Express & Star

Wolves fans staying away in Boro boycott

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Wolves will be backed by one of their lowest away followings in years at Middlesbrough tomorrow – with just 226 tickets sold for the televised clash.

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Supporters have baulked at the £32 ticket charge set by the Riverside club.

With the game being one of Wolves' longest trips of the season, broadcast live on Sky Sports and moved to a Friday night, it's of little appeal to fans.

Kenny Jackett's team are also big underdogs against Aitor Karanka's promotion-chasing Boro, with some bookies offering as much as 6/1 for a Wolves win.

But the number of tickets sold, correct as of yesterday afternoon, is still surprisingly low.

Hatherton Wolves – the largest independent Wolves supporters club – have already boycotted the game, saying the ticket cost was the deciding factor.

Russ Evers, who runs the group along with Roy Tansley, said of the ticket sales: "The low away following doesn't surprise me.

"To be honest I am surprised there are that many taking the plunge – and this figure will invariably be boosted by the pay on the gate crew tomorrow.

"Had this been been a normal Saturday 3pm kick off then I think we would be talking of 1,200-1,500 travelling to the game.

"Saturday football is what we were brought up with and as we have all grown older, it's the day where we meet our mates and have a catch up over a few beers with plenty of laughs thrown in.

"Move it to a Friday and the whole situation changes."

Away attendances have only begun to be published in recent years, but just a handful have dipped below 800 for the best part of a decade.

Wolves took just 314 to a televised night game at Cardiff's Ninian Park in 2008, although their allocation had been restricted to just 340 owing to trouble between the two sets of fans during previous games.

More recently, 559 away fans watched a 0-0 draw at Sunderland in April 2012 as Wolves headed for relegation from the Premier League.

And the following season only 501 travelled to witness a Tuesday night 2-1 defeat at Hull City in the Championship.

Even in their 2013/14 League One campaign Wolves were heavily backed for away games, with only one fixture at Gillingham seeing them take fewer than 1,000 supporters.

A similarly low away attendance would seem likely for another long televised trip north on a Friday night next month, when Wolves travel to Hull on April 15 for a game broadcast on Sky Sports.

Mr Evers added: "Fair play to any Wolves supporter who is making the trip to Middlesbrough.

"I for one am not due to the overall time and expense and along with my fellow members of Hatherton Wolves have decided to boycott the game on the principle of the cost and time/effort."