Hottest ticket in St Louis! City v Chelsea's post-season friendly sells out in 20 minutes

By John Drayton

PUBLISHED: 13:21 EST, 3 April 2013 | UPDATED: 13:39 EST, 3 April 2013

Manchester City have announced that all tickets for their post-season friendly against Chelsea in the United States sold out within 20 minutes of going on sale.

City will play the Londoners in a match at the home of St Louis Cardinals, Busch Stadium, on May 23.

The stadium has a capacity of 46,861 and is now guaranteed one of the largest crowds in its history.

Rivals: Manchester City beat Chelsea 2-0 in the Premier League in February

Rivals: Manchester City beat Chelsea 2-0 in the Premier League in February

City's chief commercial and operating officer said Tom Glick said: 'We believe in US soccer and we know how much passion the fans in North America have for the beautiful game.

'The club is committed to giving fans across the world the opportunity to get close to Manchester City FC.'

Vicki Bryant, vice president of event services and merchandising for Cardinals, said: 'This event is the hottest ticket in St Louis. It is like a ticket to game seven of the World Series!'

City's end-of-season trip will allow them to further boost their profile in the US following previous visits in 2010 and 2011.

Chelsea interim boss Rafael Benitez suggested he is prepared to lead the Blues in the fixture, even though his short-term deal expires in May.

Tour: Chelsea and Manchester City have agreed to an end-of-season friendly in St Louis

Tour: Chelsea and Manchester City have agreed to an end-of-season friendly in St Louis

The Spaniard, who succeeded Champions League-winning boss Roberto Di Matteo in November, insisted his focus is on tomorrow's Europa League quarter-final first leg with Russian side Rubin Kazan.

'It's not an issue when we're playing Rubin Kazan tomorrow,' Benitez said.

'I have a contract until the end of season, I don't have any problem with that. 'I have a contract, I'm really pleased with the contract.

'I try to concentrate on Rubin Kazan tomorrow, not think about the summer.'

 

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Comments (4)

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@mistimo1st -St. Louis is home to a large BOSNIAN population. The most famous Bosnian soccer player is Edin Dzeko. I bet you they bought a large portion of those Bush Stadim TIckets. Also how can you say what you just said when you are from Dallas?

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Now if you want to put football on the map for the good old USA then theres not too better teams to do it Man City and Chelsea will produce the goods and prove once and for all to all Yanks football is not boring but a thrilling entertaining game get ready to sell more merchandise to USA !!! kerching !!!

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vast majority of soccer-loving americans are chelsea fans anyway.... doubt any manchester city fans contributed to the ticket sales. It'll be hard to find a single city supporter over here. - mistimo1st , Dallas, 03/4/2013 23:25 __________ total codswallop. Mind you, y'all live in Dallas.

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vast majority of soccer-loving americans are chelsea fans anyway.... doubt any manchester city fans contributed to the ticket sales. It'll be hard to find a single city supporter over here.

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