At last we have an outbreak of common sense inside Elland Road, after our turbulent start to the week. We won’t now have to suffer a limit of 2,000 tickets for our away games.

Though Massimo Cellino has been disqualified by the league for a second time, he will still being allowed to run the club until October 28th, the deadline for him to launch any appeal against the League’s ruling. And tonight the club announced that he will reverse his decision on away tickets in response to the furious criticism that the move provoked from the club’s supporters.

The limit of 2,000 away tickets was due to come into force for first time for the game at Huddersfield Town on November 7 but will not now be imposed. Today he met Leeds Fans United (the group who are looking to buy a shareholding in the club on behalf of the supporters) and the two sides agreed to issue a joint statement.

Cellino said: “We are frustrated by the fixture changes but we never intended to penalise our own supporters at away games. We have listened to their concerns and acted on them. We also considered their safety as we understand that many would attempt to buy tickets in home areas. We will now work with the fans to find a peaceful way that shows our disappointment without taking something away from them. That will be crucial if we are to achieve what we need to.”

While Leeds Fans United chief executive Dylan Thwaites said “We look forward to partnering with Massimo and the club to make this work for everyone. Our away support is second to none for their commitment to following the team all over the country. We hear the frustrations from supporters who have to miss games or pay extra money because of amended fixtures. We will all work together to come up with a solution that works for everyone.”

So the club will continue it’s efforts to reduce the number of fixture changes we have to put up with, and although the threat to penalise other clubs financially has been withdrawn, the point has been made. We will now have to hope that the Football League and Sky have taken note, and from now on they will be more reasonable when they decide how many Leeds games will be moved to suit television.

Photo: Action Images

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