.
Crystal Palace overcame Watford while Manchester United saw off the challenge from Everton over the semi-final weekend, with corporate members receiving the following email from the Club Wembley Team in the aftermath.
‘This rule has never been extended to other items than replica shirts; however, due to a number of incidents at recent events, a “No Club Colours” policy is being introduced and will be strictly enforced from the Emirates FA Cup final.
‘Should club colours be worn, you may be refused entry or be removed from the stadium for your own safety.’
Click here for the Soccerlens’ home page for the 2016 FA Cup Final
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