We have worked throughout the weekend to lobby stakeholders with a view to trying to find a solution to lift the capacity restrictions currently in place for our Promotion Final taking place on Sunday, June 1 at Wembley Stadium.

Senior Ministers (and other politicians) have been supportive and, as a result, we are informed that – whilst Wembley Park station will remain closed – additional services will run into Wembley Central and also into Wembley Stadium. We believe that these additional services may result in the capacity being lifted from 17,500 per club (plus additional tickets sold with a coach pass). We are waiting to hear from the relevant parties in respect of that.

The current allocation of tickets does not come close to reflecting the scale of demand from our supporters, and as things stand we will almost certainly sell out our allocation (of tickets without a coach package) today – resulting in disappointment for tens of thousands of supporters, many of whom have followed the club through thick and thin.

We are focused on trying to lift the capacity for the final, and as soon as we receive feedback from the key decision makers on that.

Following a meeting with Wembley Stadium this morning [26 May], we have secured an additional 1,059 tickets and 1,663 tickets (sold with coach packages). All additional tickets are located in level 5 of Wembley Stadium.

Ticket & coach packages will be based in Block 501, 505, 506 & 507.

Ticket only will be based in Block 501, 502, 503 initially.

These tickets will go on sale at midday today (Monday 26 May).

We remain committed to pushing all stakeholders to find a solution to the capacity issues, and we will keep our supporters updated in relation to that.

Thank you for your patience.

OLDHAM STATEMENT:

Oldham Athletic shares the deep frustration felt by our supporters following the announcement of the initial ticket allocation for the National League Promotion Final at Wembley Stadium.

Given the size and loyalty of our fanbase, and the significance of this occasion, we believe the current allocation falls short of expectations and does not reflect the demand from our supporters.

Since the allocation was confirmed, the club has been in daily contact with the Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, who has been engaging directly with London Mayor Sadiq Khan and various authorities in a bid to increase the available capacity.

We are also in regular discussions with local MP Jim McMahon, who has been lobbying on behalf of the club and the town to ensure our supporters are given full opportunity to be part of this momentous occasion.

Alongside this, the club has been working closely with the National League as part of a coordinated effort to push for greater capacity. We have also formally written to Transport for London and have been in regular dialogue with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport to support the case for a larger allocation.

The club is pleased to confirm that we have now received agreement for an allocation of an additional 4,000 match-only tickets.

This means both clubs now have an open allocation of 21,500, in addition to those sold as part of a coach package. The additional tickets will be made available for sale once they have been processed by Wembley Stadium and our ticketing povider.

The increase has been achieved through a strengthened rail plan on both the Bakerloo and Chiltern routes, along with additional parking capacity secured at Fryent Country Park in Brent.

The club would still encourage supporters to book travel via coach where possible, as the more coach spaces that can be sold will reduce any burden on the rail networks.

Tickets are currently available to Season Ticket holders and will go on general sale at 12pm tomorrow (Monday 26 May).

Online sales are available here.

We understand how important this match is to our supporters and the town, and we are doing everything possible, through the appropriate channels, to fight for a fairer allocation that allows as many Latics supporters as possible to be at Wembley.

Further updates will be shared as soon as we have them.

Here’s how fans reacted as the National League issues statement on the ticket allocation for the Southend v Oldham playoff final…

@AllAtSeaFanzine: This is entirely on you: you chose wembley, you chose the date, you didn’t account for the two clubs with highest attendances in the division reaching the final. You have utterly failed to prepare, and the avoidable consequences have let down fans across the whole country.

@Simontimofish: What a load of bollocks truth is vanarama league didn’t want southend and Oldham to progress they wanted forest green and york as we know forest green would of bought 5k and york 20k but instead Oldham and southend got to the final as we all know they are the 2 biggest clubs in vanarama league

@simonkittle: Unacceptable. You need to do more. At least 35,000 Southend supporters want to be there. SORT IT OUT

@dannyholmes84: You could have said months ago it was going to be capped instead of when you knew what the two clubs were and 10 days before the final.

@MarkCorney: Is it true that you knew about the cap on tickets 5 months ago? Planning should’ve started then? How comes 89k were at Wembley last year for a concert when Wembley Park was closed? No apology in this statement, no thought for fans wanting to attend. You’re ruining what should be an exciting week for both sets of fans. Both teams will be desperate to win on Sunday to get out of the National League and your poor, inept running of it. #pissupinabrewery

@SmiffySUFC: You knew about these works at the station weeks ago. One of your board members is also a director at Oldham. Yet you failed to communicate this to the clubs well ahead of time, which may have enabled them to secure extra coaches and plan better. You have failed the fans massively

@AlecHitchSUFC: If you knew where the final was going to be then when you first heard about the works why didn’t you make a point then? It’s clear you thought it would be a final between teams with ‘smaller’ fanbases (no disrespect intended) and so didn’t even consider this possibility. A joke.

@adamjedge: I’ve been to Twickenham which holds a similar capacity and has 1 smaller train station. This is just because we’re football supporters who are sick of being in a league run behind closed doors with no accountability

@ashcollins234: so 89k Taylor Swift fans can turn up when theres maintenance but we all cant?

@Hartypoos: Amazing how quick you were to put a mysterious £million pound bond on us considering how ponderous you’ve been here. I’m looking to arrange a drink up in a brewery and wonder if you could help sort it for me.

@jhowes17: Is the station closed on Friday night? What is the expected attendance for England v Portugal in the Women’s Nations League? At some point, the National League need to look in the mirror because it’s yet another play-off final of yours marred with controversy.

@antsk: If you can increase the number of trains on the Bakerloo (which you have) and made arrangements with Chiltern (which you say in here) what’s the reason for the restriction in allocation?

@LukeDeann: you’re an absolute disgrace, terribly ran league with god awful referees. Should be ashamed of yourselves two great clubs who have had fans go through so much.

@lukecfc5: If the National League knew about this well in advance then another stadium should have been chosen. The playoffs for the league have been drawn out to allow Wembley to host the final, only for all the fans of both clubs not be accommodated by the stadium.

@alfbridge43: Nothing to do with transport IMO. Is it an excuse by the @wembleystadium management to only half open the ground to save on operating costs? If so heads should roll.

@realwilliamlees: If Wembley was the confirmed venue since ‘last year’, why was the date not announced until February? When did the NL get wind of the planned closure of Wembley Park station and what was done about it? Going to struggle wriggling out of this one, lads. Piss up in a brewery stuff.

@78ajs: This is an awful look for your showpiece final, two biggest clubs in the National League having to scramble for tickets when with your choice of stadium there should never be a problem. Needs a massive rethink from you guys and someone should be held accountable.

@nvr2hinvr2lo: There’s no recovering from this. Poor planning and lack of joined up working. It’s a great demonstration of how not to do things and hope it’s resolved.