Portsmouth fans demand ticket refund as league chiefs lose hope EFL Trophy final with Salford will have supporters present

More than 51,000 of the Fratton faithful purchased tickets for the game, which was originally scheduled for Sunday, April 5, at Wembley.

Football chiefs have been keen to bring the suspended fixture out of cold storage when supporters are permitted to once again attend matches.

However, that best-case scenario is now regarded as extremely unlikely given the current rise in coronavirus cases.

A new date is expected to be fixed for the opening few months of 2021 without fans present.

And that development has led to Blues supporters demanding their ticket money back.

Glenn Mcguiness posted a message on our Facebook paged saying: ‘About time, stop being greedy EFL. and pay the money back.

David Leng went even further by also asking for an apology and a statement on the interest earned on money received for tickets,

He said on Facebook: ‘A refund and an apology would be nice; also a statement of your earnings on our ticket money i.e interest earned.’

Talking of interest, Mat Chalke said: ‘Someone somewhere is making some nice interest on our approx £2M in bought tickets.

‘Will we get our ticket price plus interest back?? Its all a con. Do the right thing and please allow refunds ASAP.’

Barrie Jenkins then added: ‘Must have pocketed a bit with the interest accrued so can I have my share?’

Sean Brown simply believed the situation had been going on far too long and wanted his money back – ‘Just play it and give refunds back, gone on far too long,’ he commented.

Meanwhile, both Mark Rawding and Michael Stephenson raised the issues of booking fees.

‘Hope they refund booking fees, I've got 17 tickets,’ said Mark, with Michael saying: ‘This is all very well, but for fans who booked through Ticketmaster, grr, they won't get the booking fee back.’

Ian Forrow was more relaxed about the latest twist. He said: ‘It was always going to happen! We will get refunds when they sort it out!

More concerned about missing out on another trip to Wembley, Simon Bowen questioned why the game couldn’t go ahead with fans present?

Joining the Facebook debate, he said: ‘If they can't socially distance 50000 fans and 20 Salford fans in a 90k stadium we are all doomed.

‘Ps happy to wear full hasmat suit and mask to see the game live.’

Jill Tagg quickly pointed out, though: ‘They could but do you really think everyone will stay where they are seated and not mix in the concourse or outside on the transport to and from and wear masks where they should? It would be impossible to enforce.’

Paul Carden added: ‘Hopefully the game will go ahead with fans. No hurry just wait till fans can go.

‘When Ticketmaster sent out tickets they indicated that refunds would be down to the clubs.

‘Got the impression that they think that they've done their bit and have probably banked their (excessive) charges.

‘Club need to clarify whether refunds will be just face value or what was actually paid, including Ticketmaster charges. PUP.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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