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Fans reward Aberdeen’s faith for cup final ticket strategy

Scottish Premiership football club Aberdeen has reported strong sales for its League Cup final against Celtic after securing a “significant allocation” of tickets of the game in the wake of debate over the numbers it would demand.

Aberdeen yesterday (Wednesday) announced that it has sold in excess of 13,000 tickets for the game at Hampden Park in Glasgow on December 2. On Tuesday evening, the club confirmed ticketing information for the match following a planning meeting with the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL).

The club has negotiated 20,000 tickets for the match, with Aberdeen supporters situated in the South Stand and West Stand at Hampden. Based on past attendance figures for Aberdeen versus Celtic in a final at Hampden of 18,000 (2016 League Cup) and 20,000 (2017 Scottish Cup), the board took the decision to underwrite and thereby guarantee 16,400 seats.

It was reported last month that Aberdeen had backed down on efforts to seek a 50-50 split in tickets after taking a “more reasonable stance” following its demands for the semi-final clash.

Aberdeen defeated Rangers 1-0 at Hampden Park to seal a meeting with Celtic at the same stadium on December 2. The build-up to the semi-final witnessed a dispute between Aberdeen and the SPFL over ticket allocations.

Hampden Park holds around 52,000 fans and Aberdeen was originally allocated 16,800 tickets for the Rangers match. Aberdeen protested against this decision and having pushed for a 50-50 split was given 20,300 tickets. However, the club was then forced to return a large portion of the allocation having sold less than 10,000 tickets for the game.

Commenting on the decision for the final, Aberdeen chief executive Duncan Fraser said: “Our supporters have been our number one priority through our discussions. The fans that backed the team at the semi final were fantastic and to ensure our supporters most deserving get access to the seats they desire the board had no hesitation in securing a significant allocation of tickets.

“The decision to allow those that attended the semi-final to come in at the first phase followed feedback from our supporters. We can now look forward in anticipation to an exciting League Cup final, one which we hope will spark the imagination of not just our supporters, but the city as a whole.”

Image: SPFL