Former Newcastle United star and Liverpool supporter Micky Quinn has taken aim at Arsenal and Chelsea for failing to sell out their ticket allocation for the Europa League finals.
The London Rivals will meet in Baku, Azerbaijan, to contest for the European trophy, with Unai Emery and Maurizio Sarri looking to secure a title in their first seasons at their respective clubs.
However, they have not taken their full allowance of fans to Baku and Quinn has blasted the pair for their support, insisting Newcastle and Liverpool supporters would have done anything to make the journey.
He told talkSPORT: “I’m look at Arsenal – big club, big Premier League club – Chelsea – big Premier League club. They must have a worldwide fanbase, surely? And they can’t get 6,000 fans to go to Baku, Arsenal or Chelsea.
“I just find it astonishing they can’t fill an allocation of 6,000 to go to a Europa League final, a European Cup final. I’ll use my two examples – Liverpool would fill 6,000 and Newcastle United fans would walk there and go past those major football clubs!
“I just can’t get my head round it.”
“They're global clubs but can’t get 6000 fans together!”
“Liverpool would sell out & Newcastle fans would walk there!”
“I thought fans would be scrapping over tickets!” ??@MickQuinn1089 can’t believe #Arsenal & #CFC have failed to sell all their Europa League final tickets pic.twitter.com/I1uoqdPtnz
— talkSPORT (@talkSPORT) May 28, 2019
Opinion
Now Baku is not an easy place to get to, that much is certain, and you can be sure that the fact the game is being played on a Wednesday night does not help the cause of the fans but as Quinn says, there are surely supporters all over the world who would love the chance to watch their side play in a cup final. You can be sure the Toon Army would have snapped up every ticket and been begging for more if Newcastle managed to get to where Arsenal or Chelsea have got to – but then again, it has been quite some time since those from the north east got to see their club challenge for any kind of silverware. It is hardly a good advert for the Premier League and its fans when they are handing European final tickets back but you can sort of understand why. Maybe UEFA need to have a look at future venues and ensure that every club competing, from the northernmost sides in Scandinavia to those in deepest Russia, and their fans can make the final.