'It's been messy' & 'no winners among fans' - play-off final chaos

Image source, Shutterstock

• Published2 hours ago

Usually, the preparations for the Championship play-off final are set in stone.

A four-side, end-of-season mini tournament ends at Wembley with two teams vying for a spot in the Premier League.

But this is no normal play-off campaign.

Southampton's expulsion for spying on Middlesbrough in the build-up to their semi-final earlier this month - in addition to games against Oxford and Ipswich earlier this season - has created chaos.

As things stand, the final is set to take place as planned - albeit with amended kick-off times based on who will actually contest the fixture.

Hull are already through, having beaten Millwall over two legs, yet Southampton's appeal on Wednesday means it is not yet settled who will face who at Wembley.

And that fixture - potentially worth hundreds of millions pounds to the victor - is set to take place in just three days' time.

BBC Radio Tees' Middlesbrough commentator Mark Drury summed it up succinctly: "It's not the build-up anybody would want for a game of this magnitude.

"Obviously, it's been messy. Well, messy doesn't even cut it, does it really?"

• A just or harsh punishment? Reaction to Southampton expulsion

  • Published10 hours ago

• 'It's a dream': Boro fans gear up for Wembley

  • Published1 hour ago

• Southampton expelled from play-offs for spying

  • Published18 hours ago

Middlesbrough's, perhaps unexpected, appearance at Wembley provides a headache for both the club and their fans.

The club began the process, external of selling their allocation of 35,984 tickets on Wednesday but "in recognition of the short timescales involved", they will only be sold on their website.

However, some fans have had issues with disabled and carer tickets and have queued outside the ticket office at the Riverside Stadium on Wednesday afternoon.

There is also the issue of fans being able to get to Wembley in time. As it stands, the fixture will remain on Saturday, with a flexible kick-off time depending on the result of Southampton's appeal.

Should Middlesbrough contest the final, it will take place at 15:30 BST whereas if Southampton are reinstated, the kick-off time will remain in its current 16:30 BST timeslot.

Planned railway engineering works mean fans travelling from the north east could face disruption, with a replacement bus service planned between Darlington and York.

Train company LNER said it had been "actively working with Network Rail since the news last night to look at what additional options may be available to us to support Middlesbrough fans travelling to Wembley".

Meanwhile, the club is putting on coach transport from the Riverside Stadium and asked people to only purchase a coach ticket after they had secured a match ticket.

Hellberg 'will feel absolutely vindicated'

In the aftermath of Middlesbrough's play-off semi-final second-leg defeat by Southampton last week, head coach Kim Hellberg described it as "one of the toughest days" in his coaching career.

Having been granted passage to a game which puts Boro on the cusp of returning to the Premier League for the first time in a decade, Drury believes the decision to expel Southampton will give Hellberg a sense justice has been done.

"He will feel absolutely vindicated because everybody could see and hear and feel just how much that had hurt him," Drury said.

"He believes there is a right and a wrong way to do this.

"And there is no doubt that Southampton's management in this case have taken completely the wrong way of doing it.

"The fact they've admitted to three breaches - two in recent weeks but one not so very recent - does rather suggest this has been a pattern of behaviour.

"So he will feel absolutely vindicated and I hope he's feeling energised now [and] I hope the players are as a result of this."

As for a short turnaround between the decision, Southampton's subsequent appeal and Saturday's final, the rigours of the Championship schedule might mean Middlesbrough are more prepared than some may have given them credit for.

"In the Championship, it's a quick turnaround a lot of the time anyway so while the circumstances that got us to this point are out of the ordinary, the actual turnaround isn't, and that is some variation on the message Kim Hellberg will be telling his players," Drury added.

'No winners' among Hull, Boro and Saints fans

Image source, Shutterstock

With Saturday's final looming on the horizon, it is an unenviable position for fans of Hull City, Middlesbrough and Southampton - who all lack clarity.

Hull have begun the process of selling their allocation for Wembley while Southampton had already begun selling tickets prior to their expulsion.

"It must be galling for them [Southampton] to have travelled up and down the country all season, paid the money for the season tickets, travelled home and away and the outcome they've got," Boro fan Chris Saunders told BBC Radio Tees.

"After what has been a fantastic month and 21 games unbeaten in the league, it's all been for absolutely nothing.

"Hull fans have been in absolute limbo this week just thinking 'is the game going ahead? Is it not going ahead? Are we playing Southampton? Are we playing Boro?'

"They've booked trains, hotels, car park and all that sort of thing so it's not been a great one for any set of fans.

"Even Boro, even though we've snatched this victory from the jaws of defeat, it's going to be a real tight turnaround for Boro fans to get down there. I don't think there's many winners this week among the fan bases of the three teams."

Related topics

• Hull City
• Middlesbrough
• Championship
• Southampton
• Football

More on this story

• Latest Middlesbrough news, analysis and fan views

• Listen to Middlesbrough content on BBC Sounds