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Fans who have bought tickets from unofficial channels for this weekend’s women’s FA Cup final could be denied entry at Wembley as the FA looks to clamp down on touts and ticket re-sale sites.
Sunday’s final between Chelsea and Manchester United — which will be attended by 90,000 supporters — sold out last week but tickets are available to buy on the resale website StubHub, selling for up to three times the face-value price.
One ticket, which the seller claims provides access to a VIP bar, is being sold for an eye-watering £505.
The ticket, which is behind the goal in the East Stand, is listed on Wembley’s official website as a Category 2 ticket with a face value of £25 — 20 times less than the resale price.
Ticket chaos is expected at Wembley as Chelsea take on Manchester United this weekend
The game is set to be attended by 90,000 supporters as appetite for the women’s game continues to grow
Manchester United will be bidding to win their first women’s FA Cup final against perennial finalists Chelsea
A supporter told Mail Sport they purchased three Category 2 tickets through StubHub for £183, nearly three times the original price.
A Chelsea Supporters’ Trust spokesperson blamed the issue on the allocation size given to clubs.
‘This is an entirely preventable issue which has been caused by the FA,’ they said.
‘The 8,000 ticket allocation for each team represents just 18% of the overall capacity.
‘The FA guise of being ‘supporter friendly’ has once again slipped – they should be ashamed of the measly club allocation for this flagship fixture.’
An FA spokesperson told Mail Sport that fans who have bought tickets from re-sale sites risk having them cancelled.
‘All tickets for the Vitality Women’s FA Cup final are issued by The FA and the participating clubs,’ said the FA. ‘We always encourage fans to only purchase tickets for events at Wembley Stadium through the official channels, and we strongly advise against anyone purchasing tickets on the secondary market.
‘We also make every effort to trace tickets that are listed for sale on unofficial channels and, where possible, will cancel these tickets.’ Both clubs were only given an allocation of 8,000 tickets after progressing from their respective semi-finals, meaning many supporters missed out.
This is the first time United’s women’s team have played at Wembley and the first time they have reached the FA Cup final.
Marc Skinner has criticised the FA’s decision to hand both clubs an allocation of just 8,000
Their allocation, which is double what clubs were given for last season’s final, was criticised by manager Marc Skinner.
‘I don’t know how many it is in the men’s game, but to give clubs like Chelsea and Manchester United 8,000 tickets to sell, it’s just crazy in my opinion,’ Skinner said.
The current attendance record for the women’s FA Cup final is 49,094 — set last year when Chelsea beat Manchester City — but that will be broken when the Blues face United on Sunday.
StubHub did not respond when approached for comment.