Falkirk’s hopes of bringing a bumper away crowd to Firhill on Friday night for their pivotal Scottish Championship clash with Partick Thistle have been dashed after the Jags confirmed they would be unable to open up another area of the stadium for visiting fans.
John McGlynn’s Falkirk side, who are on the verge of a return to the top flight for the first time since the 2009/10 season, had requested additional briefs after selling out the Colin Weir Stand over the weekend.
With a win on Friday night potentially securing Scottish Premiership promotion, the Bairns were hoping to extend their travelling support for what could be a historic moment in their campaign.
However, Partick Thistle have stated that due to external factors, they are unable to house any more Falkirk supporters in another stand.
A spokesperson for Thistle confirmed: “As mentioned on Monday, discussions between the clubs and other agencies were held, but we regret to inform that we are not in a position to release any additional areas within the ground to Falkirk supporters.
"We thoroughly explored the possibility of expanding capacity in other sections of the stadium, but this would have led to incurring police costs that would significantly outweigh any revenue generated from the additional ticket sales.”
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The decision has left Falkirk fans disappointed, particularly given the club’s gesture in 2013 when they handed extra tickets to Partick Thistle supporters for an important promotion match at Falkirk Stadium. Many had hoped that this show of sportsmanship would be reciprocated.
While additional areas for Falkirk fans are unavailable, a small number of extra tickets, originally intended as complimentary briefs, will be made available for Falkirk supporters at 10am on Thursday. These tickets will be sold through the club’s ticket partner, Fanbase.
Falkirk released an update on Wednesday afternoon, saying: "With the away allocation selling out on Friday evening, the club requested additional tickets to be made available to Falkirk supporters in another part of the stadium.
"Partick Thistle discussed this with the various stakeholders, however we have now been informed it will not be possible. We wish to thank Partick Thistle for taking the time to explore this option on behalf of Falkirk FC.
"A small number of additional tickets within the Colin Weir Stand, where Falkirk supporters are seated, will go sale to Falkirk supporters tomorrow at 10am via Fanbase.
"The club wishes to take the opportunity to once again thank all Falkirk supporters for the incredible backing week in week out."
