Saints' fury over SFL ticket U-turn

Mar 11 2013 by Paul Behan, Paisley Daily Express

Saints have reacted furiously to the news that they are to be denied any more West Stand tickets for this weekend’s Scottish Communities League Cup Final with Hearts.

The competition organisers, the Scottish Football League (SFL), told the club late on Friday that the final allocation of 3,500 West Stand tickets will go to Hearts supporters.

And that’s despite the fact that the Edinburgh club have still not sold out their full allocation of 25,000!

Angry Saints chiefs are adamant that the remaining tickets should have gone to the Paisley club in order to satisfy demand from their own supporters – and that Friday’s decision was made behind their back.

A strongly worded statement was issued on behalf of Saints over the weekend which read: “St Mirren Football Club were extremely disappointed to learn that the Scottish Football League (SFL) made a decision on Friday to allocate the final 3,500 West Stand tickets for the Scottish Communities League Cup Final to Hearts without our knowledge, nine days before the Final and, especially when we understand that Hearts have not yet sold their full allocation of 25,000 tickets.

“These tickets had been earmarked for St Mirren supporters.

“Since day one, we have always requested the best for our fans, from asking for tickets in the North Stand to fair pricing for both adult and child tickets.

“Since tickets went on sale we have been in regular contact with the SFL over our ticket sales.

“We were advised that the SFL were considering an option to split the remaining 3,500 West Stand tickets between the two clubs and also allocating more South Stand tickets to ourselves to make up some of the shortfall.

“The decision was made to allocate the full 3,500 to Hearts without our knowledge.

“This information was only found out when we updated the SFL that we had just 100 tickets left late on Friday afternoon.”

The statement continued: “We are bitterly disappointed that this decision has been made when there were still nine days to go to the Final and also while Hearts do not appear to have sold their full allocation.

“We feel strongly that any decision on these tickets should have been delayed until closer to the Final.”

Additional tickets will be made available to Saints fans for the South Stand (Upper).

However, prices for that particular area of the stadium will be significantly dearer.

The statement said: “We have now been informed that we are being given a further 1,200 initial allocation of debenture seats in the South Stand (Upper) but unfortunately these are priced at £30, with no child concessions.

“There are also a further 900 tickets in this area that will be made available, should these be required.

“However, considering all parties felt this would be ‘The Family Final’ we are being left with no further child tickets.”

Saints, though, plan to introduce their own incentive to fans if they do bring children along to the South Stand (Upper) on the day of the game.

The club said: “Anyone buying a ticket in this section (South Stand Upper) for a child should retain the ticket and we will give them a free child ticket for the SPL match with Celtic on March 31.

“Those buying adult tickets in this section will get an adult ticket for the Celtic match for £10, to make up for the extra cost.”

The statement added: “We would like to thank the 14,000 St Mirren fans who have bought tickets so far and apologise to those who planned to purchase tickets this week but this has been completely outwith our control as all the organisation for the match is done by the SFL.”