LEIGH LEOPARDS owner Derek Beaumont has hit back at Wigan Warriors for an “unnecessary and factually incorrect” statement as he clarified that Friday’s semi-final will take place.

Wigan claimed that Beaumont had threatened to withdraw Leigh from the play-off clash following a grievance over ticket allowances.

Beaumont admitted having done so in a WhatsApp message to Wigan CEO Kris Radlinski but said this was “not a serving of a formal notice… (but) a message in anger regarding the cancelling of legitimate fans’ tickets bought in good faith.”

The dispute arose from Leigh only being allocated the North Stand of The Brick Community Stadium for its supporters.

Wigan said this was “determined by the independent Safety Advisory Group and our Ground Safety Officer, following consultation with the police”, and “endorsed” by Super League.

Beaumont said this away end “sold out almost immediately” with a request for a further allocation refused.

Because tickets were on general sale, some Leigh supporters bought tickets directly from Wigan, as is usually accepted in rugby league with segregation only enforced in a small number of fixtures considered high-risk.

Beaumont says that Wigan deemed this game as such because “a small number of fans let off flares” at last year’s semi-final between the two clubs.

When Leigh’s owner tried to negotiate a separate, additional section – admitting he was “concerned regarding large numbers of fans being amongst Wigan fans and anything boiling over in such a big game” – Wigan attempted to cancel tickets bought by Leopards supporters.

The Warriors have also since restricted tickets to those who have previously purchased through the club.

In an extraordinary passage of Beaumont’s statement, which ran to more than 4,000 words, he said his threat to withdraw Leigh came after hearing “whisperings of ‘bricking the Brick’ and people planning protests and demonstrations.

He added: “I had also been alerted to the fact fans were planning on opening the exit gates to allow locked out fans to get inside the game or rush turnstiles and reception. As I am writing this it feels like I am writing a fictional book but it’s real, very real.”

Beaumont said he now wanted to “dampen the flames” and asked for calm from Leigh supporters, while pleading with Wigan to reinstate the cancelled tickets.

He also hit out at Wigan for an “attempt to cause damage to my reputation” by making the dispute public, and said their initial statement inaccurately quoted both the timing of his message to Radlinski and the North Stand ticket allocation.

READ: Derek Beaumont’s full 4,400-word response to Wigan Warriors