5,000 sold

[basil75]

To be fair to the FL only 2 years a go was the L2 playoff final attendance 53,706 between Gillingham and Shrewsbury. A 30,000 stadium would have angered plenty of clubs in the division.

Having stadiums on stand by is a nice idea, but implausable. You can't hire security, stewards etc on standby - you either hire them or you don't - cancel one week in advance and they'd still demand payment. So even less money in the pot for the finalists given up to 3x the cost of hosting the final.

We're unlucky as while we can complain two southern teams heading up north is unfair, this is not a league with a southern bias and when deciding the venue, it probably wasn't one of the most likely scenarios envisaged.

[Dave]

assume you mean CAN'T stand man u forever?? i feckin hate em with a passion, and would rather it was anywhere than there!! makes me shudder to think i'm gonna be stood where they assemble quietly every other week in their stupified masses!!

Oop's my bad,yep was meant to be can't stand,with all there platic we won the title 19 times but have never seen them play,and will soon be Man.c fans,that follow them.

[bixieupnorth]

i honestly dont think it matters where its played or the ramifications and machinations of the decisions made, all that matters is that we are there this saturday in the final. those than can afford the time, money and effort to get there will be there in person, those who cant will no doubt be glued to sky, radio devon or even gullsplayer willing us on. so stop the whinging and lets have some positivity in these threads please!!

[Richinns]

assume you mean CAN'T stand man u forever?? i feckin hate em with a passion, and would rather it was anywhere than there!! makes me shudder to think i'm gonna be stood where they assemble quietly every other week in their stupified masses!!

Other than Wembley - best stadium in the country.

Your hatred of man Utd bares no impact on the decsion made of where to host the playoff finals.

[happytorq]

Blame the government who backed down after UEFA said the CL final couldn't be held at Wembley unless the tax rules were relaxed. British law says that anybody who earns money while here is taxed on that money - prize money for winning the CL (for players) is estimated at about £7 million, so the players would have had to pay the 50% tax rate on that sum. UEFA didn't like that, and the government and the FA were so desperate to get the final they acquiesced. (Man U players will still be taxed, though).

Old Trafford is the biggest stadium outside Wembley - and it wasn't going to be used that day. Makes sense to put it there really, especially given that at the time they had no idea who was going to get there.

Shrewsbury vs Accrington would have been fine there. As would, say Carlisle vs Rochdale in League 1. Face it, it doesn't matter where it was held - it still would have been a long way from Torquay, and there's no way to predict who will make it to the final. What would have happened if they put at a Leicester where capacity was only 30,000 and demand was much higher? You'd all be on here apoplectic with rage that you couldn't get tickets because we 'only' got given 15k (and those bloody fairweather fans took them all)

THe way they messed up with the ticket strategy is epic, though.

[edit - changed '$' to '£' - bloody american keyboard]

[Plymgull]

I had planned to go to the final with a mate a few months back if we made it, however the fact that i can barely afford to get to Torquay these days let alone bloody Manchester has stopped me from going. I just cannot afford it. I know its great for the players that they get to play at Old Trafford but for me its just to far and will cost to much money that i don't have.

[happytorq]

I had planned to go to the final with a mate a few months back if we made it, however the fact that i can barely afford to get to Torquay these days let alone bloody Manchester has stopped me from going. I just cannot afford it. I know its great for the players that they get to play at Old Trafford but for me its just to far and will cost to much money that i don't have.

So...presumably Wembley would have been too far?

[Exkeeper]

Shrews fan in peace. We have been to 2 play-off finals in the last 4 years, and off the top of my head, our game against Gillingham in 2009 attracted about 53000 and the game in '07 against the Gas attracted the League 2 record, in excess of 61000. A ground like Molineux, with a 2900 capacity, and just 30 miles away, would have led to a hell of a lot of problems.
You need a 60000 capacity in case a Bradford, Port Vale, Rovers get to the Final. That narrows it down to Old Trafford, the Emirates or Cardiff ( not even in England ).
Unfortunately we are not in the Final this year, but you are, so good luck - I think almost all Shrews fans are rooting for you.

[Fonda]

Manse just tweeted that we've sold about 6,000.

[Bloggy]

Shot myself in the foot by suggesting to my three boys that we should go to Old Trafford only to then do the math and realise it would be a rather expensive day. Couldn't take just one as that would cause no end of problems... and then felt I couldn't go without them as that would have been selfish! (Does that make sense?)
I'll be glued to the BBC website and also looking for 'dodgy' links for online coverage! We'll all be cheering the Gulls on from home.
Not what any of us wanted, it won't replicate the occasion but I won't be a few hundred pounds lighter. Hopefully the money saved will go towards a trip to Plainmoor next season... with the boys!

[AlexGulls]

I blame the Champions League final being on the same day.

[davegull1]

I see manse on twitter is a bit disapointed in the sales figures but he does understand that it is a long way and says that we will still outsing the stevenage fans !!

[ChineseGull]

We didn't take anywhere near 5000 to Shrewsbury and that was an unbelievable atmosphere, so whilst it'll be a shame to see so many empty seats, we'll still create an amazing atmosphere and cheer the lads on to victory! Bit more positivity please.

[wodger of awabia]

There should be!!!
Are they all half asleep in Torquay???
The recent finals at Wembley have seen 20,000 gulls there though??

Lots of people are afraid to go north of Watford!

[Trojan 67]

Should imagine the football league would have had to book the venue for the play-off finals before the season started,had Accrington made it through then OldTrafford would have been seen as the right place,and its not that easy to change at such a late stage,they just can not ring Reading and say,its Torquay/Stevenage any chance we can use your ground.

maybe the football league could have booked an alternate venue,say Villa park in case two southern teams made it then you might have had a situatuion of the league 1 play-off final being played somewehre different,however dont think it would have gone down to well with Manchester united had the football league switvhed the match at a late stage.

The KLUX of the issue to me is the football league giving a space of just 1 week between the semi and the final,clubs like Torquay and Stevenage do not have the man power funds,or ultra modern phone systems,to handle such a big game in just a week.

I phoned Old Trafford Tuesday moring to book a car park space,there phone system told me where i was in the queue,and after a minute or so gave the option to press 9 and enter my phone number for a ring back when it was my turn,5 minutes later i got a call,spoke to a very plesent lady,the very next morning my pass arrived in the post.

There is one major difference here they are Man.u we are Torq.u ,our club has done its best under circumstances hopefully for all those waiting all will end well.

Now there's a surprise. I never had you down as being Klan Dave. Maybe it was a Freudian slip, or something more innocent like a "speeling/typo" error.

As it happens, there is a "KK" presence in town, but no one knows if they're Klan or not.