Dundalk FC set to restrict access to juvenile tickets at home games

Dundalk FC was announced a change in their ticketing policy for home games, following some issues with juvenile tickets at the first home game of the season.

A bumper crowd of 3142 descended on Oriel Park despite the poor weather to see Stephen O’Donnell’s charges draw 1-1 with UCD.

However following the game the club noticed some juvenile tickets had been misused, both by those over the age of 12 and even by some adults. It means that from next week’s home tie with St Patrick Athletic onwards, the club will be restricting the number of these tickets they will sell.

“There was a total of 475 juvenile ticket holders sold for the game against UCD last Friday” the club confirmed in a statement on their website.

“Unfortunately, we are aware that a number of these tickets were purchased – and used for entry – by people over the age of 12, including a number of adults.

“To combat this abuse, a limited number of juvenile ground tickets will be available for each home game this season. After this point, tickets will only be available in the other price categories. The club will review this policy throughout the season.

“We would encourage parents or guardians of children under the age of 12 to purchase juvenile ground tickets as early as possible in the week leading up to a home game to avoid having to pay a higher ticket price on match nights.”

That was not the only concern that club had following Friday night’s game, with anti-social behaviour by a small minority of the ground leading to said individuals being ejected from the grounds.

The Lilywhites stressed that any sort of abuse towards match day staff was totally unacceptable, and they would continue to implement a zero-tolerance attitude towards anyone acting in this manner.

“Unfortunately, we witnessed, and were made aware of, incidents of antisocial behaviour in the home sections of the ground which saw a number of individuals ejected from Oriel Park.

“During these incidents, members of our match night staff, who give up their time on a voluntary basis to help the club, were verbally abused. This small minority of individuals do not represent the Dundalk FC fanbase and risk ruining the match night experience for everyone.

“Dundalk FC will continue to adopt a zero-tolerance attitude toward this kind of behaviour as we strive to make Oriel Park a welcoming environment for people of all ages.”