There will be almost 20,000 empty seats at Tottenham Hotspur’s first Premier League match at Wembley because of restrictions imposed by Brent council and the Metropolitan Police. Spurs have sold about 70,000 tickets for one of their biggest matches of the season against Chelsea, including 3,000 to away fans.
There will be almost 20,000 empty seats at Tottenham Hotspur’s first Premier League match at Wembley because of restrictions imposed by Brent council and the Metropolitan Police. Spurs have sold about 70,000 tickets for one of their biggest matches of the season against Chelsea, including 3,000 to away fans.
I would take short odds on some Chelsea fans being found in the home seats, trying to keep quiet and then blowing their cover if Chelsea score, despite all the precautions that have been taken. The remaining seats can only be sold to supporters who registered on the Spurs website before July 1st. This is standard practice for matches deemed to be ‘high risk’ and will also apply when Arsenal visit in February.
Spurs have reluctantly had to accept that a large area of the upper tier will be closed. Wembley has a safety certificate to accommodate 90,000 fans for a football match, although the official number varies because of policing and segregation requirements.
Spurs sold out all of their Champions League matches at Wembley last season, including a record for an English club game there. . 85,512 attended their defeat by Bayer Leverkusen.
Ironically, Burnley who visit Wembley a week on Sunday will attract a far bigger crowd than Chelsea because Spurs will be able to sell tickets to the general public.