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Wembley Stadium will host the National League promotion final on June 1st.
By Amelia Henderson | LONDON – 2025/06/01 03:58:54
The culmination of the vanarama National League season arrives on Sunday, June 1st, as Oldham Athletic and Southend United clash in the promotion final. The prize? A coveted spot in the english Football League for the upcoming season.
Though, the lead-up to this crucial match has been overshadowed by controversy surrounding ticket allocations. The National league’s initial projection of a 40,000 attendance at Wembley occurred before the finalists were even determined, sparking concerns about adequate seating.
The two teams’ presence in the final was unexpected. Southend secured their playoff berth on the final day,finishing seventh,while Oldham finished fifth,a significant 23 points behind York City in the league standings. Notably, they boast the highest average attendances in the league.
These factors have complex ticket logistics, further strained by engineering work impacting public transport to the stadium. despite Southend United anticipating that, “we believe that more than 30,000 Southend fans will want to attend Wembley, and that Oldham will want to take something similar”.
If both teams reach their ticket limits, a new attendance record for the Promotion Final could be set.The current record stands at 47,029, achieved in 2015 when Bristol Rovers defeated Grimsby Town on penalties at Wembley Stadium.
Clubs voice ticketing concerns
both Oldham and Southend have exceeded their initial ticket allocation of 17,500, with additional tickets available only through coach packages.Oldham has sold 20,832 tickets, while Southend has sold 28,852.With neutral tickets also sold, a new attendance record at Wembley appears likely.
However,this has been met with frustration from fans,who have faced uncertainty and pressure to secure tickets. “Under normal circumstances, next Sunday’s matchw ould likely smash the current Vanarama Nataionl League promotion final attenance record… Unfortunately, the excitement on both sides has been trampled on by the seemingly-amateurish planning of several key stakeholders around next weekend’s final,” according to a joint statement from the Shrimpers Trust and oldham Athletic Supporters Foundation.
“Wembley will be a shadow of its potential with a half-full stadium,” the statement continues.
“We question the ability to execute on the prestige of a Wembley day out if capacity is capped. Wembley will be a shadow of its potential with a half-full stadium,” the statement continues. “This wouldn’t happen for the FA Cup final, or for the EFL playoff finals, or for a Taylor Swift concert. If it did then a workable solution would be found. Why is the National League playoff final not being treated similarly?”
Southend United echoed these sentiments, stating that, “the current allocation of tickets does not come close to reflecting the scale of demand from our supporters, and as things stand we will almost certainly sell out our allocation (of tickets without a coach package) today – resulting in disappointment for tens of thousands of supporters, many of whom have followed the club through thick and thin”.
southend reported selling 1,000 tickets within 20 minutes of the final batch being released on Thursday night, leaving some fans still without tickets.
Promotion dreams on the line
Both teams have shown resilience throughout the season, overcoming higher-ranked opponents to reach the final. as former members of the English Football League, both Oldham and Southend have faced financial challenges and welcomed new ownership in recent years. This match holds immense importance for their future aspirations.
“Play-off games are cup games so anything can happen. What you’ve got to do is come out the right side of results and we’ve managed to do that,” said Southend coach Kevin Maher,who himself secured promotion for Southend as a player 20 years ago in the playoffs. “We’ve been stronger in the second half of the season, in terms of the number of points we picked up. So that tells you more about us as a team and where we’ve got to as a squad.”
Southend brought in new ownership, led by chairman Justin rees, in the summer of 2024. This consortium of local business figures could achieve promotion in their first season.
