Fans show anger over tickets in Anfield demo

May 14 2007 by Adrian Butler, Liverpool Echo

ANGRY Liverpool fans turned on chief executive Rick Parry in a protest over Champions League tickets at Anfield yesterday.

A crowd of 200 held up traffic on Oakfield Road, Anfield, then marched to the stadium before the Reds’ final Premiership game, against Charlton.

Some carried banners claiming ‘7,000 lost tickets’ as fury over the ticket allocation for the final in Athens continues.

During the game, which ended 2-2, there were chants of “where’s our tickets gone” and “you’re not fit to run our club”.

A letter addressed to Mr Parry was circulated around the ground.

Ian Powell, 32, a sales worker from Ellesmere Port said: “We want to know where the extra tickets have gone.

“If we had those, we wouldn’t be standing here today – our grievance would be with Uefa.”

John Thompson, 69, from Walton, said: “Rick Parry has created a touts’ paradise.”

Jacques Marteau, 46 from West Derby, helped create the “support and believe” banner showing previous European Cup victories.

His group had added a new strip to the banner saying: “But not Rick Parry.”

The IT manager said: “Support and believe – that’s what we’ve done all along. Rick Parry won’t give out numbers about the ballot. I think he’s underestimated the strength of feeling.”

He blamed the system, which puts fan card holders who have bought tickets for six or more Champions League games in the same ballot with season ticket holders.

The father-of-three added: “I feel sorry for people who’ve got fan cards, but we’ve paid £620 up front.”

Police accompanied the demonstrators on horseback but there was no trouble.

Mr Parry has criticised Uefa’s allocation of tickets for the match against AC Milan.

Each side was given 17,000 tickets for the showdown in Athens’s Olympic Stadium on May 23, with 20,000 going to the “Uefa family” of clubs and associations and 9,000 in a Uefa ballot earlier in the season.

Liverpool FC spokesman Ian Cotton said: “We can understand and share the frustrations of fans who have not been able to get tickets. The bottom line is that the allocation from Uefa is totally inadequate.

“I think we have made it clear that the ballot was scrupulously conducted, but we are not prepared to go into the details of the figures.”

• VIEW our picture gallery from the Anfield ticket protest - click here