Warriors fans face cup final tickets battle

6:00am Tuesday 29th April 2008

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By Tom Guest »

THOUSANDS of Warriors fans are facing the prospect of missing out on Worcester's big day at the European Challenge Cup final.

Tournament organisers, the European Rugby Cup (ERC), have selected Gloucester's Kingsholm stadium as the venue for the final, which is on Sunday, May 25 (12pm kick-off), where there will be a capacity of just 16,500.

Given the proximity to both finalists, Worcester and Bath, the decision makes geographical sense but, as the two teams have burgeoning fan-bases, tickets are sure to be hard to come by.

The ticket allocation is set to be announced tomorrow, but it is likely both sides will receive around 6,000.

Warriors have 6,000 season ticket, debenture and box holders alone, while Bath have just under 6,000.

Therefore, once season ticket and debenture holders, as well as those who attended the competition's quarter and semi-finals have been given priority, plus the inevitable slice of corporate tickets have been taken out, the remaining supporters will have to scrap for the left-overs.

More than 10,000 fans regularly attend Guinness Premiership matches at Sixways and there are sure to be hordes of people who don't go to the games but are keen take in the showpiece occassion, so many of them could be disappointed in their quest for tickets.

Warriors' general manager Charlie Little said: "We are delighted that the final will be within half an hour of Worcester. I would have loved the game to have been at somewhere like the Ricoh Arena and it would have been fantastic to be able to fill a stadium like that, but it was down to the ERC and we were not involved in the decision."

John Corcoran, communications manager for ERC, said: "After consultation with the clubs involved, we spent some time looking for a venue for the final that was geographically suitable. Other venues that were looked at were either unavailable on the day, too big or too small.

"Crowds for the European Challenge Cup final have been in the region of 10,000 in recent years, so Kingsholm's capacity of 16,500 will be about right.

"We had a range of options, but Gloucester was decided to be the best place to stage the final.

"The available tickets will be split 50-50 between Worcester and Bath, providing the demand for them is there."

Bath's commercial director Tim Davies added: "We will have to make the best of the situation and I'm sure there will be a great atmosphere."