Town are in talks with Aston Villa regarding further tickets for the FA Cup third round tie at Villa Park on Saturday 5th January. The Blues’ initial allocation of 2,900 sold out this morning soon after going on general sale, most having been purchased via the usual priority scheme.

In the FA Cup away sides are permitted to take 15 per cent of the tickets, however, Villa only made 2,900 available on a sale or return basis, a common practice in these circumstances.

Ticket office manager John Ford says he is speaking to the Premier League side, who will play a Capital One Cup semi-final only a few days after the Town match, regarding additional seats: “We could have taken 15 per cent [over 6,000 seats] of the stadium capacity, but we would have had to pay for all of those tickets regardless of whether we sold them or not.

“Our current average travelling support is 646 and we had much less than that, 419 to be precise, who went to Leeds on Saturday and this is one of the factors we based our decision on.

“It would have been naive of us to look at taking 6,000 tickets and risk being considerably out of pocket so we took the maximum we could at sale or return.

“Season ticket holders and Silver Club members had until yesterday to purchase their tickets and there were steady sales throughout this period. The remaining tickets went on general sale with the last 200 going in 35 minutes this morning.

“We have spoken to Aston Villa and they have been impressed that we have sold out so quickly.

“We have asked if they will consider providing us with more tickets but that will be dependent on their stadium configuration as they have been selling tickets for the game for two weeks.”

Photo: Action Images

Cheshire_Blue added 18:28 - Dec 18 Why are these talks only now taking place when it was obvious to everyone outside of ITFC what was going to happen? This should have happened earlier before the situation became complicated by Villa's ticket sales. Another cock-up at the supporters expense.
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Metcalfe added 18:28 - Dec 18 This is great news, Hopfully they will give us the full 6000 seats so all fans can get a chance and have a great day out.
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DebenBlue added 18:33 - Dec 18 Does anyone really think we would sell all 6000 tickets ????
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Cheshire_Blue added 18:35 - Dec 18 No, I don't think we would sell all 6000 tickets, but a compromise agreement should have been reached at an earlier stage.
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townietilidie added 18:36 - Dec 18 Well perhaps Mr Ford you shouldn't have based your initial decision on the average away following . Perhaps it would been better based on the fact that we are playing a premier league team 2 1/2 - 3 hours down the road . Not to mention the previous numbers we have taken to premier league clubs in recent years . Oh , and not forgetting the new manager and signifigent turn around in form that has got everyone a tad more excited ... Wake up ITFC . coyb !!!

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townietilidie added 18:38 - Dec 18 Not that it worries me as i already have mine but the more the merrier
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blues1 added 18:40 - Dec 18 cheshire blue. why would ne1 think that so many fans would want to travel to a mediocre premier league club for a f.a. cup tie that we more than likely will lose neway. but then iguess for the part time supporters this is an ideal game to go to. where have all these fans been for away games so far this season? as far as im concerned.(and no i havent got a ticket), the fans who deserve a ticket will pretty much have got 1. for those part timers who have chosen not to get season tickets or gold cards this season, then tough. you dont deserve the god given right to go. and i dont mean those who for financial reasons havent been able to get them this year, but those of you who have decided to stop going just because things not been going well. this is what happens when you stop supprting the team except when it suits you

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DebenBlue added 18:43 - Dec 18 @ Cheshire Blue - Totally agree with your sentiment, but to be fair to the club we don't know if Villa have said 2900 tickets sale or return or your full allocation, but no return of tickets not sold. Lets hope the club can agree to another 1000 to 1500 tickets sale or return as I believe this would be in the clubs and fans best interest.
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Wickets added 18:43 - Dec 18 Yes but Villa will not sell out, we are not a big attraction to their fans,so with a little effort we could have got more on sale or return! thats if we could be botherd!!!
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Wickets added 18:47 - Dec 18 I see the media are quoting Ticket office manager Ford on this not Clegg! should we read anything into that!
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apm_77 added 18:49 - Dec 18 I read on Villa's website that they've closed an entire upper tier section and moved season ticket holders from it, presumably because Town told them they only wanted 2900 tickets in the first place. I find it hard to believe that two clubs couldn't come to a more flexible agreement, and it's in our interests to sell as many tickets as we can since we get 50% of the gate receipts!

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Lord_Mac added 19:14 - Dec 18 blues1 - I totally disagree. In my case, I could have got my ticket as a Gold card member, but as it's Christmas (you may have spotted), my son is home for Christmas and so we wanted to go together. My Gold card only entitles me to one ticket, so we would have had to buy one and trust to luck that the second would still be available, and then not sit together, or wait until they went on general sale. So I waited - and guess what - the club messed up. There are loads of reasons why it could have been predicted that the uptake would be high - Christmas holiday, Premiership opposition, new manager, Lambert managing the oppo, upturn in form etc etc. In any case, isn't it a good thing to attract "part-time supporters"? Who knows - if we perform well, they may turn into "full-time supporters". We've lost enough over the past few years after all. And in any case, the financial exposure is tiny compared to the wage bill, or even what they spent to get a decent manager in at last. And the goodwill that is lost by not meeting the demand will cost more than the financial risk. Silly, silly Town.

