Newport forced to CLOSE ticket office ahead of Man Utd FA Cup clash with staff subjected to ‘threatening behaviour’

NEWPORT’S historic FA Cup clash with Manchester United sold out within half an hour this morning.

County say they have sold a capacity 9,500 tickets with 1,400 allocated to Manchester United for Sunday’s game.

Alamy

Newport were forced to close their ticket office ahead of their FA Cup tie with Man Utd[/caption]

But only after the League Two team were forced to sell the tickets online after club staff got threatened and abused by fans.

County opened up their ticket office on Thursday but some supporters kicked off when it was closed at 7pm with some fans still queuing.

There were some angry confrontations between supporters and club staff – so it was decided to sell the rest of the tickets online only this morning.

A club spokesman told SunSport: “There was quite a bit of unwarranted abuse and threatening behaviour shown towards staff when the ticket office closed on Thursday.”

The tickets had sold out just 30 minutes after they went on sale at 10am.

The Exiles said they will employ a zero tolerance policy going forward on abuse and threatening behaviour towards staff – which could even result in stadium bans or legal action.

A statement read: “The club’s small pool of staff has worked extremely hard across long hours in recent weeks to organise the two sell-out games against Wrexham and Manchester United.

“The club would like to thank them for their dedication and commitment.”

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Newport set up the dream tie after beating Eastleigh 3-1 in a replay last week.

The South Wales club have cup pedigree – taking Tottenham to a replay in 2018 after a late Harry Kane equaliser at Rodney Parade and taking on Manchester City in the fifth-round in 2019.

A Newport source told SunSport: “There is so much excitement around this place right now – it’s off the charts.”

While boss Graham Coughlan – a lifetime Man Utd fan – said: “This is the biggest game in the club’s history.”

Full FA Cup fourth round fixture list:

THURSDAY 25 JANUARY 2024
Bournemouth v Swansea – 7:45pm

FRIDAY 26 JANUARY 2024
Chelsea v Aston Villa – 7.45pm
Sheffield Wednesday v Coventry – 7.45pm
Bristol City v Nottingham Forest – 7.45pm
Tottenham v Man City – 8pm

SATURDAY 27 JANUARY 2024
Ipswich Town v Maidstone – 12.30pm
Everton v Luton Town – 3pm
Leeds v Plymouth – 3pm
Leicester v Birmingham – 3pm
Sheffield United v Brighton – 3pm
Fulham v Newcastle – 7pm

SUNDAY 28 JANUARY 2024
West Brom v Wolves – 11.45am
Watford v Southampton – 2pm
Liverpool v Norwich City – 2.30pm
Newport v Man Utd – 4.30pm

MONDAY 29 JANUARY 2024
Blackburn Rovers v Wrexham – 7.30pm

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