Raith Rovers will continue lobbying for more tickets for their top-of-the-table clash with Dundee United – insisting they could have sold DOUBLE their allocation.
The Stark’s Park side hit out at their title rivals after discovering they would receive 600 fewer seats for the crunch clash at Tannadice on March 30.
Their 1,342 quota sold out in less than two hours on Thursday.
And CEO Andy Barrowman is confident the Kirkcaldy outfit could have far outstripped the 1,950 backing they took to Tayside in December.
He claims Raith were given a reason for the reduction, but only after being informed of their reduced numbers.
United have not made available the section closest to their own fans in the George Fox Stand or the first five rows of ‘The Shed’ housing the Rovers supporters.
And Barrowman admits he does not expect any good news for any of the 2,300 season-ticket holders and wider Raith support who failed to land briefs in Thursday’s sale.
Barrowman told Courier Sport: “We’re continuing to speak to Dundee United but at the moment it doesn’t look likely we’ll be getting any more tickets.
“It’s been a bit of a car crash from start to finish, to be honest, communication-wise. It’s been unnecessary, shall we say.
“United have given us an explanation, after the event, which doesn’t really carry much weight, if I’m being honest.
More dialogue
“But it’s up to them if they want to make public that excuse, let’s call it.
“We sold every one of the 1,950 seats in the stand the last time and you saw how quickly we sold out the tickets we were given this time.
“I think we could have taken double. Given the opportunity, we would certainly have taken a lot more than the 1,950 that went in December.
“In the lead-up to any game, there’s always discussions, for pre-ops meetings and so on. There will be more dialogue.
“We’ll continue to go back and forth but, at the moment, there doesn’t seem to be anything that’s going to change.”
United have the opportunity to go into the mouthwatering encounter with a three-point lead at the summit of the Championship this weekend when Raith are idle due to the SPFL Trust Trophy final.
But, whatever happens in the Tangerines’ home meeting with Inverness Caley Thistle on Saturday, the visit of Raith is likely to go a long way to deciding the destination of the title.
Barrowman believes everything possible should be done to ensure as many fans as possible pack out Tannadice for a game he believes will only be superseded in the coming weeks by the Old Firm clashes at the top of the Premiership.
He added: “I don’t think there’s going to be a bigger game in the SPFL outside the games between Rangers and Celtic, just with what’s at stake and where we are in the season.
“It’s huge. It’s a great advert for not only the Championship but for Scottish football.
‘Unnecessary and very frustrating’
“The two of us have gone nip and tuck for the whole season and it has come down to a situation like we’ve got now.
“We should be celebrating that and promoting it and selling it.
“But this situation is unnecessary and very frustrating.
“If they had moved us into a different part of the stadium and cut our allocation, we obviously still wouldn’t have been too enamoured by it – but you could understand it.
“If they were going to sell the seats to United fans, at least people would be getting in to watch the game. But it’s not even about that.”
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