City cancel HUNDREDS of tickets bought by Plymouth fans in Etihad home

Manchester City have cancelled hundreds of tickets purchased by Plymouth Argyle fans planning to infiltrate the home ends ahead of Saturday’s FA Cup clash.

Supporters from the south coast bought up annual £35 matchday membership to then access seats for the fifth round tie at the Etihad Stadium after Argyle sold out their 7,800 allocation.

The Premier League champions have written to supporters with a ‘registered address in the Plymouth area’ who ‘had not previously purchased a ticket’ that they were being refunded.

City’s move comes days after footage emerged of stewards escorting an apparent Liverpool fan out of the home end during Sunday’s 2-0 defeat by the league leaders.

The ejected man was punched on several occasions as he departed in ugly scenes, while Real Madrid supporters were seen in home ends during the recent Champions League playoff fixture.

Argyle, 22nd in the Championship, were the story of the fourth round after shocking Arne Slot’s Liverpool at Home Park and handed a trip up to City as their reward for the giant-killing.

City sources say they conducted a robust analysis of ticket purchasers to reduce the risk of away fans being situated in the home end of the stadium.

They had identified under 250 tickets that had been taken by individuals within a 30-mile radius of Plymouth who hadn’t attended a game before.

There had been posts online advising fans who had missed out in the general sale of Plymouth’s allocation how to obtain tickets for the game.

Standard tickets for home fans are between £25 and £35 but those following Argyle will have needed to fork out another £35 for a membership, the purchase of which is now also being refunded.