Tigers fans have beene eagerly booking travel since Monday night’s win at Millwall
Hull City’s fans will hope for more celebrations at Wembley next weekend (Image: Simon Dael/Shutterstock)
Hull City’s supporters groups have called on the EFL to confirm that next Saturday’s Championship play-off final will go ahead as planned.
Both City and Southampton have begun selling just over 35,000 tickets each for the showpiece final on May 23, despite the game being shrouded in doubt.
The South Coast club have been charged by the EFL over spying allegations relating to their semi-final first leg against Middlesbrough last Saturday.
An independent panel are now overseeing proceedings, and last season’s relegated Premier League side could yet face expulsion from the play-offs.
A substantial fine and points deduction are also possible punishments for Southampton, but with just over a week until the biggest game in world football, the EFL confirmed Hull Live’s story on Thursday that the game could yet be postponed.
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Should it be postponed, Tuesday, May 26 has been earmarked as a possible reserve date, which would cause significant issues for supporters who have already purchased travel and hotels for the game next weekend.
“We, the committees of the Hull City Supporters Trust, the Hull City Official Supporters Club, the Hull City Southern Supporters and the Hull City Disabled Supporters Association, register our strong opposition to the prospect of the Championship play-off final being postponed from Saturday, May 23, to a later date,” a statement provided to Hull Live read.
“The date of the play-off final has been on the calendar for the whole season, and thousands of Hull City fans have already made travel and accommodation plans based around that. They are completely blameless regarding the allegations against Southampton and should not be made to suffer as a result.
“Moving the date of the final to the evening of Tuesday 26 May, as is being reported to be under consideration, would be unfair on many Hull City fans in other ways. This date falls in school half term, and many who will have kept Saturday 23 May free for several months will be on holiday at the later date, or will be unable to take time off work at such short notice.
“Young children, who will have been looking forward to seeing their club play at Wembley for the first time, may not be able to attend an evening kick-off. This move would have a big economic impact on thousands of Hull City fans who have already paid hundreds of pounds in travel and accommodation costs, and would deny many more the opportunity to see their club at Wembley. This is grossly unfair. The Football League could and should have had a more robust system in place to deal with this eventuality, one that does not punish innocent fans who should be enjoying contemplating seeing their club play at the national stadium.
“We urge the Football League to fulfil its moral responsibility towards the fans of Hull City AFC and confirm that the play-off date will remain on May 23, regardless of the outcome of the investigation into Southampton’s actions. Anything else will be a dereliction of their duties towards the fans, who, yet again, are the last to be considered in such situations.
“Football administrators are demonstrating yet again that the last people they think about are the fans. We fill the stadia through thick and thin, fair weather and foul. We are the people who provide the wherewithal for the clubs to exist, and make the English game so appealing globally, and we believe we speak for a vast majority of fans when we say that the Football League should get their priorities right and put fans over function.”
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