Fans miss out on 6,000 Champions League tickets

May 21 2007 by Paula Owens, Liverpool Daily Post

MORE than a third of the tickets allocated to Liverpool Football Club for Wednesday’s Champions League final were not given to fans, it has emerged.

The club has admitted that over 6,000 of the total 17,095 ticket allowance went to former shareholders, corporate season ticket holders, players, former players, staff and sponsors.

Of the remaining number, 3,300 went to people who had attended seven Champions League fixtures over the season, leaving just 7,700 which went into the ballot for season ticket and fan card holders who had attended six Champions League games this season.

The announcement by club chief executive Rick Parry comes as the LFC team, led by captain Steven Gerard will fly out to Athens to prepare for the clash against AC Milan.

It follows a pledge by the club’s American owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett to review the allocation process for future years, after they admitted this weekend that the allocation process should have been organised better.

Fans last night reacted with anger.

Ian Latta, a Liverpool supporter and season ticket holder from St Helens, said: “I’m surprised the club has taken so long to tell us what we already suspected was true.

“The key question is why the club put both season ticket and fan card holders in the ballot.

“It’s not fair: season tickets cost upwards of £550 while fans cards are £3.

“Liverpool are the biggest club in the world and we can’t get it right. George Gillett and Tom Hicks must be so embarrassed – I just can’t imagine an American sport club handling a ticket allocation like this.”

Andy Taylor, of Halewood, is also a season ticket holder.