Police try to spoil Latics party - again

Last updated : 06 May 2005 By Paul Farrington

All 16,000 available home seats have been sold. The only spare seats in the house will be in the Reading end... and there will be 5,000 of them.

After an arguement over policing costs between Mr Whelan (Wigan Athletic Chairman) and the police earlier in the season, in which the outcome is still being disputed, the police have been very limited in their flexibility over the big games.

Reading: No more tickets for home fans. Just another example of how the police are trying to hinder the Latics' progress
Reading on Sunday is a prime example. Should segregation be applied to the East Stand, you could easily get another 2,500 Wiganers into the Stadium to see their side push for the Premiership.

As Matt McCann, head of communications at Wigan Athletic, said: "Safety issues meant this couldn't happen."

In other words, the police refused permission. If you can't get a ticket for this one then, you know where to place the blame.

McCann conitnued: "We were desperate to get as many Wigan fans in this ground for Sunday as possible and I can assure supporters we exhausted all avenues in an attempt to free up more seats.

"We wanted to segregate the East Stand, allowing a further 2,500 home fans but couldn't on safety grounds. We then looked at moving away fans into the North Stand and giving the East Stand, which of course is far bigger, to home supporters, but again safety issues meant this couldn't happen.

"We left no stone unturned in a bid to allow as many people as possible to come and watch this match. On the positive side we can take great heart at the level of support Wigan Athletic has attracted this week and it bodes well for the future. This will be a record number of home fans inside the stadium and the whole buzz around the town is infectious.

"Next season will be reviewing the ticketing policy to reflect the explosion of interest in the town for the club and looking at ways to make sure more Wigan fans than ever before can come and watch us."

Just another example of how the police are trying to hinder the Latics progress.