NEXT month's Scottish Cup final could be played in front of the lowest crowd for the fixture in 36 years after the finalists estimated no more than 30,000 spectators at best would attend the match.
But while there could be as many as 20,000 empty seats inside Hampden on the day, there is no chance Falkirk or Inverness Caledonian Thistle will agree to the game moving to a smaller stadium.
The clubs are due to meet the SFA on Thursday to discuss ticket prices and allocationn for the May 15 showpiece, and while there will be a major promotional push by the clubs to attract families to the match, even the most positive predictions suggest the stadium, which can seat just over 52,000, could be almost half full.
Ronnie Bateman, the Falkirk managing director, was at the 1997 final staged at Ibrox because Hampden was being refurbished, a match which his club lost to Kilmarnock in front of 20,000 of their own fans.
He believes it would be asking a lot for a repeat of those numbers. The club held a meeting yesterday morning to begin work on attracting as many potential fans in the area to attend the match.
Bateman said: "We are not expecting the same numbers we got in 1997. We will, however, be working very hard to get as many as possible to the game.
"My guesstimate would be that between us and Inverness we will get 25,000 of our fans at the game. When you add in what the SFA give away and the neutrals who will come along, then I would say we are looking at a crowd of 30,000.
"That's not bad given that we are both small, provincial clubs.
"I spoke to the Inverness people who were down watching our semi-final on Saturday and they felt they could get 10,000 to the final."
While it would be wrong to say that every Scottish Cup final has been a sell-out in recent times, you have to go back to Rangers' win over Hibs in 1979 when a crowd of 30,602 watched what was the second replay after two goalless draws, to find a crowd as low as the figures expected this time.
Inverness were reluctant to comment on the numbers they were planning for, but did say that, as is the case with Falkirk, a major promotional push would be launched in the hope that people in the Highlands get behind the club. Bateman, though, ruled out the possibility of the game moved to another venue.
He said: "Should it be moved from Hampden? Absolutely not. These players have worked hard to earn the right to play a final at the stadium. It would be quite wrong to deny them the opportunity.
"We have a month without football before the final and we will be doing heavy promotions in the local factories, Grangemouth and the like, to get as many people as we can to come along.
"I have spoken to a lot of Falkirk fans since Saturday and the consensus was that we will bring 12,500 at least. That's the number we took to Hampden in 2009 - and maybe we had a bit more then - when we lost to Rangers in the final.
"We need to make the most of it being a family day. That's how we want to promote the final. It should be a fantastic occasion."
Much will depend on ticket pricing. The SFA would be well advised to learn lessons from the past if they want as many people inside the stadium as possible.
Bateman said: "I don't know what the SFA are thinking about in terms of prices, but it was sensible at the semi-final and it would be right to do so again. Kids could go for £5 and it was £23 for a top price, which isn't bad for a Scottish Cup Final, down to £15 for concessions."
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