Wrexham’s League Two rivals Newport County were forced to shut down their ticket office ahead of their FA Cup encounter against Manchester United.
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Newport set to host United in historic clash for the clubUnprecedented demand for tickets for the FA Cup clashClub forced to stop ticket sales due to chaos at the box officeWHAT HAPPENED?
The League Two outfit, who beat Wrexham in a Welsh derby clash at the weekend, secured their place in the FA Cup fourth round after a 3-1 victory over Eastleigh in their third-round replay. Goals from Aaron Wildig, James Clarke, and Will Evans helped them set a date with Erik ten Hag's United. There has been an unprecedented surge in ticket demand to watch the Red Devils live, which led to "appalling abuse and threatening behaviour" at the box office. The Newport management dealt with the situation swiftly and stopped ticket sales on Monday – as per .
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The club has emphasised a zero-tolerance policy and warned that such behaviour may lead to stadium bans or legal action. Ticket sales resumed online but they were all sold out within minutes.
Newport put out an official statement that read: "We can confirm that all tickets for our #EmiratesFACup clash with Manchester United have now 𝘀𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗼𝘂𝘁! 🎟️ 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗳𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁! 👏 #NCAFC"
THE BIGGER PICTURE
The FA Cup clash against United has been regarded by Newport boss Graham Coughlan as the biggest in the club's history.
"It’ll be a hell of an occasion," he said. "It’s a fourth-round tie against Manchester United, for me the biggest club in this country, in Europe and the world. I know some people would lean towards the fifth-round game against Manchester City (in February 2019), but I’d say Manchester United all day long."
WHAT NEXT?
United made it past the third round after they beat Wigan 2-0, thanks to goals from Diogo Dalot and Bruno Fernandes. The FA Cup provides Ten Hag's men with their only realistic hope of bagging silverware this season as they have been dumped out of the Carabao Cup and the Champions League. Meanwhile, they are trailing Premier League leaders Liverpool by 16 points and even a fourth-place finish seems difficult at the moment as they find themselves 11 points behind Unai Emery's Aston Villa.