Sunderland have handed Portsmouth an allocation of just 2,000 tickets for Saturday's play-off semi-final - following an incident at the pair's previous meeting at the Stadium of Light. The Black Cats' 1-1 draw with Pompey last month was marred by an incident which followed the visitors' equaliser, when a pyrotechnic device appeared to be thrown from the away end into the Sunderland crowd Travelling supporter Samuel Parrott, 18, of Norton Drive, Fareham, was subsequently charged with the throwing of missiles at a designated sporting event. As a result of the incident, the Black Cats have handed Portsmouth an allocation of just 2,000 tickets for this weekend's play-off semi-final - the minimum amount that EFL rules dictate clubs must hand over And while Pompey chief executive Mark Catlin insists the club will ask for an increased allocation, he admits the decision is out of the club's hands. He told The News: "Obviously our ticket allocation is a decision for Sunderland – and I believe it to be as a result of their safety advisory group’s recommendation. "We are in constant contact to see if we can get that increased but, unfortunately, our last game had a few incidents and I believe has had an adverse effect. "From my understanding, before our last game at Sunderland, the club were very nervous as a result of what happened with Coventry. "The information is there were then some widely-reported incidents from our recent fixture – and their safety advisory group have subsequently taken the decision to just give us 2,000 tickets. MORE: Stewart Donald lifts the lid on Sunderland's deal to sign Will Grigg"It is under review, we are still working with Sunderland on it, and hopefully that can be increased. "When it comes to the safety advisory group, the club (Sunderland) have an input but don’t have the final say. We have no input, it is down to the home club and the safest way they feel they can manage a game at their stadium. "When we played there, there were a number of incidents on the day. Not all were necessarily Pompey-related, however, concerns have been raised. please log in to view this image Sunderland AFC open ticket office on Bank Holiday Monday due to popular demand ahead of Portsmouth play-off clash "It’s Sunderland’s event, 2,000 tickets is the minimum requirement, which they have met, and really it is down to them. There’s not a lot we can influence.’
2,000 is a bit stingy, but it's an overnighter with that kick-off time, so l don't know what the take-up will be. The flare thing obviously doesn't help either.
Will Pompey reduce our allocation in retaliation or will they be quite happy to accept the finances? Anybody travelling from up here for the game is losing 2 days from work. Dedication indeed.
S0d them. If they can't behave then this is what happened. Didn't someone get injured by the flare that was thrown?
Their fans are saying give us the minimum. Even though it is not a SAFC decision!! **** them. If they can’t behave, it serves them right
In life you reap what you sow.....wouldn't have given them any if it was my decision. Someone could have been seriously injured. The f*cking Muppet who threw that should be banned from all games for life.
