Manchester United face taking crucial fixture to neutral venue over safety fears

10 January 2024 , 13:27

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Manchester United booked their spot in the next round with a win over Wigan (Image: Manchester United via Getty Imag)

Manchester United might have to play their FA Cup fourth round match at a neutral venue.

Potential opponents Eastleigh are awaiting a decision about their home ground's safety. The National League side face Newport County in a replay on January 16 at their Silverlake Stadium, after a 1-1 draw last weekend.

If Eastleigh progress to the next round, there could be issues with ticket demand and safety concerns due to their stadium's limited capacity of just 5192.

A statement from the club regarding the matter said: "We clearly have a very difficult fixture to navigate first against a very good team who will be equally as determined to win the game and it is our preference to focus on this fixture.

"However, the logistical issues for a club of our size in playing a club the size of Manchester United means we do need to explore and communicate certain provisional plans in the hope of reducing the understandable high volume of calls we are dealing with.

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"We are unable to confirm potential ticket allocations or prices however we can confirm that the fixture would be played at our home stadium unless our Safety Advisory Group feels the club cannot stage the match safely, which we feel is extremely unlikely."

They are looking into the possibility of temporary seating to house more fans, declaring: "We are exploring the possibility of extending our temporary seating to increase capacity to enable more fans to attend should we be successful."

If the club's ground isn't safe, they'll be forced to move the match and play elsewhere; in the event that the Safety Advisory Group decide the club cannot host the event at their own stadium, a neutral venue would be selected. According to FA rules, if a stadium isn't up to scratch, they'll pick the nearest suitable one, with the local police or authority's OK and the Professional Game Board's agreement.

If Eastleigh are defeated in their replay, then United will make the trip to Rodney Parade to face Newport on the weekend of January 27.

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Patrick Rowe