Harriers waiting for Wembley money okay

10:55am Thursday 8th May 2008

KIDDERMINSTER Harriers are waiting for the all-clear from the FA to access the money from last year's FA Carlsberg Trophy Final.

The club have sent football's governing body a cheque paying for the hospitality of last May's non-league showpiece game against Stevenage Borough at the new Wembley Stadium.

If chairman Barry Norgrove gets the okay from the FA it means they will be able to spend Harriers' cut of the game's ticket sales and close the door on a dispute, which has taken a year to resolve and stretched to the next final between Ebbsfleet and Torquay on Saturday.

Harriers have had the money in a high interest account while both parties wrangle over the cost of hospitality from last year's game.

"We have done what the FA have asked and now we consider the matter closed until we hear back from them," said Norgrove.

"This was not a small amount of money, so we felt we had to argue our case. If it had been a few pounds we wouldn't have bothered."

The amount given to the FA is based on the figures Harriers were given before last season's final.

The disagreement occured after Wembley asked for a much bigger sum of money to cover the cost of hospitality after last May's 3-2 defeat.

Since then Harriers have been fighting their corner and teamed up with Stevenage to demand a face-to-face meeting to bring a conclusion to the long running saga.

In the end the FA requested that both clubs send a cheque along with details, based on the numbers they were given before the game.

With manager Mark Yates given a smaller playing budget for the next campaign in the Blue Square Premier, an upsurge in sales would give the club a much-needed boost.

Norgrove said: "The first day of sales went very well and it has given me some encouragement that we can sell more tickets than last season."

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