MANSFIELD Town fans will have to scramble to get tickets for the eagerly awaited FA Cup tie at non league Harrogate Railway.
For the Stags have been allocated just 650 tickets for the Second Round tie at the Unibond Division One North's tiny Station View ground.
And there is no prospect of any more being made available when final ticketing details for the all-ticket tie are finalised on Friday.
The match, to be screened live on BBC TV's Match Of The Day on Sunday 2nd December, kick-off 1.10pm, has caught the imagination of Mansfield's fans as they face the lowest ranked club left in the famous competition.
Safety officials will agree a capacity figure for the match on Friday after several meetings since the draw was made last Sunday. Station View has a 3,500 capacity, but it is likely that the figure will be lowered for the cup tie - perhaps to around 2,000.
- Stags to face non league opposition again
Railway are looking into putting up temporary stands for the match - as they did five years ago when their Second Round tie with Bristol City was also screened live on TV - but have already decided that the Stags will be given just 650 tickets for the tie.
Chairman Rob Northfield told Chad on Wednesday: "We have segregated part of the ground for the 650 Mansfield fans. It would be difficult to do anything else so, no, I can not see there being anymore tickets for Mansfield."
Railway's First Round win over Droylesden attracted just 854 fans, but the chairman added: "We would have hoped for 1,000 for that match, but it was never going to be a big crowd.
"But people have been lifted by that result. People who experienced it want more. There is a lot of interest in the Mansfield game.
"Myself and officials at the club have had requests for tickets from all over.
"It will definitely be a sell-out. We could sell the tickets five times over."
He has also said: "We plan to investigate what we can do to potentially increase capacity. Erecting temporary stands is a possibility and we will spend the time between now and Friday looking into that. It could make the difference between 1,800 being able to attend and 2,800."
The 650 Mansfield tickets - a price has yet to be agreed - will be available to season ticket holders initially. If any remain unsold, these will be available to Stags Supporters Association members.
In the unlikely event that tickets are still left unsold, these will then go on general sale.
Details of when the tickets will go on sale at Field Mill have yet to be announced.
The tickets, will as usual, be sold from the football club and not be distributed through any supporters club as has been suggested by Harrogate Railway.
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