Fulham fans disgruntled and Leeds United supporters warned over ‘poorly judged’ FA Cup ticket debacle

Fulham fans have been left disgruntled by the club's ticket sale process ahead of the FA Cup fifth road clash with Leeds United tonight.

Tickets are still available for the all-Premier League meeting in London and the Fulham Supporters' Trust has shared its disappointment at the number of admissions sold.

In a statement published online today the independent group, which has been running since 2001 and is affiliated with The Football Supporters' Association, criticised the price of tickets for the FA Cup match.

It said: "Looking at the Club website, we can see that ticket sales have been slow, with only the Riverside Stand selling out and large parts of the Hammersmith End currently unsold. Many supporters believe that a £40 ticket for a midweek cup game on terrestrial TV is too much, especially in a cost of living crisis.

"We’re fully aware of concern amongst our fans about this pricing and its impact on attendance and we’ve received plenty of feedback, most of which questioned the price level in comparison with the home fourth-round game against Sunderland (£30) and the range of prices other clubs have decided to charge for their fifth round fixtures (£10 – £48).

"It is clear that other clubs have been more imaginative with their ticketing, including lower overall prices, season ticket holder and member discounts and, in one case, a 50% away subsidy provided by the visiting club."

The Fulham Supporters' Trust went on to label the pricing of tickets for the Leeds game as 'poorly judged' given its mid-week scheduling and television coverage and lamented that it would have a knock-on effect on the atmosphere for "one of our biggest cup games for a number of years".

The group also said that last week's formal monthly meeting had been postponed but discussions had been had with Fulham board members with details to soon follow.

Fulham fans online welcomed the statement when published on Tuesday morning with one labelling it as 'spot on' and another calling on broadcasters to focus on the issue.

Others shared frustration at the group not publishing a statement earlier, writing "too late, should've been expressed earlier" and "nice of you to speak up... eventually".

Away tickets for Leeds United fans were also slower to sell than usual but the 6,165 allocation has sold out. Earlier today, Leeds fans were warned by Fulham that they should arrive at the ground early to pick up tickets and avoid missing kick-off

Fulham vs Leeds United kicks off at 7:45 pm tonight from Craven Cottage. The match can be streamed on BBC One.