Terry Parris has spelled out why Lewes could not continue their FA Cup adventure in Sussex.

Rooks have confirmed they will relinquish home advantage and travel to Stoke City for their first round tie on Sunday, November 18.

The Rooks chairman has promised to lay on coaches "at a viable cost" in a bid to get as many supporters as possible to the 28,000 capacity Britannia Stadium.

Parris said: "Our first priority was to get the game played at Lewes Football Club because, as we saw on Tuesday, it is all about the local fans and supporters.

"Unfortunately, due to the logistics and safety reasons we realised we could not hold it there.

"We have now looked at the alternatives and we hope as many people as possible will follow us up there.

"We apologise we cannot get the game on at our ground but there are reasons for that.

"We will make it financially possible for anybody to travel with us. We will lay coaches on to travel at a reasonable cost rather than making money."

A crowd of 1,802 were at the Dripping Pan for Tuesday's game at Mangotsfield and it was evident that night that the ground could not cope with a much larger turnout.

Parris said: "The reasons were on safety grounds because Stoke get an away following more than the capacity of the ground. It would be very difficult to get the Stoke fans into the Dripping Pan, let alone the Sussex fans. For those reasons it could not be played here at Lewes Football Club. The police were involved in that decision.

"If 4,000 people got into Lewes Football Club and something serious happened, it would be down to the club. We cannot afford to take that risk."

A switch to the Withdean Stadium was considered but ruled out as Albion are at home to Shrewsbury in the FA Cup on Saturday November 17 and would not want someone else using the pitch the night before. There could also be a problem with Albion's women team using the pitch on the Sunday plus there would almost certainly be opposition from residents.

Broadfield Stadium was also considered but it was felt the capacity of less than 5,000 was restrictive and that Crawley may not want to stage a game involving Stoke fans with a less than perfect record in recent seasons. It was therefore decided by the FA to switch the game.

Officials at Stoke City said yesterday tickets will be priced at £12 and £6 for concessions but full details, relating to Lewes's allocation, when and where tickets will be available from and whether it will be all-ticket to Lewes supporters will be announced later today.

Lewes have said anyone wishing to find out more about travel arrangements should contact the club on 01273 472100.