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Gareth Fullerton

Larne FC owner Kenny Bruce hits out over Solitude ticket arrangements

Kenny Bruce has hit out over the ticketing arrangements for Larne's Irish Premiership clash with Cliftonville at Solitude this Saturday.

Cliftonville - who sit just one point off the top as they target a first Gibson Cup since 2014 - have put new arrangements in place to ensure as many of their fans can attend the club's final home game of the season.

Larne have been allocated 80 tickets for the top-flight clash, with visiting supporters set to be accommodated in a segregated section of the Main Stand Lower seating.

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The revised plans will see the Bowling Green Stand - which normally caters for away supporters - used to accommodate home fans.

Larne owner Bruce labelled the move as an "absolute disgrace" and also called for the NI Football League to "step in".

He tweeted: "Absolute disgrace. A standard league fixture outside of Covid rules shouldn’t be restricted like this. Poor show by such a great club. A very advert for the league & @OfficialNIFL should step in."

Bruce also urged Larne's fans not to attend Saturday's game, adding that he doesn't intend "setting foot" in Solitude again.

He replied to one fan: "I hope our supporters don’t attend. I certainly won’t ever set foot in that ground again. Good news for us both."

Last summer Cliftonville fans were unable to attend the club's European play-off final against Larne after away tickets were not allocated due to Covid-19 restrictions and ongoing redevelopment work at Inver Park.

Similar restrictions were in place for the Euro play-off semi-final between Larne and Glenavon at the same venue.

A number of Cliftonville fans were quick to point out last season's shut-out to Bruce on Twitter, to which he replied: "Last season's European play off game we had two major issues/challenges. 1. Covid rules 2. Building site for a new stand. We had no choice but to restrict numbers. Poor show from your club and @OfficialNIFL should step in to warn you for bringing the game into disrepute."

Bruce added in a separate reply: "We are hugely accommodating to away supporters and we are good for the league with the number of supporters we take away from home.

"Our league has to be more professional to stop this kind of thing otherwise it won’t progress in my opinion. I should realise I can’t change things."

Cliftonville host Larne on Saturday before finishing their league campaign with three away games against Coleraine, Crusaders and Glentoran respectively.

Larne, who currently sit fifth in the table, are away from home for all four of their remaining Premiership fixtures.

The Reds said on their website: "Cliftonville supporters are advised that, due to high ticketing demand for recent games, new arrangements will be in place for Saturday’s final Danske Bank Premiership home fixture against Larne.

"The Club want to ensure that as many Reds fans are able to attend as possible and, as such, the Bowling Green Stand will be used to accommodate our supporters. This will significantly increase the number of tickets available to Cliftonville fans.

"In order to achieve this, however, it is necessary for other control measures to be instigated."

The club added: "While we acknowledge that this will present some inconvenience and certain supporters may not be able to take up their traditional and preferred vantage points, we hope you understand that the move is designed to help many more Cliftonville supporters attend the match."

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