January 7 – The tickets were quickly snapped up but the game never took place. When tiny Accrington Stanley, dubbed in England as the club that would never die after being saved from extinction, had a chance to play mighty Manchester United in the third round of the FA Cup, tickets sold out in 36 hours.
The problem was the League Two side had missed out after losing 2-0 to Yeovil in their second-round replay.
That didn’t deter Stanley, however, with 250 special-edition tickets still printed at £20 each, raising £5,000.
Club chairman Peter Marsden said the idea for the limited edition tickets was “tongue in cheek” but the money generated will be used to help strengthen the squad.
“Thank you to everyone who bought a ticket to the game that never was,” he said. “To sell out so quickly is no mean achievement. I know it is only £5,000 but it could make all the difference between us being able to get a player in on loan who can get us to the play-offs or missing out by a point.”
Accrington manager John Coleman added: “This isn’t about dwelling on what might have been. It would have been magnificent to play Manchester United but it was akin to being on holiday. Holidays quickly come and go and we have a league campaign to focus on.”
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