Sunderland at Wembley: EFL explain why they can't offer any more tickets to Black Cats fans

Sunderland had made the request for more tickets after selling 43,960 in a matter of days, their initial allocation having been in the region of 37,000.

A further 2,500 went on sale at 3.30pm today, but Sunderland confirmed that this would be the final allocation.

Wycombe Wanderers, who supported both of the increased allocations for Sunderland fans, have up until this point sold 22,000 tickets.

It means that there will be a significant number of empty seats at Wembley, which has a capacity of around 90,000.

However, the EFL say that segregating supporters means that they cannot offer any more to Sunderland.

Some of the 2.500 tickets that went on sale came with a restricted view.

The statement reads: “Following discussions with Sunderland AFC and Wembley National Stadium over the past 48 hours, the EFL is pleased to confirm that an additional allocation of approximately 2,500 tickets will be made available to Sunderland supporters for this Saturday’s Sky Bet League One Play-Off Final.

“The configuration of Wembley Stadium presents a number of challenges for the event organisers that must be considered while implementing the requirement for the segregation of supporters, but this final allocation ensures that there will be in the region of 46,000 Sunderland supporters attending this fixture.

“The EFL acknowledges that it will be incredibly frustrating for fans who have been unable to secure a ticket to see a number of empty seating blocks on show at the weekend, but the decision by Wembley National Stadium to make this the final allocation of tickets has been taken in the primary interest of supporter safety.”

Wycombe are expecting to increase their attendance further, with tickets on sale to their supporters until midnight on Thursday.

As of Wednesday evening only a handful of Sunderland’s extra allocation were still on sale, meaning they are almost certain to sell out. Over 46,000 Sunderland supporters will therefore be at Wembley to watch their team try to win promotion from League One at the fourth time of asking.