Tickets: the share IS fair

It’s great to see and be part of — particularly if you are one of the lucky ones. Yes, it’s the annual scramble for Scottish Cup Final tickets and this year, of course, has added significance because one of Touchline’s hometown teams is involved.

Tangerines fans have excelled themselves in the rush to get a share of Dundee United’s briefs and book seats for the big day at Hampden on May 28.

Such has been the demand from Arabs all over the world that there will be no need for United to go to a public sale on Monday because all their tickets have already been sold.

So widespread, in fact, has interest been that chairman Eddie Thompson has gone to the SFA to ask for more.

Thanks to earlier lobbying, Eddie did manage to get another 1200, bringing his team’s allocation up to just around the 17,000 mark.

That’s still unlikely to match demand and, at a guess, it’s probably fair to say United could have sold around 20,000 places for this final.

They can’t get that many, and some of those who will have to watch on TV are not happy that opponents Celtic will have more fans at the final.

As much as seeing half of Hampden turned Tangerine on the day is an appealing thought, the Touchline tuppence-worth on the SFA’s ticket distribution is that they’ve got it about right.

I hope they are trooping from the national stadium with heads bowed and tears streaming down their cheeks, but that Celtic will have more fans there is only right and proper.

The bigotry of a large section of their support is to be despised and the-establishment’s-against-us paranoia they almost unanimously display should be ridiculed.

What does have to be recognised about Hoops fans, and their equally unsavoury Old Firm rivals for that matter, is the fact they turn up in large numbers each week.

Celtic’s average home support is over, well over, twice their final allocation. By contrast, United’s is not much more than a third of the number of tickets they’ve been handed.

And via the way in which the Tannadice board have handled the sales, the six to seven thousand who regularly back the team should have been given the chance to get to the final. That’s only right, because they are the ones who matter most.

This is not an attack on the 10 to 11,000 part-time supporters who will also travel west. I hope they have an unforgettable day and are following the Scottish Cup on the road and miles back to Dundee a fortnight tomorrow.

Good luck to them, and having a large backing for both teams will add to the occasion — grounds packed with one set of fans tend to go quiet, whereas this final will see supporters feed off each other and make plenty of noise.

Those who are not regulars at Tannadice and did not get tickets, however, have no grounds for complaint, to United or the SFA.

They should remember that many fans who do give their cash to the Scottish game on a regular basis are being denied the chance to see their team in a final.

That’s not right, but it is a no-win situation for the ruling body as they try to be fair to fans and also the spirit of the competition.

PREDICTIONS

Dundee v. ICT — draw; United v. Dunfermline — home; Killie v. Livi — away; Hearts v. Celtic — away; Hibs v. Aberdeen — home; Rangers v. ’Well — home.