Thread by @mjshrimper

🧵LOTS of confusion over the ticket allocation for the National League Play-Off Final, Oldham Athletic & Southend United at Wembley on Sunday, June 1. So, after some digging, here’s the latest & how we got to this suboptimal situation. 1/12

As of now, each club can sell 17,500 tickets each, plus 2,500 more if bought as part of a “coach package”. So, initial allocation is 40,000 max, plus 5,000 seats reserved for guests, sponsors, prawn sandwich connoisseurs. 2/12

The capacity has been capped by Wembley’s Safety Advisory Group (Brent Council, cops, Transport for London) because Wembley Park station is shut for vital engineering works that are already delayed. There are two other stations but the SAG is worried about their capacity 3/12

The clubs learned this during a planning meeting with NL on Thursday morning. They were stunned, as they had hoped to sell 30,000+ each, smashing the NL record of 47,029 set in 2015 when Bristol Rovers beat Grimsby. The NL board had been aware of the reduced cap for months. 4/12

Wembley told the clubs they can increase their allocations to 26,500, if 9,000 of those are coach packages. Initially, Oldham were given 200+ coach parking spaces & Southend 140, but it’s now 180 each. These extra tickets will be released on demand basis. 5/12

Southend pointed out it would need 350 coaches to meet demand for tickets, at huge cost. As of now, they’ve found 40 coaches & are looking for more. They’re also exploring a shuttle service from London Gateway services & Brent Cross. Oldham making plans, too. 6/12

Southend’s sponsor C2C, a rail operator, is helping with logistics & both clubs are lobbying MPs & govt to increase capacity at Wembley Central & Wembley Stadium stations. Everyone is working hard to raise the ticket allocations but there are several concerns… 7/12

The first is it’s going to be hard to stop fans buying coach packages but then making their own way there/home. Another is the idea there are 360 coaches available…& their cost. But the biggest concerns are about the NL’s decision-making. 8/12

The league clearly assumed two smaller teams would make the final. Gates for Wembley NL finals since 2015 have ranged from 38,000 to 8,000. That means you only need the lower tier, leaving top two shut, a big saving on the stadium hire bill. 9/12

But Oldham & Southend are the biggest clubs outside the EFL. Both sets of fans have been through the mill in recent years. Under new ownerships, they’re looking forward to the best days in their clubs’ history for years & this should be a great advert for the whole league. 10/12

To make matters worse, the clubs have been told they can’t sell their own allocations - they have to use Wembley’s system. So, a chance for the clubs to grow their databases is lost. They’ve also been told they can only sell one mascot package each, not 11. Why? Because. 11/12

Some may ask what’s the point of staging this game at Wembley if you can’t give fans the full experience & allow clubs to maximise the financial benefits. If all goes well, we will set a new record & every true fan will get a ticket. But it shouldn’t be this hard. 12/12