Ticket rush on

PAUL KIDDIE

THE unprecedented demand for Hearts season tickets has forced the club to cap sales at 11,000, it was revealed today.

With sales having rocketed towards the 10,500 mark following Sunday's 4-0 hammering of arch rivals Hibs which propelled the Jambos to the top of the SPL, chief executive Phil Anderton has taken the unusual step of slapping a limit on the number of season tickets available.

The Gorgie outfit has set a deadline of this coming Sunday for any fans still wanting to buy a ticket for the current campaign, with Anderton anxious to ensure a proportion of the support can still purchase match day tickets on a game-by-game basis.

"Season ticket holders now account for close to 80 per cent of the capacity set aside for home supporters for the games against Celtic, Rangers and Hibs and, while we will keep selling season tickets up to this Sunday, it is important that we can still offer some individual match day tickets for these games," he said.

The derby triumph was watched by a sell-out Tynecastle crowd as new boss George Burley marked his first competitive home game in sensational style. The appointment of the experienced Burley and his impressive signings to date have captured the fans' imagination and the ticket office has been swamped by demand for season tickets over the past couple of weeks.

There is expected to be another clamour for the remaining tickets because, after Sunday, only approximately 2000 match-day tickets will be available for category A games against Rangers, Celtic and Hibs.

Up to 4400 match-day tickets will be available for Hearts fans attending the majority of other SPL matches at Tynecastle.

Anderton has already made it clear he would be more than happy to slash the allocation of tickets available to visiting fans housed in the Roseburn Stand, such a move depending on the demand from the home support.

"Ultimately our supporters' demand for tickets will dictate whether we reclaim a section of the Roseburn Stand for such games," he said.

"If this is the case then we'll investigate the opportunity."


Taken from the Scotsman