Aston Villa issue strong ticket threat ahead of Celtic Champions League showdown

The club have issued the threat amid fears of the re-sale of tickets for the showdown, either in person or on secondary ticketing platforms, and warned details will be passed to police should anyone be found to be selling on tickets..

The warning comes as thousands of Celtic fans are set to converge on Birmingham on Wednesday - many without tickets for a game which is crucial to both clubs.

Celtic have an official allocation of 2,100 tickets for the clash - but authorities are eager to avoid scenes similar to those seen at Old Trafford last week where large numbers of Rangers fans infiltrated home areas of the ground for their Europa League match on Thursday.

It has been reported that up to 10,000 Aston Villa fans could be making their way to the West Midlands.

That resulted in violent clashes between opposing supporters and an investigation has been launched by the Old Trafford hierarchy into how Scottish supporters were able to access home support areas.

And Villa have now issued a statement warning their own ticket holders that they must not sell on their tickets - or face serious consequences.

In a statement, the club said: "Aston Villa would like to remind all supporters attending Wednesday’s Champions League fixture against Celtic that tickets purchased for home areas via Aston Villa are for Aston Villa supporters only.

"All GA (general admission) tickets have been purchased with an Aston Villa booking history and will be fulfilled digitally, sent to a registered email address.

"Tickets are sold for the sole use of the individual named on the ticket and the club does not permit them to be resold.

"Any fans found to be forwarding their ticket for use by visiting supporters will be prevented from purchasing tickets for the rest of the season at least. For clarity, this also includes the resale of tickets on secondary ticketing platforms who only seek to inflate the face value price."

It adds: "Season ticket holders will also have their season tickets revoked should they be found selling their seats to visiting supporters.

"Not only is touting risking your ability to attend future matches at Villa Park, it is illegal and West Midlands Police will be informed. The club would also request that supporters make the club aware of any fans who are attempting to sell their tickets either directly or via a third party.

"The club would urge all supporters, for the safety of all those attending matches at Villa Park, to respect the need for segregation."

Villa, who sit ninth in the Champions League table, need to beat Celtic and hope other results go their way to achieve automatic qualification for the knockout stage for the last 16 of the competition.

Celtic, who are a point behind Villa in the table, need to beat Villa to have an outside chance of qualifying for the knockout stages automatically.

Villa are already guaranteed a play-off place - where the 16 teams who finish between ninth and 24th in the Champions League table - are drawn to whittle them down to play-off against those who automatically qualify in the top eight.

Celtic are currently 18th and are also sure of a knockout place at least after their 1-0 victory over Young Boys last week.

Manchester United are currently investigating after trouble broke out at Old Trafford last week when Rangers fans made their way into home areas.

United insist they took a number of "strict" measures to prevent away fans getting into the home end and said tickets were only allocated to supporters on the club's database.

But the club acknowledged that, given the "unauthorised touting of tickets", they could not "completely eliminate" the possibility of away fans sitting in the home end.

United said afterwards that they will impose the "strongest possible sanctions" against registered ticket holders found to be in breach of regulations.

Greater Manchester Police revealed they made 39 arrests across the night - 26 of which came following disorder in the city centre.