League angry at Wembley decision

The Football League has criticised Wembley officials after a ruling which could mean 10,000 empty seats at this weekend's play-off finals.

Wembley will not pass on unused debenture seats to the finalists.

The Football League's chief operating officer, Andy Williamson, said: "We are hugely disappointed Wembley has been unable to find a solution.

A Wembley Stadium official said the Football League had rejected a "generous offer" it had been made.

Wembley Stadium managing director Alex Horne said: "We offered the Football League an equal share in any revenue from the sale of the available Club Wembley seats in order to fill the stadium.

"It is unfortunate that the Football League was not satisfied with the generous offer as it would have maximised the number of fans that could have attended this weekend's games."

The Football League is expecting record-breaking attendances for the return of the play-offs to Wembley.

But despite discussions between Wembley officials and the Football League, the seats are likely to be unused.

Wembley has told the League that the remaining seats cannot be put on general sale due to a lack of adequate segregation.

PLAY-OFF FINALS Saturday 26 May Bristol Rovers v Shrewsbury Sunday 27 May Yeovil v Blackpool Monday 28 May Derby v West Brom

The new national stadium has approximately 14,400 'Club Wembley' seats (together with about 2,000 further seats in executive boxes) out of the 90,000 capacity.

They have all been sold for multi-year periods to debenture holders.

Membership of 'Club Wembley' includes tickets to a number of guaranteed events, including the FA Cup final, Carling Cup final and England matches.

It also gives members first option on tickets on a series of other events, including the play-off finals.

The Football League has signed a 20-year Staging Agreement with WNSL, which undertake to provide a minimum of 67,000 tickets to the League.

This entire allocation is passed on by the League to the two clubs.

Williamson added: "We'll continue to press Wembley to put plans in place to address this issue for future Football League events."