Ticket sales for Scottish Cup final hit 26,000 in a day

Hundreds of United fans queued at the ticket office on Tannadice Street

Tayside football fans have snapped up 26,000 tickets for the Scottish Cup final on the first full day of sales.

Dundee United and St Johnstone will play at Celtic Park on 17 May.

Both clubs saw large queues outside their ticket offices from the early hours of Monday, when tickets went on sale, with United reportedly selling about 16,000 and Saints selling 10,500.

It is the first time St Johnstone have reached the Scottish Cup final in their 130-year history.

Dundee United lifted the trophy for a second time in 2010.

Hundreds of fans lined up at St Johnstone's McDiarmid Park and at United's club shop on Tannadice Street from 06:00 on Monday to secure tickets for the first ever all-Tayside final.

The Perth Saints had already shifted 6,500 tickets to season-ticket holders through the weekend, before the first day of general sales brought their total into five figures.

United have commenced their priority sales for season-ticket holders, with a general sale to follow from Thursday.

A ticket office worker said the United shop had been "manic", while St Johnstone had to draft in extra staff for the counter and phone lines.

The Perth club has already requested more tickets from the Scottish Football Association, with their initial allocation of 11,300 almost completely sold.

They have also sold out all seats on more than 20 buses travelling to the final, while Scotrail is putting on up to six special trains to service the event despite line closures affecting the route on the day.

St Johnstone have had the better of the last three league encounters between the sides, winning all three matches without conceding a goal, although United won their first meeting of the season 4-0.

The match will be played at the 60,000-capacity Celtic Park in Glasgow, which also hosted last month's League Cup final between Aberdeen and Inverness Caledonian Thistle.