Aston Villa have banned one of their own players from the Carling Cup final after he was caught selling match tickets for the big game on Facebook. England under-19 star Nathan Baker was selling the sought-after tickets on the social networking site for £200 each.
Baker, 18, was inundated with offers for the passes – which don’t go on general sale until Monday – and stood to make £1,000 by selling his friends and family ticket allocation for the clash with Manchester United on February 28. Villa have been forced to discipline the young defender by removing the tickets from him and banning him from attending the cup final clash at Wembley.
Baker, hailed as ‘the new John Terry’ by coaching staff at League Two Lincoln City where he is currently on loan, has had to make a grovelling apology to Villa fans. Villa squad members are strictly forbidden from selling on tickets allocated to the first team for friends and family.
While it is thought Baker had not yet received the tickets he planned to sell, posts on his Facebook page saw him turn down an offer of £500 for all five of his tickets before securing £200 for each of them. A spokesperson for the club said: ‘The club is saddened that Nathan has been so foolish.
All of the players were made aware that tickets for the Carling Cup final are available for their own use only and, following this incident, the message has been repeated to them.
The teenager said that he regretted selling the tickets online.
‘I wish to apologise unreservedly to the fans for my actions,’ he said. ‘I appreciate it is a privilege to be part of Aston Villa Football Club and one day I hope to play in the first team, but I understand that my behaviour off the pitch must speak as loudly as my actions on the pitch.
Baker will not face any additional punishment, with a source at Villa Park saying the club has drawn a ‘major distinction’ between the teenager and the club’s senior stars.
He made the bench for two early season European fixtures, and was on the club’s pre-season tour of Switzerland last summer.
