FA Cup: Crystal Palace 'surprised and disappointed' at scheduling and ticketing allocation for third-round derby clash with Brighton

Crystal Palace have expressed their disappointment at being handed an allocation less than half of what the club would normally receive for their upcoming FA Cup third round clash with rivals Brighton.

The recent Premier League clash between the two saw tension between the two sets of supporters, but there is now serious doubt over the true extent of the trouble after Sussex Police were exposed as having made false claims about away fans taking "knives and knuckledusters" to the game at the Amex Stadium in November.

Anger at the police's smears were already expected to make the January meeting more toxic but Palace have taken the unusual step of publishing their disappointment with the scheduling of the game, which sees the two sides once again paired in an evening fixture.

"We’re surprised and disappointed that our FA Cup match against Brighton has been scheduled for a Monday evening," the statement said.

"We raised concerns about playing the league match between the two clubs at night, as there have been previous issues when we played evening games in the Championship, but felt we were presented with a no option scenario. Given the events that occurred, we assumed that this time what we considered to be good sense would prevail and the game would be scheduled as an early daytime kick off. We are also disappointed that our ticket allocation for the FA Cup match has again been restricted to 2,000 when we should be entitled to more than 4,600 tickets under normal FA Cup rules.

"We completely understand the security concerns around this match and the safety of all supporters must be paramount. It’s for that very reason that we felt the best and most obvious solution, as is the case with most other big, highly-charged derby games, would have been a lunchtime kick-off, combined with a bigger ticket allocation to cater for the overwhelming demand from our supporters, many of whom will again be left disappointed. We were told that the incidents which took place at last month’s league match were caused, in part, by fans with tickets colluding with un-ticketed fans to force entry into the stadium.

"While we understand there are issues with trains on the Sunday of the FA Cup third-round weekend we have offered to provide free coaches to negate this issue, also allowing supporters to be dropped and picked up from designated drop off and pick up points.

"We strongly believe that the very small minority who misbehave and create disorder should be punished to the full extent of the law, thereby deterring others. Instead, it’s our view that the many decent and law-abiding supporters are being punished by being deprived of the opportunity to enjoy supporting their team”.

Sussex Police, in addition to Thursday's apology, released the following statement:

"The date of the FA Cup 3rd round tie between Brighton and Hove Albion and Crystal Palace was set following liaison through the safety advisory group that guides such decisions throughout the season. The group comprises BHAFC, Sussex Police, other emergency services, transport providers and other partners.

"The preference for this fixture was a lunchtime kick-off over the weekend, but planned rail engineering works on the Brighton mainline would affect travel and prevent Palace fans from taking advantage of the special train service, which worked well before and helps with the smooth access and egress of supporters to and from the stadium.

"With regard to the ticket allocation, this again was a decision made with the support of the safety advisory group. The timing of the match has created an opportunity for TV coverage, which means that fans who are unable to obtain tickets will be still be able to see the game live on television.

"We are now working with everyone involved to focus on a safe and enjoyable match for everybody attending."

The FA Cup clash will be the first to feature VAR technology to help the officials.