£200,000!
CARLISLE UNITED’S hugely-anticipated clash with Leeds United this Saturday is poised to sell out in the next 48 hours – netting the Blues record gate receipts of more than £200,000.
The visit of Dennis Wise’s unbeaten side to face John Ward’s table-toppers now looks certain to draw a capacity 16,903 crowd to Brunton Park.
It will be the biggest gate for a home league game for 31 years and the most financially lucrative Brunton Park league fixture in United’s history.
United had shifted more than 14,000 tickets as the News & Star went to press today, after another day of non-stop sales yesterday.
Only standing room remains available for the game with all seats in the CBS and Main Stands having sold out.
“I am astounded by the level of interest,†said United’s operations manager George Thomson. “It’s absolutely brilliant.
“We have been selling an average of 1,500 every day and if things continue like they are, we will sell out by the end of Wednesday or by Thursday morning.
“Since Monday of last week we have had people queuing at the ticket office all day, every day. The phones have been ringing non-stop and it got to the stage where it brough the phone system down on Friday.
“This is exactly what we want – thousands of people roaring Carlisle United on to success.â€
Thomson said a 16,903 sell-out would net United “just over £200,000â€, although this will be offset by the increased cost of policing the game, with 3,400 Leeds fans expected to make the journey from Yorkshire.
United’s official website records their highest-ever gate receipts as the £146,000 from the League Cup tie with Tottenham in 1997.
That has undoubtedly been surpassed by bumper crowds for subsequent cup ties such as the visit of Arsenal in 2001, and five-figure league games like the final home game of the 2005-06 season against Torquay, which drew 13,467.
But Saturday’s game – which should see the biggest home league crowd since 20,001 watched the Blues host Sunderland on February 24, 1976 – looks set to break new ground for gate receipts.
The police presence in Carlisle in the build-up to the game will be much stronger than normal, but Thomson played down fears of trouble between rival fans.
“There have been so many negative noises about Leeds coming, but there were similar noises about the Millwall game but that was a super day. Around the ground, certainly, the atmosphere was excellent.
“It’s a top-of-the-league team versus an unbeaten team and we want people to come and really enjoy it.â€
Thomson said the club would prefer fans still without tickets to come to the ground to buy theirs if possible, rather than use the under-pressure phone system.
And he urged fans to get to Brunton Park early on Saturday as queues were inevitable. “That is the price of success – but we will quite happily keep paying that price,†he added.
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