United set for 6,000 plus tickets at Anfield
United are set to get at least 6,000 ticket for the FA Cup game at Anfield against Liverpool, Reds Away can reveal.
Today, Liverpool City Council councillors has been in discussion with Liverpool FC, Merseyside Police.
They concluded that, due to the good behaviour of reds attending October’s league game at Anfield, there was no reason for a restricted allocation.
Under cup rules, United are entitled to claim 6,791 tickets for this game. The Anfield Road End lower tier, where reds will be, holds 6,391 seats.
However, Liverpool’s ground safety advisory panel (GSAG) has decided that two seats from end of each row can not be sold, meaning – Reds Away understands – about 300 seats will be taken from that figure.
A few seats will also be sacrificed in one corner of the game to allow for extra segregation between the Anfield Road End and the Centenary Stand.
With those deductions, Reds Away predicts the allocation will be over the 6,000 mark, though we would like to make it clear that while Liverpool must implement what GSAG has said, it is ultimately up to Liverpool to announce the actual allocation once it has deducted the tickets that GSAG says it cannot sell.
Liverpool City Council’s principal licensing officer Stephen Clare told Reds Away: “We have taken into account the improvement of the Manchester United supporters’ at the most recent Premier League fixture relating to the blocking of gangways and aisles.
“We felt migration was still occurring to the rear of the stand but not to the extent of previous years and that may be due to the increased publicity and/or the fact that fewer supporters were present.
“However, due to the large increase in capacity for this fixture we’ve deemed it necessary to inform (Liverpool FC) that two seats from either side of the radial gangways from the top to the bottom of the terrace for safety reasons should not be sold.
“This will be in addition to the normal segregation line that was in place for the most recent FA Cup tie, where the Anfield Road stand abuts the Lower Centenary Stand.
“LFC will be responsible for determining the actual numbers that this will result in.”
“Again the fixture will be monitored to provide evidence for next season’s re-assessment of the capacity for the premier league fixture in 2012/2013.”
In August, a Reds Away representative and MUST committee member Geoff Pearson attended a Liverpool City Council licensing committee to campaign for the allocation for reds attending the October league match at Anfield to remain at 3,000 plus.
And though the committee refused, they pledged to raise the allocation if fans kept the gangways clear in the October match.
In October, officials from MUST and IMUSA met with Merseyside Police to discuss safety arrangements for the league game and to cement those reassurances that the allocation would increase if there was good behaviour.