Chelsea fans charged £1,187 for FA Cup final tickets

Chelsea fans were today being charged up to 24 times face value for black market tickets to the FA Cup final against Portsmouth on May 15.

In the weekend's semis, Chelsea, the Premiership leaders, beat Aston Villa 3-0 and Portsmouth, who are at the bottom of the league and in administration, overcame Spurs 2-0 after extra time.

The average price of final tickets is about £50 at face value but Madrid-based agency 1st4footballtickets.com is charging £344 for seats behind the goals at either end, £1,062.50 for seats along the side of the pitch and £1,187.50 for prestige "Club Level" seats.

The Football Association has allocated 25,000 tickets to each club. The other 40,000 tickets will be taken by Club Wembley members and distributed to county associations and corporate sponsors.

It is illegal to sell on football tickets over the internet but many online touts have moved off-shore.