So let’s go through the reasons why Wednesday will see spaces aplenty at Ashburton.

Season ticket holders – They have to buy their seats for this match. Some will have decided not to go through the process of phoning ticketmaster or buying their seat online for any number of reasons – no internet savvy, no credit card, no desire to actually attend a game that is on television as the novelty of the new ground has worn off for all the regulars. I guestimate only about half of the 40,000 odd season ticket holders will have decided to buy their seat. Oh and a couple of hundred will turn up unaware they had to pay separately for this game and get a surprise at the turnstiles.

Short amount of notice – Everyone wanting a ticket will have to have had got a move on – this certainly applies to season ticket holders wanting their own seat, as well as everyone else. However, the glory of the electronic ticket credit system is that you can buy a seat right up until the last minute as long as you are prepared to go online or phone up. The royal mail is not a factor for home matches.

Prices – Carling Cup matches have traditionally been cheap because of the teams Arsenal field in the competition. Even on Wednesday, it will be weakened selection. However, the Football League have ordered that the game be charged at Grade B prices, so there is a price deterrent. I find it amusing that, taking the quality of the opposition into account, Arsenal reserves were regarded as Grade A opposition at the Lane, whilst Arsenal didn’t even want to rate Tottenham’s first team as Grade B for the return. Therein lies a tale! Of course, the club are capable of issuing paper tickets, so they could distribute free tickets to schools in the area as has happened for Carling Cup matches at Highbury. However, given the 5,000 Neanderthals that will be present in the away section, it might not be safe. We all know Spuds fans are indiscriminate about who they assault when it comes to matches against the Gunners. Women and children are fair game if they are Arsenal fans.

Opposition fans – Which brings us to this factor. No-one wants to face the nasty atmosphere these thugs will create. Most will put up with it, but some will be put off attending just because it’s Tottenham and there will be 5,000 of these destructive animals wandering around looking for someone to punch.

No general sale – If we were playing the majority of other teams, I believe the club would have sold paper tickets to allcomers today, tomorrow and on Wednesday morning. This certainly happened at Highbury, but because Spurs are the opposition, it obviously is not going to happen. Although obviously understandable, there are a huge number of Arsenal fans who would not pay £30 a season for membership but would come along for an individual match if they were allowed to buy a ticket.

Level of interest – The fans have bought into the idea that the club do not take the Carling Cup seriously with the consequence that they ask, why should I pay these prices to watch a second string selection? If Arsenal had been allowed to price the match on a similar level to the Wigan semi second leg last season, I feel a more confident they would have sold all the tickets to gold, silver and red members. But in all honesty, with 60,000 places, the prices are just too high. The club realise this, but if the Football League want to see empty spaces, so be it. The upshot is that this will financially hurt Tottenham too as they get 45% of the gate receipts from this game.

So if you are a gold, silver or red member you can still buy a ticket – There are plenty of £46 ones available upstairs behind the south goal (plus booking fee of course!) Just visit the official website. The club are saying that other areas of the stadium are sold out, although the way the Ticketmaster system works, I would not be so sure. We’ll see on Wednesday evening. I hope I am wrong as it would be good to see a full stadium get behind the boys in a game that will be no formality, but at this stage, unless Arsenal do some aggressive emailing to all members, I can’t see that many people suddenly deciding they want to go. And the reasons are a combination of those listed above.