Barnet chairman Anthony Kleanthous has criticised Brentford after claiming the National League side haven't been given a full ticket allocation for Tuesday's FA Cup replay at Griffin Park.
Kleanthous published a statement on the club's website on Sunday morning revealing he has asked the Football Association to intervene after Barnet fans were given 1,500 tickets.
He claims Brentford have 'tried to circumnavigate the Cup rules', which state away fans can 'claim up to 15 per cent of all accommodation for which tickets are issued providing these tickets are in a fully segregated area.'
Given that Griffin Park has a capacity of 12,763, that would technically entitle Barnet to 1,914 tickets. But the Brook Road Stand, which houses away supporters, holds only 1,600 spectators.
Kleanthous claims Brentford 'cited health and safety as a reason for their breach' of the FA Cup regulations after he lobbied the club's chairman Cliff Crown.
The Barnet chief went on to have a pop at Brentford selling hospitality tickets for £59 to both sets of fans, saying 'it seems they are able to steward safely when food is included with the ticket.'
The first match at The Hive finished 3-3 and anticipation has been growing ahead of Tuesday night's replay in west London.
In the statement, Kleanthous said: 'Success brings its own new set of problems and I am very frustrated by the way our opponents are now trying to circumnavigate the Cup rules.
'Thus far, despite strong representation to the club, we have been unable to secure for our fans the full ticket allocation from Brentford for Tuesday's Fourth Round FA Cup replay at Griffin Park.
'I personally tried to reach a compromise with the Brentford Chairman, who is also Chairman of the FA Cup Committee, and whom I have known for many years, but there was no movement.
'The FA have been informed of the situation and we now await their final decision with our London neighbours citing Health and Safety as a reason for their breach.
'It is now a matter for the authorities to determine why they have not invested in making their facilities and operation safe but we simply do not accept this position.
'The rules are clear and we are not aware of any dispensation given before they entered the tournament.'
Kleanthous then cites two contentious decisions from the original match after Charlee Adams missed the game through suspension having picked up two yellow cards earlier in the competition.
He also says the FA should have retrospectively suspended Brentford's Ollie Watkins for 'diving' to win a penalty during the first match.
Kleanthous added: 'This latest issue comes hot on the heels of the debacle over Charlee Adams' yellow card suspension and the FA's refusal to suspend Ollie Watkins for the dive which earned Brentford this draw and replay in the first place.
'It is my and the club's policy not to usually comment publicly on these matters but this is the third blow in a row and our fans need to know what's been going on behind the scenes.'
He goes on to say that Barnet officials have given their boardroom tickets for Tuesday night's replay to the players' families 'in order to show solidarity with our fans who will now miss out on this very special occasion.'
He adds: 'As for myself, I do not feel comfortable to attend at all and will try and organise a stream of the match from Legends Bar or on iBarnet, which the FA have kindly agreed to.'
In the penultimate paragraph of his statement, Kleanthous takes a dig at Brentford: 'It should be noted that Brentford FC have been selling Hospitality Tickets for £59 to both sets of fans. It seems they are able to steward safely when food is included with the ticket.'
Barnet sold their allocation of tickets for the replay quickly, with fans queuing outside The Hive to buy them.
Brentford, Barnet and the Football Association have been contacted for comment.
ourselve
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Maybe the club should have, actually, made a proper system to follow when selling their tickets. To allow fans to buy SIX each and has to be in person when not everyone can skip work is beyond stupid. He is covering for his own mistakes and trying to save face to those genuine fans who missed out. To create a statement about rules etc, he failed to mention that in those very rules he has to agree to the allocation prior to original fixture. He agreed to the numbers and would have understood the constraints of this old ground and that there is PHYSICALLY no other way to segregate the fans. It was his decision to sell SIX each to anyone who walks up. He sold them on general sale from the word go. If he left the statement to just the tickets I might have had sympathy with him, but he didn't. He dragged up the previous match and the incident with Ollie Watkins. Finally, the allocation is far more than their average gate and they took only 2/3s of this allocation to Sheffield United.