Double trouble for Latics fans as Wembley fever grips club

Double trouble for Latics fans as Wembley fever grips club

Ticket chaos and key Tube Station shut

Fans queue at Boundary Park for tickets today after an online system crashed (Image: Manchester Evening News )

Thousands of loyal Oldham Athletic fans were facing a double nightmare today as they tried to get tickets for Wembley. The club is to face Southend United in a game which will see one return to the Football League.

But glitches with online ticket sales and the announcement that on the day of the game - June 1 - the Wembley Park tube station will be shut has caused stress for Latics supporters. Today thousands of fans were queuing at Boundary Park in a bid to get tickets in person.

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Tickets and official coach travel went on sale today to season ticket holders. The aim was for sales to take place directly through the club, not via Wembley and to be available online and in person.

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Season Ticket holders will be entitled to purchase a maximum of four tickets per Season Ticket holder. All remaining tickets will go on general sale on Monday 26 May at 12pm.

Oldham Athletic fans queue for hours hoping to get a ticket for the upcoming Wembley game after the online system to buy tickets had gone down. Credit: Manchester Evening News (Image: Manchester Evening News )

But fans converged on the ground when the online system failed. Supporters were greeted with the message: "Online sales are currently closed. Your account does not currently have access to this event".

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The club also posted: "We are aware there is an issue with our ticketing system recognising some email addresses. This currently being investigated by our ticketing provider. We will provide an update when further information is known and apologise for the inconvenience this has caused."

One fan told the Manchester Evening News: "The tickets went on sale today and you have got like 20,000 Oldham fans trying to buy tickets online. The site has crashed and everyone is kicking off. I just dropped my son off at the ground to queue. I am fuming with it all.

"Not only that I have booked a hotel for us to go down on the Saturday when the game is being played on the Sunday but the travel is disrupted too. There is work going on that weekend on the London Underground service. The only safe way to get there is by coach. It is a complete farce."

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"The queues today were all around the ground. People are panicking because of the online ticket sales not working and driving to the stadium."

Latics fans waiting to buy tickets today for the Wembley game on June 1st against Southend United (Image: Manchester Evening News )

A Wembley Stadium spokesperson said: "Both clubs have been given an initial allocation of 17,500 tickets and a further 2,500 coach and ticket packages will go on sale today. Once the allocation has been sold additional tickets can be made available to supporters travelling to Wembley via organised coach services.

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"The safety and security of fans at Wembley Stadium is of paramount importance. The safety requirements of each event are assessed individually and we work with key stakeholders including Tfl (Transport for London); Chiltern Rail, and the local authority to ensure supporters can safely arrive and depart the venue."

In a statement Wembley Stadium said: "Tfl have planned engineering works affecting the Jubilee and Metropolitan lines on 1st June resulting in Wembley Park Station being closed. Wembley Stadium has been working with Tfl for some time on this issue however these are significant engineering works that cannot be moved or accommodated on other weekends.

Dedicated Latics fans waiting for tickets today (Image: Manchester Evening News )

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"Given the works taking place and the closure of the main station that serves Wembley Stadium we need to limit capacity of the ground to ensure fans can safely arrive and depart the venue."

A senior source at Oldham Athletic said that it was expected 20,000 to 25,000 fans wanted to go to the game and that Southend were expecting 30,000 supporters to want tickets. But they revealed that Latics had had 36 hours notice of the closure of Wembley Park Station.

Some fans turned up at Boundary Park before 12 noon.

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Wembley Stadium in a further statement said that capacity for the game had been capped at 40,000 "based on travel assessments". But they say it will be reviewed following the initial ticket sale.

For those travelling by rail there are alternative rail routes to the stadium on London Overground and the Bakerloo Line stopping at Wembley Central.

The Stadium says it has put in place additional "contingency plans" for supporters not travelling by rail. These include working with the clubs to provide direct coach services and increasing available parking at the stadium, including a park and walk operation at nearby Fryent Park.

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An Oldham Athletic source explained that the club and Southend had both tried to do the best for their supporters by taking on the supply of tickets themselves instead of via Wembley Stadium. But the Wembley "footprint" needed to be built onto the clubs' systems for online sales but because of the short notice they had to do it there were "teething" issues.

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