Canton derby moves up a gear as pre-registration for tickets opens

Whilst the Canton Derby may lack the niggle and off-field antics of that between Beijing and Tianjin or the history of the many derbies in Shanghai, the rivalry in Guangzhou is growing by the year and this season’s end of September derby may well be the biggest yet. Guangzhou Evergrande will go into the game looking to shake of Beijing Guoan’s title challenge and Guangzhou R&F are themselves involved in a battle with Shanghai East Asia as both clubs try to qualify for the ACL for the first time.

The second Canton derby of the year will take place at Guangzhou R&F’s Yuexiushan Stadium on Sunday September 28 at 7.30pm and whilst tickets are not yet on sale, demand is expected to be so high that ticket registration has now opened. Fans can go to the t3 website or that of China Post to pre-register to gain priority booking opportunities when tickets do go on sale. Tickets for Guangzhou R&F normally go on sale five days before the game so for ticket registration to open 18 days in advance is a major step and indicates that the club expect attendance at the derby to be even higher than usual.

This pre-registration is aimed at R&F fans but in a city where they are outnumbered by their Evergrande counterparts, it has become common for Yuexiushan to be filled with red shirts on derby day rather than the blue and white of R&F and many Evergrande fans will no doubt be taking this opportunity to register for tickets. However, pre-ordering tickets will allow the club and security services to be better informed about fan numbers and so make security arrangements in good time to continue the good policing of previous derby matches; particularly the 2012 game at Tianhe. hopes this continues to be the case as the blue and whites try to do the Canton derby double over Evergrande for the second time in three years.

For a guide to matchday at Yuexiushan click here