Brentford have hit out at only 10,000 fans being permitted to attend Saturday’s Sky Bet Championship play-off final, describing the limit for the fixture as “unjustifiable”.
The Bees, who beat Bournemouth this weekend to book a place at Wembley, will only have 4,000 of their supporters at the national stadium for their clash with Swansea to decide who plays in the Premier League next season.
The Government’s current coronavirus restrictions mean full capacity is not allowed at venues inside the UK and, while a crowd of 21,000 watched Leicester beat Chelsea in the FA Cup final on May 16, fewer than half of that total will be able to observe the Championship showpiece on Saturday.
A statement from Brentford read: “In line with the Government’s current Covid-19 restrictions, Wembley will have a maximum 10,000 capacity for this match.
“This means there will be fewer than 4,000 general admission tickets allocated to each finalist. We have been in communication with the FA and the EFL to find ways to maximise the club’s allocation and we are extremely disappointed with this outcome.
“We at the club feel it is unjust that only one week ago, more than 20,000 fans were admitted to the FA Cup final and advanced discussions were taking place for Wembley to host the Champions League final with a similar number of fans attending.
“We find it incredulous and unjustifiable just two weeks later, the Championship play-off final will be restricted to just half of that number.
“The 12 Sky Bet play-off semi-finalists wrote to the EFL and FA last week pleading for an increased capacity, but to no avail.
“We want all Bees fans to be at the final and it is disappointing that so many of you who would want to be there, will not be able to attend.”
Brentford revealed discussions continue with the EFL over 750 more tickets being made available to each finalist and hope to provide an update on if they have been successful in the coming days.
Goals from Ivan Toney, Vitaly Janelt and Marcus Forss earned a 3-1 win over Bournemouth on Saturday, which secured a 3-2 aggregate success.
