Sheffield United and Nottingham Forest play-off ticket allocation explained amid fan outrage

Sheffield United fans have been left outraged by the distribution of tickets for their upcoming play-off clash with Nottingham Forest. The Blades host the first leg on Saturday, before making the trip to the City Ground on Tuesday evening.

Tickets went on sale not long after the conclusion of the 4-0 victory over champions Fulham on Saturday - a result that booked their place in the end-of-season promotion shoot-out. However, a large number of supporters were immediately left fuming at the way they are being distributed.

Season ticket holders do not have any guarantees over their regular seat. The visitors have also been given a health allocation of 3,188. In return, Forest have responded by setting aside just 2,000 seats for United fans.

Forest are also allowing season ticket holders the chance to secure their seat first before general sale.

Sheffield United decided to give Forest the upper tier of the Bramall Lane end due to safety concerns and after consultations with the relevant authorities. Their late equaliser when the two teams met in March saw fans encroach on to the pitch.

With United fans on the bottom tier, that also allowed a full set of home supporters along the edge of the pitch to cheer on their side.

The minimum allocation of tickets for away fans is 10% of the stadium or 2,000, so in this fixture it's the latter, but had United stuck to that there would have been 1,188 unstold tickets with United unable to sell those to home fans due to segregation issues. Even on the bottom tier, that would leave 700 unsold seats.

It was also hoped that by handing Forest more than the minimum requirement, they would respond in good faith themselves. However, that has not been the case. Yorkshire Live understands