SWINDON Town have returned around 9,000 unsold tickets for this weekend's playoff final - but fans can still get their hands on the precious stubs.

More than 21,000 tickets, from an initial allocation of 30,500, are understood to have already been sold, with the club forced to send unsold tickets back to Wembley in good time for the game.

Today the club announced that all tickets, apart from a select 250, would go off-sale tomorrow morning at 8am.

For those still keen to reserve a seat for the match, from 8am, the 250 seats – in the £52 and £62 categories – will be available for purchase online through Ticketmaster for collection from the stadium on the day.

As far as the other 9,000-or-so seats are concerned, Wembley and the Football League will make a decision whether they will be made available for supporters to purchase on Sunday at the stadium.

Roger Bunce, chairman of the supporters' club, has seen every Town appearance at Wembley since 1969, when they beat Arsenal 3-1.

He said the number of tickets being returned may be because of the rising cost. The prices have been criticised by TrustSTFC.

"I think it is quite an expensive day out," he said. "I'm lucky, or unlucky depending on how you look at it, as I'm 65 now and my ticket is half price.

"But if you have four of you wanting to go, it's very expensive. Last time, my wife came and two grandsons, and it was expensive then but it's more expensive now and I think that has a lot to do with it.

"Football has just got more expensive."

Mr Bunce said Town's form on recent visits to the national stadium could also have made fans reluctant to make the trip to the capital.

"A couple of people have said to me that they don't want to spend the money after the last two games (defeats to Millwall in the 2010 playoff final and Chesterfield in the 2012 Johnstone's Paint trophy) because the last few were so poor."

Swindon Fans could be outnumbered at Wembley. Opponents Preston North End will open up the remainder of their tickets for general sale tomorrow morning.

From 9am, the remainder of the West End allocation will be put on sale for Preston supporters, with members and season ticket holders having first opportunity in the past few days. Yesterday, the club confirmed 21,000 had been sold before their general sale.