Exeter City FC

A number of Arsenal supporters have been in touch with Exeter City Football Club in the past few hours regarding the ‘right-to-buy’ ballot for our allocation of FA Cup final tickets, which is held by Exeter City Supporters’ Trust.

Hopefully the following will clear up any of the common misconceptions which are being directed towards Exeter City.

All of the 92 football clubs in the Premier League and Football League are given an allocation for the FA Cup final by the Football Association.  This year, a further 134 Full Member clubs and every club which reached the third round proper also have an allocation.

As far as we are aware, Exeter City are the only professional club in the country which offers 50 per cent of their allocation to their supporters.

Many clubs opt to make their tickets available to directors, players, sponsors or corporate partners.  Exeter City, conversely, allows members of Exeter City Supporters’ Trust – ie. the majority-owners of the club – to enter a ballot to buy pairs of tickets from the allocation at face-value.  Exeter City makes absolutely no profit from the sale of these tickets.

Were we to reject our allocation of tickets, these would be reallocated to another part of the ‘football family’, and not added to the 25,000 allocation which Arsenal and Aston Villa each get.

For more information about the FA Cup final ticket allocation, go to: http://www.thefa.com/news/the-fa-cup/2015/apr/fa-cup-final-details-240415

It is worth noting that several members of Exeter City Supporters’ Trust are also supporters of Arsenal, and regularly attend games at both St James Park and the Emirates.

Exeter City Supporters’ Trust has been majority-shareholder and owner of Exeter City Football Club since 2003, and currently has over 3,000 members.  Exeter City is one of just four supporter-owned clubs in the Football League and during 12 years of supporter-ownership has operated in a healthy, sustainable and responsible manner.