MORE than 60,000 Scottish football fans will invade Manchester for the Uefa Cup final in two weeks - despite thousands of them having no tickets.

Glasgow Rangers admitted that although they only have an allocation of 13,000 tickets for the showpiece final at the City of Manchester Stadium on May 14, up to 60,000 of their supporters would travel to the city.

Another 13,000 tickets have also been sent to their opponents, Zenit St Petersburg, in Russia.

The capacity at the ground will be just 44,000 for the game, which, according to the Scottish club's own officials, could see 43,000 Rangers supporters locked out.

Rangers described it as a 'friendly invasion', but asked for entertainment and big screens to be laid on for fans.

But Greater Manchester Police insisted there would be no big screens and said those without a ticket should stay at home.

In 2006 a Rangers pre-season friendly at Bolton had to be cancelled on the advice of GMP after it was discovered more than 12,000 fans may have attended, despite an allocation of only 5,000 tickets.

GMP has already identified known Rangers troublemakers, whose supporters not travelling south overland will fly into terminal three at Manchester Airport, while the Russians will land at Terminal One.

Fan zones

Supporters will be bussed into special fan zones in Manchester city centre: Albert Square for the Rangers supporters and Piccadilly Gardens will be the base for the Russians.

Kenny Scott, Rangers' head of security and a former chief superintendent with Strathclyde Police, said: "We have 13,000 tickets approximately. It's clear from the demand that there's going to be a far greater number than that coming to Manchester.

"It wouldn't be unrealistic to expect three to four times that to come to your city.

"I don't think there's any threat to the safety of the city.

"Clearly, it will be inconvenient because of an influx of 50,000-60,000 people coming into the daily lives of those who live in the city and that is going to cause an amount of disruption.

"But this is our ninth away tie in Europe this year and we have taken thousands of people across the continent. We took 20,000 to Barcelona alone and we have had no arrests.

"That says something about the behaviour so far of our supporters.

Enjoy themselves

"Let's not tell any lies. Our supporters like to enjoy themselves and like to drink, but they have not been associated with violent disorder. They like to party and enjoy themselves and, hopefully, Manchester can look forward to a friendly invasion from Scottish supporters.

"If you are going to have a huge influx of visitors to your city for whatever purpose, you want to make sure that their time is employed in a positive way.

"The traditional way, when Uefa organise finals like this, is to create fan zones. If I was asked what should be done, I would suggest some areas being set aside, perhaps for a big screen, other entertainment and refreshments. That's the tack I will be taking up with people today."

The former police officer made his comments before going into a meeting with officials from Greater Manchester Police, Uefa and Zenit St Petersburg.

GMP Chief Superintendent Gerry Donnellan repeatedly answered queries about arrangements for ticketless supporters by saying: "If you haven't got a ticket, don't come."

He added: "We have been planning for almost 12 months and we have liaised with our colleagues at Strathclyde Police. It is a world-class event and we want to make sure it's policed in a world-class fashion. We are confident with our plans and they will be revised over the next 13 days.

"We have identified risk supporters who may be causing us problems as supporters. I want genuine fans to come here to have a good time and don't spoil it for everybody else."

The Sports Editor of the Glasgow Evening Times, David Stirling, said there could be as many as 100,000 Rangers fans descending on Manchester.

He said: "The fans want this to be the party of all parties.

"Asking those without tickets not to travel will fall on deaf ears so they need to be accommodated with screens and drinking areas.

"The authorities need to accept they are coming because Scottish fans travel expecting not to get into the match.

Authorities

"So if there is something organised then they will go to it because they will all want to be together."

Zenit, who were recently rocked by claims of being racist after manager Dick Advocaat confessed his club have no black players because their fans would never accept them, arrive in Manchester a week before United fans jet the opposite way to Moscow for the Champions League final.

And Manchester's hotel boss also predicted the flood of fans heading to Manchester will provide the city's hotels with a 'huge challenge'.

Stephen Miles, chairman of the Manchester Hoteliers Association, said: "As it is, that week is one of the busiest on the corporate calendar and I know that occupation is already at 70 per cent throughout Manchester Hotels. The Radisson Edwardian, for example, is fully booked.

"We have had calls from Scottish media asking if the city can cope with the 100,000 fans they believe are heading our way. I think the truth is that many will only head here for the day and others will have to stay in cities around Manchester like Leeds and Liverpool. But it will be a huge challenge."

Pubs, bars and clubs are also gearing up for the Glaswegian invasion.

Phil Burke, spokesman for the Manchester Pub and Club Network, said: "We have been preparing for this since last August. We have always known it was going to be incredibly busy in the city on that day.

"We have special measures in place to deal with all the fans, many of whom won't have tickets, and we have all been working very closely with the police to make sure everyone can enjoy themselves in the right kind of atmosphere.

"There is no police force better prepared or experienced at dealing with this kind of huge outdoor event than GMP and we are all looking forward very much to the day - it could be very good for everyone involved."

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