Ticket row resolved

A row over ticket prices between St Johnstone and their William Hill Scottish Cup opponents Stenhousemuir has been resolved.

Saints had earlier taken the unusual step of apologising to fans for the high cost of tickets for Saturday’s tie at McDiarmid.

An adult paying at the gate was looking at having to fork out £23, with the Perth club insisting Stenny refused to budge over the pricing structure for admission to the game.

In a statement, St Johnstone said: “The club wishes to apologise to supporters that a Premiership match pricing structure is in place for this cup tie.

“Despite protracted negotiations with our opponents, we have been unable to convince Stenhousemuir to adopt a sensible pricing structure for this game, such as that agreed between Aberdeen and Stranraer for their tie – £15 for adults.

“Scottish Cup rules state that when opponents cannot agree on a pricing structure then ‘the charges which are normally made for the regular fixtures of the club at whose ground the match is to be played, will apply’.

“Regrettably, this means that adults will be asked to pay £5 more than they did for our League Cup tie versus Heart of Midlothian in August.”

Now, though, following further negotiations, prices for the Stenhousemuir game have been set as follows: adult – £15; over-65s – £10; 13 to 18-year-olds – £5. Accompanied children 12 and under are free of charge.

Saints added: “Notwithstanding the financial challenges in the game, St Johnstone FC aims to make football as affordable as possible and thank Stenhousemuir FC for reconsidering the matter and we look forward to an entertaining cup tie on Saturday.”