McGinn calls for cup final tickets to be a 50-50 split

ABERDEEN winger Niall McGinn has demanded a 50-50 split of the tickets for the Betfred Cup final against Celtic at Hampden. The Dons were left red-faced after selling just 11,000 tickets from an allocation of 23,000 ahead of Sunday’s 1-0 semi-final win over Rangers at the national stadium. That came after they had complained about the initial noon kick-off time for the last-four tie, which was eventually put back to 4.30pm. But now McGinn has joined boss Derek McInnes in arguing that demand will be far higher for the showpiece on December 2. That stance is likely to put the club on a collision course with Celtic, but ex-Parkhead winger McGinn believes it’s only fair the Pittodrie side get half of the briefs. ‘Yes, it has to be a 50-50 split,’ said the Northern Ireland international. ‘Finals should always be half and half, no

matter who the teams are. We have shown (our fanbase) in the past. The last time we played Celtic in the Scottish Cup final in 2017, we filled half the stadium. ‘And when we won the League Cup (in 2014) against Inverness, we took over 40,000 to Celtic Park. ‘We know that we are a big club and we know we are definitely capable of bringing 25,000 fans to the final.’ McGinn insists the players did not pay too much attention to the modest ticket sales for Sunday’s semi-final. Instead, they remained focused on silencing the large Rangers crowd and securing a path to a fourth final under McInnes. ‘As players, it’s not something we can do too much about,’ he said. ‘We just have to get on with it. It’s always nice to have a big support but last season Motherwell were outnumbered against Rangers in the Betfred Cup semi-final and they won 2-0. ‘Regardless of the numbers, we still heard our fans sing on Sunday and that pushed us on. The Rangers fans got a bit anxious towards the end and that was a positive for us. We kept their fans quiet and we could hear our fans singing. And, thankfully, we won, so it’s happy days.’ Last night, McInnes also admitted he was hoping for a split of the final tickets. He admitted: ‘Our argument is weakened based on a semi-final. But a cup final is there for all to enjoy and we’ve always brought plenty to a final. ‘Our semi-final crowd has normally been as it was on Sunday, regardless of the opposition. ‘To get 11,000 down on a Sunday is not bad. For cup finals, we are looking for more — and I’m sure if we get a 50-50 split, there will be plenty of people wanting to see Aberdeen competing in a cup final.’ The SPFL will this week consult with the two finalists, Hampden Park safety officials and Police Scotland before announcing a decision on ticket allocations and prices. Meanwhile, Aberdeen have confirmed that defender Andrew Considine’s neck injury is not as bad as first feared following an aerial collision in Sunday’s game, although he is still likely to sit out tomorrow’s visit of Hamilton.