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Pip50 added 19:16 - Dec 18 What a load of fuss about nothing get a life guys FA cup is nothing to us nowadays we are never going to win it again. Our home gates are circa 16k best we focus on that before the fair play rules hit.
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felixblue added 19:16 - Dec 18 For what its worth the game was a few weeks away when we became aware of the draw would it not be easy for itfc to just arrange in advance (and collect payment) for as many as we could sell ie: you have 2 weeks are you coming or not. Oh and 1 thing some have missed as to the draw of this game is not just OUR manager but maybe theirs.....
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Talbs77 added 19:21 - Dec 18 Surely Town should of been confident of selling at least 4 - 5000 tickets for such a cup tie? 2900 is woeful as even I could of predicted we would sell more than that! Would be interested to know how many we sold when we went to Stamford Bridge? I bet it was more than 2900! Its not often we get a chance to go to such a prestigious ground as Villa park. Why does it feel like the club is penny pinching at every opportunity? Come on Town stop thinking past your noses and sort it out, the fans deserve better than that!

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Metcalfe added 19:33 - Dec 18 lord mac i agree with you 100%. Dont have a clue what felixblue is on about. Fans are supporting there club to have fun and get excited so we would want to go villa park.
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Greybritain added 20:22 - Dec 18 Talbs77 "Would be interested to know how many we sold when we went to Stamford Bridge?". I believe it was 3100-3200. It was exactly the same situation, where ITFC trotted out same reasons why they could not risk taking the full allocation of 6,275 from a 41,837 capacity. It was massively oversubscribed, but ITFC could not 'enter into talks' to take more tickets because the game was a sell-out. Once they passed up the tickets, Chelsea sold them to their own fans as you would expect. Ticket office: "“With our average away attendance being 650 this season, a figure of 2,900 was deemed to be appropriate.” Well, if you had only 200 tickets left (7%) which sold out within the first 35 minutes of going on general sale, I would say that is was not appropriate. Exactly the same as it was two years ago in the groundhog day of FA Cup tickets. I imagine the person/people who make 'appropriate' decisions still have their job making inappropriate clown ups.

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NoCanariesAllowed added 20:23 - Dec 18 Pip50 - by your logic, the only point in any team playing in the FA Cup is if they are genuinely likely to win it. Talk about a complete contradiction of what this competition is about. Guess those Hastings United fans shouldn't bother making the trip to Middlesbrough then.
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Urchin added 20:55 - Dec 18 Sorry lads but I wonder how many people on here complaining over the last few days actually go to portman road. I know several who are moaning they cant get tickets but never turn up for home matches. Seems to me if they did,we would have a better atmosphere altogether.Maybe we ought to have a ticket category for fair weather supporters and premier ties only. Bet that would sell out!

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runningout added 21:04 - Dec 18 will be great if it can be done, but tricky if Villa have sold seats in areas in the proximity of the visitors seats..
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Talbs77 added 21:08 - Dec 18 Urchin so you know several on here that are moaning but never go to home matches. That means your either incredibly popular or a stalker.
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petermorris added 21:35 - Dec 18 Wickets - spot on and yes we should....
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wickfordtractorboy added 21:43 - Dec 18 I hate all this 'fair weather fans' business. Some people actually have reasons why they can't make every game. I don't doubt a lot of people only go when we're winning, but I work shifts - 365 days a year, for what its worth - and only get about 2 in 6 saturdays off, of those half of them we're away from home, and I live in Essex. I gave up my season ticket about 8 years ago when I left Suffolk but still go to approximately 8-10 home games per season and 2 or 3 away. A season ticket would be a massive waste of money on my part from a practical point of view. I missed out on a ticket for the Villa game - which just happens to be on my weekend off, having worked xmas day, boxing day, new years eve and new years day - on the basis that I don't have a Gold card or season ticket. Apparently that makes me a fair weather fan! I'll just hope that the clubs agree this deal and more tickets are made available, either way its a massive cock-up at the fans expense by getting such a menial amount in the first place

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Morgan added 22:47 - Dec 18 Everyone who moaned about the clubs policy of protecting us from the liability of unsold tickets may well be able to attend. I hope you all stand by your word if they arrange this.
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kerryblue added 23:02 - Dec 18 Wouldnt have happend if Bill Leggate was looking after our allocation
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