Monday 15th May 2006
Issued on behalf of Sale Sharks
Following Sunday's epic GUIINNESS PREMIERSHIP semi final victory against defending Champions London Wasps at a packed Edgeley Park, the Cheshire club look set to break their record for fans travelling to Twickenham.

Demand for tickets for the GUINNESS PREMIERSHIP final against Leicester Tigers on May 27th is such that the club's allocation of 15,000 tickets is expected to be sold out before the end of the week. More than 2000 tickets were sold in the first two hours of the ticket office at Edgeley Park opening this morning.

Chief Executive Niels de Vos commented; 'We have always believed that Sale Sharks has the potential to be the best supported team in England, and the Championship Final gives us the chance to prove that theory. Our opponents Leicester Tigers will certainly sell their allocation and if we can match them ticket for ticket it will be an astonishing feat. They are coming from a base of some 15,000 season ticket holders having won 5 consecutive titles and back to back European cups at the turn of the Millennium so for Sale Sharks to now be competing with them both on and off the field is a measure of just how our club has grown since our move to Edgeley in 2003.

On our two previous visits to Twickenham - in 1997 and 2004 for the knockout cup finals, a similar number travelled, showing that the whole region gets behind the team when we are in a showpiece final. Manchester has always supported its sports sides and this year will be no different I am sure. What will be different however, is that this time the percentage of those fans whoa re regular committed fans who watch week in week out at Edgeley Park will be very much greater - starting with the magnificent 10,000+ who roared us on to victory at the weekend.

This final is Sale Sharks' chance to force ourselves in to the wider sporting consciousness of the North West - and the signs are that the North West is waking up to the fact that they are home to one of the top teams in Europe'