HUNDREDS of Newport County AFC fans flocked to Rodney Parade today to queue for tickets to the FA Cup match against Tottenham Hotspur next weekend.
Season ticket holders and members of the club’s Supporters Trust formed queues which snaked from the ticket office at the entrance of the ground and stretched out far along the training pitch.
The match on January 27, which will be broadcast on BT Sport at 5.30pm, will be the first time the two teams have met in nearly 60 years.
Paul Green, a Trust member, told the Argus that he was one of the first to get his tickets on Thursday morning.
“I got here around 8.20am and there was only a few dozen in front of me,” he said.
“Judging by the amount of people here now, I think I made the right choice.”
Among those queueing was former Argus football and rugby reporter Paul Tully, who was 14 years old when the two teams played each other in the FA Cup in 1960.
He said: “I’ve been here since 9.30am and the queues are just getting bigger by the second. But it’s nice to see.”
Another fan said: “I was told explicitly by my grandchildren not to leave the queue, whatever the weather.”
Last week expectant fans were queuing again after the club announced that those with tickets to tonight’s game against Crawley Town would be guaranteed a single ticket for the Spurs game.
Within hours the ticket policy was suspended due to sky-high demand, with those buying tickets after the change told that they would not be guaranteed a ticket for the cup tie.
Paul Chapman, who has followed County for more than 35 years, was one of a small few fans at Rodney Parade today picking up tickets for the Crawley match.
“With the game on tomorrow I’m hoping to get here as early as I can, I might even be about at 5am,” he added.
County have been given the green light to install and extra 1,000 seats for home fans for their eagerly-anticipated FA Cup fourth round clash with Tottenham Hotspur.
A temporary stand will be erected behind the North Terrace at Rodney Parade, while another temporary stand will be installed at the other end of the ground to allow 1,660 Spurs to attend the cup tie.
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