St Johnstone fume as Hibs granted extra semi-final tickets
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The Perth club were given the entire Roseburn Stand at Tynecastle Stadium and told more tickets could become available if they sold out the initial allocation.
Fans quickly snapped them up and the club applied for an extra 500 seats situated in the Main Stand.
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Hide AdAfter being made to wait for two weeks the club have now been told that having St Johnstone and Hibs fans sharing Tynecastle’s main stand would be a “safety” and “security” concern.
Police have reportedly baulked at the idea of having both sets of supporters enter through the stand-alone main stand.
Tynecastle’s other three stands – the Roseburn, Wheatfield and Gorgie – all have a concourse that runs between all three, with three separate entrances and exits, making segregation within a single stand much easier to manage, as evidenced by Hearts splitting the Roseburn stand between home and away fans in recent seasons.
The club have released a statement on their website sent to them by the SPFL.
It read: “Following discussions with safety and security staff at Tynecastle Stadium and on the advice of Police Scotland, the SPFL has agreed that it will be unable to release tickets in Section N Upper of the Main Stand at Tynecastle Stadium to supporters of St Johnstone FC.
“This advice has been provided for safety and security reasons and considers the available access and egress routes to and from Section N and the need to ensure segregation of supporters.
“Rather than leave Section N Upper unused the tickets have now been released to Hibernian FC for sale to their supporters.”
St Johnstone added: “St Johnstone FC fully understands and shares the disappointment this outcome will cause ticketless supporters and will provide a response in due course.”
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