'Very sorry' - Embarrassed Aberdeen apologise after Rangers fans' cheeky cup final ticket stunt

Rangers supporters who managed to grab tickets for the upcoming Viaplay Cup Final in the Aberdeen section have seen their purchases revoked as the Pittodrie club explained the embarrassing mishap to supporters.

The two sides will meet at Hampden Park in the cup final on December 17 with tickets for the anticipated clash going on sale this week. Aberdeen were allocated 19,500 tickets for the fixture and 17,000 of those were all sold at once on Tuesday.

Rangers have been granted a bigger allocation of 25,000 tickets but some Gers fans took to social media this week to gloat about having managed to pinch seats in the opposition's end during sales, causing uproar from Aberdeen fans.

The club quickly issued a message promising to carry out checks on sales and today shared a lengthy statement apologising for the mishap and assuring Aberdeen supporters that those Rangers fans had been found and had tickets removed.

A club statement read: "Firstly, we apologise for any undue frustration or panic the general sale period may have caused. We understand this is a hugely important match for all our supporters who are keen to see their team play in a national cup final for the first time in five years.

"When determining arrangements for this match our experienced ticketing staff planned the process with the intention of trying to allow larger groups and families to sit together at the Cup Final. With hindsight, we should have created additional tiers to the sales process before going on general sale, and not doing so, has caused unneeded anxiety for our loyal fans. We are very sorry for this error.

"We have standard protocols in place for high-demand fixtures to prevent non-Aberdeen fans from purchasing in the designated Aberdeen fans’ sections. However, due to an unfortunate human error in our ticket office, an element of these protocols was missed on this occasion.

"As soon as we became aware of the issue, we worked quickly to rectify the problem with the ticketing team investigating all transactions purchased after 5 pm on Tuesday. We have stringently checked all purchases made during this window to ensure they are compliant with our normal purchasing criteria, which includes a significant buying history.

"The small number of the ticket purchases, which did not meet these standard protocols, are being deactivated and refunded with immediate effect."

The club went on to explain that it had been 'in dialogue' with the SPFL over the additional tickets still to be sold, and promised that the ticket office would ensure these went to fans meeting the right points criteria. Aberdeen are 'confident' that any potential hiccups with Rangers fans in the Aberdeen end have been 'resolved'.