Southampton has made 400 Category 1 tickets available for eligible Saints supporters ahead of the Emirates FA Cup semi-final against Manchester City on Saturday 25 April 2026 at 5.15pm BST.
Eligible supporters will be able to purchase up to four additional tickets per qualifying supporter number, with the online sale opening at 10.30am.
The remaining allocation is strictly limited: all 400 tickets are Category 1, and they can only be bought through the club’s online system. Previously purchased tickets cannot be moved, the club says.
To qualify to buy the additional seats a supporter number must have a booking history dating back to the 2021/22 season. The club defines a booking history as any men’s first team competitive fixture during that period.
The sale structure means each qualifying supporter number can add up to four more tickets to existing bookings, subject to the online purchasing process. No other purchase channels have been made available for this allocation.
The match itself is an Emirates FA Cup semi-final at Wembley. That context explains why the remaining allocation is limited and why the club has set a booking-history threshold for eligibility.
The practical effect of the booking-history rule is that only supporters who have attended or booked men’s first team competitive fixtures since 2021/22 can take part in this additional purchase window. Supporters without that booking history are not eligible to buy from this tranche.
All remaining tickets are identified as Category 1, a single price band for this release. The club has not made any Category 2 or other-category seats available from this remaining allocation.
Tension for supporters arises from two constraints working together: a hard cap of 400 seats and an individual limit of up to four extra tickets per qualifying supporter number. Those limits, combined with the online-only purchase requirement and the rule that previously bought seats cannot be reallocated, mean that fans holding seats elsewhere cannot transfer into this allocation.
The online-only sale and the booking-history qualification also create a clear division between those able to participate in the purchase window and those who cannot. The club’s approach prioritises supporters with a record of booking men’s first team competitive fixtures since the 2021/22 season.
What happens next is straightforward on the calendar: at 10.30am eligible Saints supporters can begin buying additional tickets online for the Emirates FA Cup semi-final against Manchester City scheduled for Saturday 25 April at 5.15pm BST.
Given the fixed number of 400 Category 1 tickets and the per-supporter limit of up to four, the remaining allocation will be distributed only to those with qualifying booking histories and who complete purchases through the online system; previously purchased tickets will remain in place and cannot be changed.
