19 April 2023 , 14:32
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Marc Skinner has led criticism of the ticket allocations for the Women's FA Cup final with his club Man Utd only given a fractional amount.
The United boss labelled the allocation of 8,000 for the 90,000 all-seater stadium as "crazy". Their opponents in the final - Chelsea - have been given the same amount.
Wembley could still be filled for the women's final for the first time ever on May 14, with a 65,000 neutral section already sold out. United's women's team are often regarded as one of best travelling fanbases in the WSL but many of their fans in attendance at Wembley won't be in their designated 'end'.
Attendances across the top of the domestic women's game have grown this season, following the Lionesses winning Euro 2022 last year, with the final drawing a sell-out and seeing Wembley full.
The current record attendance for the women's final is the 49,094 who saw Chelsea defeat Man City 3-2 after extra-time last season. Although that will almost certainly be beaten this year, Skinner, speaking ahead of their clash with Arsenal, was disappointed with the club allocation.
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"In all honesty I absolutely share that sentiment," Skinner said. "I don’t know how many it is in the men’s game, I really don’t, I don’t know how many they allocate.
"But to give clubs like Chelsea and Manchester United 8,000 tickets to sell, it’s crazy in my opinion, crazy. To give two massive clubs 8,000 tickets is just crazy."
Marc Skinner, manager of Manchester United Women, has led criticism of the allocation (Manchester United via Getty Images)"The Vitality Women's FA Cup final is the showpiece event of the women's domestic season, and to date we have issued over 65,000 tickets," the FA said in response.
"Finalists Chelsea and Manchester United have each been issued with an additional 7,500 tickets for their fans.
"This is to help meet the likely demand for each club and is almost double the amount of tickets that the finalists received last year." Both clubs will begin selling their respective allocations at the end of this week, with demand still likely to be high.
In contrast, the 2022 men's FA Cup final saw Chelsea and Liverpool given 30,500 tickets to sell to supporters. The final is Man Utd's first major showpiece final since their formation as a professional team in 2018, while Chelsea have won the cup for the last two years.
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