A large part of the build up to the semi final vs. Spurs has been dominated by the row between the clubs over tickets and ticket prices.

In essence, Spurs wanted 15% of Arsenal’s capacity, as per competition rules; and they also wanted Arsenal to price the tickets at normal rates, so that they maximised their revenue; Carling Cup rules mean that the away team receives 45% of the ticket sales revenue for each match.

The row blew up because:

1. Arsenal said Spurs could only have just under 5,200 seats, rather than the 9,000 they could have expected under the 15% rule. This was due to safety concerns and restrictions supposedly imposed on the new ground by a combination of the police, Islington Council and the Football Licensing Authority.

2. None of these three authorities would allow Arsenal to allocate 9,000 seats to Spurs, as this was seen as too high a leap from the normal 3,000 or so away fans in the new stadium. Supposedly they wanted to experience handling 5,000 away fans before they agree to 9,000. This may be a petty and bureaucratic rule but that’s how life is sometimes.

Spurs’ response was to cut Arsenal’s allocation of away tickets to their home leg.

Personally, I think the police and the other authorities’ rulings are ridiculous, and I would have no problem about 9,000 Spurs fans at Arsenal, especially as I am sure we will win.

Of more significance is the row over ticket prices. For many years, Arsenal have cut the prices for their Carling Cup ties, including for semi final matches. Spurs however wanted Arsenal to price the tickets as per normal games. It is easy to see why. As they say across the pond – do the math! So here goes:

Arsenal’s normal ticket prices range from £46 to £94 for a category A match, and from £32 to £66 for a category B match. Now I don’t have the exact number of seats at each price, but allowing for more tickets at the lower end of the scale, an average price for Arsenal would be £60 for a category A match and £42 for a category B match

Taking the 60,400 capacity of our stadium gives total revenue of just over £3.6mn for a category A match and just over £2.5mn for a category B match. Taking 45% of this for Spurs would mean they would get either £1.63mn or £1.14mn!!!

Arsenal wanted to price the tickets at between £30 and £40 in line with practice in previous years; this is what they did last year when Wigan were in the semi final. No one at Wigan complained at Arsenal cutting their prices!!

Had Arsenal been able to do this, producing an average price of £35, total ticket revenues would be £2.11mn, meaning Spurs’ 45% would be worth only £951,000.

In the end, the football authorities ruled that Arsenal had to price the tickets at category B prices. In theory this means that Spurs could get around £1.14mn, as opposed to around £950,000.

In reality, therefore, Spurs – who had been expecting this to be a category A match – were expecting to make around £1.6mn from the match at our stadium; Arsenal would have taken just under £2m if it were a category A match. Arsenal wanted to price the tickets much lower and actually only take just over £1.1m instead, ie £900,000 less than if it were a category A match.

If Arsenal were in the financial trouble they are said to be in (which I don’t believe) they would have priced the tickets as category A as they would have needed the extra £900,000.

However, for those who think Spurs are getting too much money, don’t forget Arsenal will be entitled to 45% of their revenue - they will (I believe) price their home game as a Category A match, with prices from £39 to £71; taking £47 as an average, gives total revenue of £1.7mn, of which Arsenal’s 45% is just over £765,000. Spurs' net take is therefore going to be around £375,000, ie a couple of months' wages for their top earner. Of course had they had their wish and made Arsenal price the game at the top price, Spurs net take would have been around £850,000.

Forget safety concerns, this was all about money. Pure and simple. And it is quite obvious who has the most concerns about money. At the time of writing this, Spurs’ financial concerns have worsened. Feyenoord have been thrown out of the UEFA Cup, apparently meaning Spurs progress to the next round with a bye. Who knows whether Spurs would have regarded Feyenoord in the UEFA Cup as a category A match, but if they did, that would £1.7mn of ticket revenue, not to mention TV revenue, disappearing down the proverbial plughole. No wonder they looked at the match at Arsenal as easy money.