Red faces at FA after Wigan sell less than 4,000 tickets for Community Shield

The FA face major embarrassment after it emerged FA Cup winners Wigan have sold less than 4,000 tickets for Sunday's showpiece Community Shield at Wembley.

Wigan, relegated from the Barclays Premier League last season, turned down an initial allocation of 15,000 tickets from the FA after beating Manchester City in the FA Cup final having taken 25,000 fans to that end-of-season showpiece.

Instead they were given 7,500 tickets to sell for the clash with Premier League champions Manchester United for the season's traditional curtain-raiser.

Strong presence: Wigan took more than 2,500 supporters to their first game back in the Championship

But Wigan's priority is to get promoted back to the Premier League at the first attempt and that has been reflected in the lack of interest in Sunday's 200 mile trip to London.

Owen Coyle's team got off to a flying start in the Championship on Saturday with a thumping 4-0 win over Barnsley at Oakwell.

Wigan took more than 2,500 supporters to their first game back in the Championship following relegation, but they have shown no interest in the Community Shield.

The town's rugby league team play in the prestigious Tetley's Challenge Cup Final on August 24 against Hull and are expected to sell out their allocation. 

Four-star performance: Wigan ran out 4-0 winners against Barnsley on their Championship comeback

Although Wembley are bracing themselves for wide-open empty spaces, they have been surprised by the interest from United supporters in the clash.

United sold out their initial 38,000 allocation within days and requested another 7,500 tickets from the FA.

Last night they had sold 42,800 tickets for David Moyes's first official fixture in charge of United and expect to sell out before Sunday.

United's Community Shield commitment comes just two days after Rio Ferdinand's testimonial against Sevilla at Old Trafford on Friday evening. 

Empty seats: Last year's Community Shield between Manchester City and Chelsea wasn't sold out

Wigan's lack of interest in the clash with United represents a major headache for the FA.

They were forced to move the fixture to Villa Park last season because of the Olympics and they couldn't even sell out for the clash between Manchester City and Chelsea.

Only 36,394 turned up at Villa Park and there has been dwindling interest among supporters in recent years.

United's clash with City at Wembley in the 2011 Community Shield attracted 77,169 supporters at a stadium with a capacity of 90,000.