'That's not right' - Tamworth FC slammed for huge hike in ticket prices ahead of historic third round FA Cup tie with Tottenham as kids are charged £29 instead of being allowed to attend for free

Tamworth are the only non-league club to host an FA Cup third-round fixture as they are all set to welcome Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur in their 4,963 capacity stadium in Staffordshire. Generally, Tamworth charge £20 for adults and keeps entry free for children below 10.

However, due to the Football Association's decision to scrap FA Cup replays, the fifth-tier has taken the harsh call of charging their fans huge amounts for tickets for the mega clash. In the adults category, the club will charge £42 while a standing adult ticket will cost £38. Children under the age of 10 will be charged £29. The decision to hike prices has garnered the club a fair bit of criticism from fans and pundits.

Speaking on Talksport, former Premier League winger Darren Ambrose said: “I’m not here to batter Tamworth and I’m not here to stick up for Tamworth, but I’m in two minds about this. I think they’ve made an error in the under-10s [pricing] – £29 for an under-10 and over 66 could be decreased. Maybe members or season-ticket holders should get a discount. “But the other side of it is this is a generational game for Tamworth.

"How often are they going to have a top Premier League side come to their place? So, why can’t they cash in on it? That’s going to get a mixed reaction, I know that. “One of the things about this is there are no replays. If somehow Tamworth take Spurs to a draw – and I say somehow, that could actually happen at the moment by the way – there’s no extra revenue to be made on the replay, there aren’t any!"

He added: "I think they should definitely reduce the kids’ tickets because that’s not right. If you’ve got a family and you want to take your kids to watch your local team against a top Premier League club, do it for free.

"Let kids under 10 in for free, even if you’re going to keep the £42 main ticket, which is steep and probably a little bit overpriced. But these clubs are not run by millionaires and billionaires. They run week in, week out and they’re trying to cash in to keep the club running for the next however many years, which makes sense.”

Before facing Tamworth, Spurs will play three games including two Premier League games against Wolves and Newcastle on Sunday and January 4 and a Carabao Cup semi-final first-leg clash against Liverpool on January 8.