Bees FA Cup ticket controversy grows as police condemn manager

Southampton FC demand apology from club over website allegation

The controversy over Brentford FC's distribution of tickets for their FA Cup match against Southampton on Saturday has grown.

The club is under fire for only accepting 3,200 tickets for the glamour fixture against the premier league side - 1000 less than were offered - and not putting in place any procedures to ensure that tickets went to season ticket holders and other loyal supporters.

Hampshire police have attacked Brentford manager Martin Allen for his suggestion that up to 6000 Bees would make the trip and that the match provided a "very, very dangerous situation we find ourselves in".

There was also anger from officials at Southampton FC, who have demanded that Brentford withdraw allegations placed on the Bees' official website that Southampton insisted on the Bees deciding on their ticket allocation before knowing if they or Hartlepool would be playing the Saints.

Supporters have been swamping fans' websites with stories about the allocation of the tickets. Fans were urged to order online; however it has been suggested that the club oversold the number of tickets they held. Some fans who had ordered tickets online, and received confirmation of the success of the application, have now been told that they will not, after all, be receiving tickets. One fan was rung and told that his child had been drawn to lead the team out at St Mary's Stadium - however it then emerged that the club had sold the mascot ticket and that another child, already holding a ticket, would be selected.

There has also been condemnation from supporters' club Chair - and ABeeC Councillor - Luke Kirton, who called on the club's directors - some of whom belong to supporters' trust Bees United - to consider their position. He told BrentfordTW8.com: "It is very galling that this has happened when fans have a greater control of the football club. It will be very hard to judge the damage this has done to Brentford's pioneering fans movement. I can only hope that the people responsible for this mess will take this into consideration when they decide what they are going to do next."

To enable locked-out fans to see the game the club have organised a 'beam-back- of the match, with full coverage on a large screen TV. However it is believed that many ticketless fans will make their way to Southampton. This has resulted in Southampton declaring that no tickets will be sold to any fans on the day of the game.

Some more tickets were made available when manager Martin Allen made his allocation available. However there is no indication that club directors have followed his lead.

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