Play-off final tickets limited for 'safety issues'

Tickets for the National League play-off final have been limited due to safety concerns as no trains will stop at Wembley Park station, transport bosses said.

About 30,000 Southend United fans were expected to want tickets for the game on Sunday, 1 June, but the club was told it could only sell 17,500 tickets.

Transport for London (TfL) confirmed the Jubilee and Metropolitan Underground lines would also be affected on the day Southend meet Oldham Athletic at Wembley Stadium.

In a statement on Southend's website, the club said tickets had "been limited to 17,500 per club, plus packages sold with coach travel included".

This was "in order to allay safety concerns relating to the pressure that Wembley Central station will be put under", the Essex club added.

United fans are due to travel to London following the Shrimpers' dramatic win against Forest Green Rovers on Wednesday.

Wembley Park station will be closed due to engineering works, which cannot be delayed or postponed, TfL confirmed, meaning more supporters would be using Wembley Central.

"We have been in communication with both sets of clubs and have asked them to inform their fans of the closures and to advise travelling by coach where possible," a TfL spokesman said.

The Shrimpers' said they had sourced 28 coaches which had taken the ticket number up to 18,900.

The club said: "Our focus at present is finding solutions to the problems we have been presented with and increasing our ticket allocation."

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