Aston Villa Europa League Semi-final Away Allocation
Aston Villa travel to the City Ground on Thursday 30 April for the first leg of their Europa League semi-final against Nottingham Forest, with kick-off at 8pm GMT.
Villa have been allocated 1,699 tickets for the tie — a figure that will frustrate supporters given the scale of the occasion. For context, Villa were given 3,048 tickets for their Premier League visit to the same ground just over a fortnight ago on 12 April. The semi-final allocation is barely half that.
UEFA regulations require home clubs to make at least five percent of stadium capacity available to visiting supporters, which at the City Ground’s 30,445 capacity equates to a minimum of 1,522 tickets. Villa’s allocation of 1,699 clears that threshold by fewer than 200, and once player and staff tickets for friends and family are accounted for, the number reaching supporters will be tighter still.
On pricing, the adult ticket is £30 — consistent with Premier League away pricing, and within UEFA’s cap of €35 for visiting supporters in European competition.
For a semi-final between two clubs separated by around 50 miles, with significant demand from both sets of supporters, the allocation will leave many Villa fans without a ticket for one of the biggest nights in the club’s recent European history.
No doubt though there was an agreement between the clubs to prioritise giving tickets to their respective home fans for each leg of the semi-final.
UTV