Leicester City fans missing out on Premier League glory
"Watching Leicester means so much to me. I shake, I'm in bits on match days."
Adie Wheat has watched Leicester City since 1968. He has a club membership and said he hasn't missed a home game all season. But on Saturday 7 May he will watch the game that could potentially see his side lift the Premier League trophy on television. Tickets for the match against Everton sold out in a matter of minutes. Mr Wheat said he is upset some tickets for the game against Roberto Martinez's side are now being resold for large sums. He's not alone. Other fans have expressed "disgust", "frustration" and "disappointment" at missing out on tickets, only to see some reappear on ticket resale sites for way over their face value. 'Unprecedented demand' With 23,000 season ticket holders and more than 3,000 tickets handed to away fans at Leicester City's 32,000-capacity King Power Stadium, around 6,000 tickets are available via the club's various membership schemes on a match-by-match basis. The first choice of seats is offered to Family Fox and Gold Fox members who, respectively, pay £100 and £75 per season for priority access to tickets. Tickets are then offered to lower level Silver Fox and City Fox members. 'Gut wrenching' Chris Hubbard, from Market Bosworth, failed to get tickets despite having a Silver Fox membership. "It's just disgusting" Mr Hubbard told BBC Radio Leicester. "We go and watch night games, we went when they were two tiers down, it's just gutting that proper fans can't afford these prices to go and watch the last game. "You just feel like you've been robbed, you pay for the privilege to have this ticket and then not even have the chance. "Then you see them online for those stupid prices, it's just gut wrenching." 50 years Gordon Ward, who has been supporting Leicester City for 50 years, said he feels the problems for this game are just the "tip of the iceberg." "Is this going to be the same next season during the Champions League?" he said. "It has been sell outs all season, but we've never had this problem. "We think this could just be the tip of the iceberg, we think it's so unfair, but it's so unfair for so many." 'It's frustrating' Gemma Kott said she had tried phoning from 09:00 BST on Monday but was told about an hour later that the tickets had all been snapped up. "I'd not had a problem getting tickets before," she said. "All the big games, Manchester United, Liverpool, absolutely fine. "It's frustrating that we've paid for priority but what can you do? Maybe I was naive, but I didn't realise the club had sold more memberships than tickets." Mrs Kott said she is upset that some tickets are being sold online for thousands of pounds. She said: "If these tickets are allocated, why doesn't the club know who they are selling them on to?" Where have tickets gone? Liam Underwood has been supporting the Foxes for 13 years and has not been able to get a ticket with his silver membership. "It's disappointing, but I didn't think it would sell out as fast," he said. "It has been fine all season trying to get tickets and you've sometimes been able to get them the week before a match. "More people have been getting memberships as we've got closer to the title and even some gold members have missed out. "It does beg the question - where have all the tickets gone?" 'It's all wrong' Adie Wheat, 58, from Blaby, who has been a Leicester fan since 1968, said he is "devastated" after missing out. He has a silver membership but has not missed a game all season. He said the only reason he did not buy a season ticket is because he could not pay for one in a lump sum. He said: "It makes you sick that tickets aren't going to proper fans, where have they gone? "What sort of people are buying them? It's all wrong." But the Mayor's in One person who was not disappointed on Monday was Leicester's mayor Sir Peter Soulsby, who tweeted that after an hour and a half wait he had secured a ticket. The Labour leader of the city council said he has only missed one home game in the past 12 months. Leicester, who this time last season were fighting relegation from England's top flight, are seven points ahead of second-placed Tottenham. The table-toppers need a maximum of nine points from their final five matches to secure the title. The club said the Everton game, the final home game of the season, had seen "unprecedented demand" and reminded fans "the unauthorised sale of football tickets is a criminal offence under UK law." Related Internet Links Leicester City