Saturday’s 5th round F.A. Cup tie with Southampton is the biggest match in eons for League 1 strugglers Brentford — at lest since since they won promotion from the old (but not that old) 3rd Division with Ron Noades wearing the triple hats of chairman, manager and all-around jerk. This morning’s Guardian notes that the Bees hove chosen to celebrate this event…..by telling their fans to stay home.
Brentford fans without tickets for Saturday’s tie at Southampton have been urged not to travel to the game after boss Martin Allen (above) warned of a “potentially very dangerous situation”.
League One side Brentford have already sold out their allocation of 3,200 tickets for the game at St Mary’s, having turned down the chance to take up the initial offer of 4,700 tickets as these were not on a sale-or-return basis.
Many Brentford season ticket holders have consequently missed out on obtaining tickets for the big game after they were put on general sale with no restrictions, and Allen warned that hundreds, if not thousands, of Brentford supporters would try to buy tickets designated for Southampton fans, thereby destroying the segregation arrangements at St Mary’s.
“Someone has to get their head out of the sand and say ‘it is going to happen’,” he said. “If there’s a disaster or trouble at that game, someone will have to look in the mirror and say ‘why did that happen?’
“Some fans have already bought tickets and will continue to do so for what is this club’s biggest game for many years. They will get in and the segregation will break down.
“The ground will be invaded by Brentford supporters and you can’t blame them for wanting to watch their team play, even though the rules say they should not mix.”
Hampshire Police said they were aware of the situation and would have a full operation in place to deal with any trouble.
“Martin Allen has made some unhelpful comments but neither club has exactly played a blinder in this matter,” a police spokesman said.