Aberdeen and Police Scotland have raised concerns over the capacity calculations for Darvel’s Recreation Park ahead of their Scottish Cup tie.
The two sides are due to meet on Monday January 23 but a disagreement over the “dynamic flow of supporters” at the ground has caused ticket sales to be delayed.
The game was moved to a Monday night to be screened by BBC Scotland and Darvel chairman John Gall said in November there were no plans to move the game away from the West of Scotland side’s home ground, despite the expected groundswell of away supporters.
Aberdeen boss Jim Goodwin also said he had no concerns about the game being played on a Monday night in Darvel.
The East Ayrshire side had initially calculated that 4,000 fans in total would be able to attend the game but the concerns raised mean they are needing to seek an independent review of their safety documentation.
A Darvel club statement read: “Today at the final Safety Advisor Group meeting chaired by East Ayrshire Council, Aberdeen FC and Police Scotland raised a late concern about the calculation of the area to host the 1,750 travelling Aberdeen fans for the Scottish Cup match.
“The club had hoped to get the capacity numbers confirmed today at the SAG meeting with tickets going on sale tonight/tomorrow. Aberdeen’s safety team, while not having issues with the calculation methods used, have raised concerns about the dynamic flow of the supporters during the match.
“This has resulted in Darvel FC now at the 11th hour looking for an independent review of the safety documentation which we hope to have carried out by the weekend or early next week.”
The statement added that there will be two capacity outcomes: the independent review agrees with Darvel and a total of 4,000 fans (2,250 Darvel, 1,750 Aberdeen) will be permitted. Should a recalculation be needed, the Dons’ allocation will be reduced and Darvel’s will remain at 2,250.
ℹ️ The Club are yet to receive confirmation of the new ground capacity of Recreation Park, therefore tickets will no longer be available to book from 5pm tonight.
We will update supporters with an on sale date for our trip to Darvel in due course.
— Aberdeen FC (@AberdeenFC) January 11, 2023
Aberdeen had tweeted earlier confirming there would be no sale of tickets commencing on Wednesday evening, owing to the dispute.
They said: “The club are yet to receive confirmation of the new ground capacity of Recreation Park, therefore tickets will no longer be available to book from 5pm tonight. We will update supporters with an on sale date for our trip to Darvel in due course.”