THIEVES seemingly desperate for a ticket for Everton’s FA Cup semi-final tried to break into the Goodison Park ticket office.

Three men, dressed all in black, smashed their way through a door and then a customer service hatch.

But they were left stumped after discovering all the tickets for this weekend’s Wembley trip had been sent out.

Everton take on Manchester United in the second FA Cup semi-final, kicking off at 4pm on Sunday.

For Everton’s first outing to Wembley in 14 years, their full allocation of around 31,000 tickets has been sold and those left without have been looking to the black market to ensure they don’t miss the occasion.

The club sold the allocation on a sliding scale, dependant on the number of matches attended, and then put the last chunk to a ballot, leaving thousands disappointed as they missed out.

Police were called to Goodison Park at around 11.30pm on Wednesday.

The thieves had smashed glass in the ticket office, on Goodison Road, and tried to squeeze their hand through a slot to get at a stack of white envelopes, which they thought contained tickets for the game.