Rangers’ Scottish Third Division match at Elgin City was postponed on Friday after too many tickets were sold for the game.
The teams were due to meet for the fourth-tier fixture at Elgin’s Borough Briggs stadium today, but security concerns saw the fixture called off after fans rushed to buy tickets.
The ground in Moray, north-east Scotland, has a capacity of 4,927 but only 478 seats.
EXACT NUMBER
“Following today’s [Friday’s] pre-ops meeting for the above match, it has come to light that there has been a substantial oversale of tickets for this fixture and Elgin City Football Club could not confirm the exact number of tickets which have been sold for this match,” the Scottish Football League (SFL) said in a statement.
“Therefore, on the grounds of public safety and in close consultation with all parties, this match has now been postponed,” it said. “Further information regarding tickets which have been sold will be provided as quickly as possible.”
INVESTIGATION
“Elgin City FC would like to apologize sincerely for this disappointing outcome. The SFL will conduct a full investigation into the circumstances,” the statement said.
Rangers accepted Elgin’s apology, but manager Ally McCoist said the decision to call the match off was frustrating.
“We are disappointed the match has been called off at such short notice and I know Elgin are as well,” he said. “This was due to circumstances outwith our control but we were informed a short time ago that there was no way the match could go ahead on safety grounds.”
“I am sure this is a huge disappointment to our supporters, who have purchased match tickets and arranged travel in good faith,” McCoist said. “Elgin City have apologized to the club and we accept their apology but I feel for our fans.”
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