War In The Midlands

West Bromwich Albion and Wolverhampton Wanderers have gone to war over ticket allocations for the Championship play-offs.

The two clubs collected enough points to make this seasons Play-Offs, with Derby County and Southampton contesting the other Semi-Final. The winner of each semi-final will play in the final at Wembley.

The battle for the final started yesterday, Wolverhampton Wanderers drew first blood, making the decision to allocate Baggies fans 10% of Molineux (2,842), despite Football League rules stating that 15% of the grounds capacity should be given. Albion have retaliated by also giving Wolves fans 10% of the Hawthorns (2,770) when they contest the second leg.

So the two clubs will stick by their guns unless the Football League step in and overrule both clubs – the Black County Derby between West Brom and Wolverhampton are usually are a fierce affair.

Yesterday, Wolves chief executive Jez Moxley issued a statement suggesting the reduced allocation was for “safety reasons” with renovation works in an adjacent to the Steve Bull Stand.

The Hawthorns club saw their appeal to the Football League rejected and decided to take action, rewarding the Gold & Black with 10% allocation. “Despite Football League play-off regulations clearly stating away supporters should be given 15 per cent of a ground`s capacity, the club has been allocated 10 per cent (2,842) in the lower tier of the Steve Bull Stand for Sunday`s game,” the statement read. “For the second leg, the club will replicate Wolves` stance by allocating its supporters 10 per cent of capacity (2,770).”