Ticketless Rangers fans told to stay away from Rapid Vienna stadium

By Richard Cooke

Thursday 13 December 2018 10:24, UK

Rangers fans who have travelled without tickets for the Europa League match against Rapid Vienna are being urged not to go to the stadium.

Around 12,000 supporters are understood to have made the journey to Austria for the game which Rangers must win to progress to the last 32 of the competition.

The Austrian club have sold out their 22,000-seater Allianz Arena with an additional 400 tickets given to travelling fans, taking Rangers' allocation to 2,500.

Up to 9,000 more are travelling without tickets and Rapid's head of security Andreas Marek has appealed for them to stay away from the stadium.

"They should not come to the stadium without a ticket because there won't be any tickets around the stadium," he said.

"All the ticket boxes are closed, we don't have any tickets and in Austria normally there won't be people standing around the stadium offering tickets because they want to go to the stadium themselves.

"To all the supporters from Rangers without tickets (the message is) don't come to the stadium, there are no tickets available.

"We know about the situation that Rangers (fans) want to come to Vienna, they want to see the match and we have heard that many of them don't have tickets.

"It's a situation that is a little bit strange for us but we will work together with security, with police, and especially with officials from the club to find a good solution for everything."

Rangers boss Steven Gerrard said on Wednesday: "We hope that they (Rangers fans) all remain safe and enjoy the occasion. It is a fantastic match for them.

"It is no surprise to me that they have come over in their numbers. They have been doing that for many years. They love the club, they are passionate and they want to be part of big games."