Saints chiefs were last night bracing themselves for their biggest ticket scramble in more than quarter of a century.
Danny Lennon’s shock troops booked their passage into the Scottish Communities League Cup final in March after dumping red-hot favourites Celtic in Sunday’s Saint-sational semi-final.
And the 3-2 win – thanks to goals from Esmael Goncalves, Paul McGowan and Steven Thompson – has sparked a huge demand from Buddies wanting to see St Mirren take on Hearts in the final.
The club has been inundated with ticket enquiries from fans far and wide who are desperate to witness the showdown at the national stadium on Sunday, March 17.
St Mirren fans bought an estimated 9,600 tickets for their last appearance in a national cup final – the 2010 League Cup – which the Paisley side lost 1-0 to nine-man Rangers after Kenny Miller’s late second-half header.
But early indications suggest that demand this time around could dwarf the numbers of fans who were at the final three years ago.
In fact, it could be on a par with huge support the club took to the 1987 Scottish Cup Final against Dundee United – which Saints won 1-0. Early talks over a potential ticket allocation for the final in March took place between St Mirren and the SFL moments after the final whistle on Sunday.
However, Express Sports understands that any sale of tickets will be weeks away as both teams - St Mirren and Hearts – have to agree a pricing policy for the match. The agreement must then be rubberstamped by the SFL management committee.
Saints chief executive Brian Caldwell said: “We had a very quick discussion with the SFL after the game on Sunday with regards to our potential ticket allocation but it’s obviously at a very early stage.
“While we cannot put a figure on a potential allocation, we’ll be pushing to get as many tickets that will enable us to satisfy demand from our supporters.”
More than 4,500 Saints fans turned up at Hampden on Sunday to witness one of St Mirren’s best cup results against an Old Firm team in living memory.
However, it’s likely that demand for final briefs could be three to four times that amount.
Manager Danny Lennon said: “We want to dedicate that semi-final victory to the fans and we’ll work hard to try to finish the job.”
