Harlequins Stoop to conquer

Leinster supporters face a scramble for tickets for the Heineken Cup quarter-finals following the decision of Harlequins not to move the match to Twickenham. Instead, with the match remaining at the Stoop, Leinster will receive an allocation of less than 3,000.

Given that Leinster took over 10,000 fans to Twickenham for the Wasps game last month, and would have expected to bring at least as many to April’s quarter-final, the news is a massive blow to their growing support base.

Leinster season ticket holders must enter a lottery draw to secure a seat for the match. Should there be any tickets remaining, which is extremely unlikely, they will be offered to supporters club members via a random draw.

Harlequins opted not to move the match from their traditional home - which lies just 400 yards from Twickenham itself, virtually in the shadows of the 82,000-capacity stadium - in an effort to eke out any possible advantage they can over Michael Cheika’s side.

“This is our first ever home tie in the knockout stages in the Heineken Cup,” explained their chief executive Mark Evans.

“We wish to progress further and recognise that Leinster are a very experienced side in terms of European competition. Although the playing advantage linked to staying at the Stoop may be relatively small, so is the margin between success and failure at this level.

“On balance, we thought the arguments in favour of staying put were marginally the stronger, although we recognise there are disadvantages in doing so.”

The most obvious of which is financial. With a large support travelling from Ireland, the English club could have expected to attract upwards of 50,000 to Twickenham. The Stoop has a capacity of just over 12,000, so the loss of revenue involved will be considerable.

“In the current economic climate there was a good deal of pressure to relocate,” added Evans. “Even more importantly, we know that many Quins fans will not be able to secure a ticket given that our allocation of 9,150 is lower than our average attendance.

“Nevertheless, we felt the majority of our core support wanted to remain at our traditional ground.”

In an effort to offset the financial shortfall, Harlequins have raised ticket prices for the game with seats costing €49.50, €42.95 and €36.50.