LEIGH LEOPARDS owner Derek Beaumont has backed supporters choosing not to attend Thursday’s Super League derby at Wigan Warriors.
The club have sold 1,450 tickets, returning the other 3,550 from a total 5,000 allocation, according to Beaumont.
Notably little attempt was made by the Leopards to promote the fixture on their social media channels.
It comes after a row between the clubs before and after last season’s play-off semi-final, also at The Brick Community Stadium.
Beaumont threatened to withdraw Leigh from that match due to a grievance with the away ticket allocation and the cancellation of tickets for home sections bought by Leopards fans.
He then alleged that Leigh supporters had been subjected to “despicable treatment… queuing in poor weather conditions whilst they were physically searched” which prompted an RFL investigation, the findings from which are yet to be known.
Of the low ticket take-up for their first trip to Wigan since, Beaumont said: “Whilst this comes at a significant loss in commission to the club, I can fully support and understand our fans not wanting to expose themselves to the same ridiculous treatment.
“I had hoped that this situation would have been cleared up by the promised investigation… that we fully cooperated with including a recent face-to-face meeting, however unfortunately that has not been the case and therefore fans are understandably sceptical about attending.”
However, he expressed his satisfaction with the treatment of Leigh fans entering for this fixture, adding: “It is evident that those unprecedented and unnecessary restrictions and treatment of our fans have been removed based on intelligence of fans being able to purchase into the side (home) areas and fans already having entered the stadium in leopard print that they were previously turned away for.
“Furthermore I am advised from intelligence of people attending at our request that there has been no patting down of our fans entering the stadium so far this evening.”