Only 4,535 of Hearts’ 10,000+ season ticket holders will be at Tynecastle for the visit of Celtic this Saturday, the club has announced.
Following the announcement that 2,000 Hibs fans will be in attendance at Fir Park on Sunday, taking the total attendance to 6,500 in a stadium which holds roughly 13,500, Hearts say they are disappointed at their permitted capacity at home.
The decision lies with The City of Edinburgh Council, who announced that Tynecastle will be less than 25% full for the opening day match.
Hearts had opted for a new ballot system rather than the one that was used for the Premier Sports Cup matches against Inverness and Cove Rangers, however this has resulted in some fans receiving tickets for all three fixtures, while others have received nothing.
No away fans will be in attendance on Saturday, but that isn’t much of a surprise as Hearts had more than 10,000 of their own season tickets holders entered into a ballot in which only 50% of applicants would be successful.
Hearts did have the option to use loyalty points instead of a ballot system, but a member of the Hearts Ticket Office explained, loyalty points will be used for away matches only.
We have asked the council for comment.
