May 24, 2021 10.02 am This story is over 34 months old

Nervous ballot wait as just 4,000 tickets allocated for Imps’ Wembley visit

Fans are asking why there aren’t more tickets
Lincoln will be returning to Wembley for the League One play-off final. | Photo: Ryan Beaumont
By Local Democracy Reporter

Lincoln City season ticket holders face a nervous wait to find out if they will be one of the near 4,000 lucky fans to get a ticket to Wembley for the play-off final this weekend.

The Imps qualified for the League One play-off final after beating Sunderland 3-2 on aggregate, winning 2-0 in the first leg at the LNER Stadium and losing 2-1 at the Stadium of Light.

They will face Blackpool in the final at Wembley Stadium on Sunday, May 30, with the winner earning promotion to the Championship.

Lincoln City have been given a general allocation of 3,879 for the 90,000 seater stadium, due to COVID-19 restrictions, and this will be given exclusively to season ticket holders from the 2020/21 season.

Tickets will range from £35, £45 and £55 for adults, and £17.50, £22.50 and £27.50 for concession and junior tickets.

There will be another ballot for tickets, much like the semi-final, with priority going to supporters who didn’t get to go to either of the Sunderland games last week.

The ballot will open from midday on Monday, May 24 and closes at 9am on Wednesday, May 26, with it being drawn on the same day.

Anyone who entered the ballot for the Sunderland game at the LNER Stadium will be automatically entered for the final with those who are unable to go to Wembley being encouraged to opt out by logging onto your Ticketmaster account.

As well as this, if you did not enter the ballot for the semi-final but want to this time, you need to sign into your Ticketmaster account to opt in.

All seats are being sold as singles in order to leave every other seat vacant and ensure social distancing is taking place, and the club has said it will cancel any tickets that are attempted to be resold before the event.

There have been plenty of complaints about the fact that Lincoln and Blackpool will only be given 4,000 each, when Chelsea and Leicester had over 10,000 per team for the FA Cup final just weeks before.

This is because the FA Cup final was a pilot event, designed by government to capture data and learn about how hosting these large events can affect transmission of the virus.

Liam Scully, CEO of Lincoln City Football Club. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

Chief executive at the club, Liam Scully, explained why only 4,000 tickets have been issued in an open letter to the fans.

“On the date of the final, the country will still be operating under legislation that mandates maximum capacity allowed at any large outdoor venue as “up to 10,000 fans or 25% capacity, whichever figure is lower.”

“As a result of the 10,000 cap, an equal allocation of circa 4,000 tickets will be given to each club, with 2,000 for official dignitaries, delegates, and sponsors.

“I absolutely hear the moans and groans when all football fans see a percentage of tickets ‘disappear’ to sponsors.

“Ultimately the football finance ecosystem relies heavily on support from the groups mentioned above, and there are existing contracts and commitments in place which contractually need to be honoured.”