Arsenal are investigating the technical problems that left thousands of supporters queueing outside the Emirates on Saturday afternoon and led their opening game of the Premier League season against Nottingham Forest to be delayed by 30 minutes.
Some estimates suggested as many as 35,000 fans were still to enter the stadium at 12.30pm, when the match was due to kick off. The scenes outside were chaotic but largely good-tempered as it became apparent a technology failure left them unable to pass through the gates. It was clear as the appointed start time approached that the opening stages of the match would be played to swathes of empty seats if kick-off was not put back.
Initial suggestions were that a new e-ticketing setup not previously used by Arsenal at a top-flight game had crashed. The club were looking into the cause on Saturday evening and there were suggestions that a server error in the system that controls their turnstiles may have been to blame.
The technical hitch, thought to have lasted about half an hour, was resolved by about 12.40pm and the vast majority of fans were able to gain entry in time for the revised kick-off time at 1pm.
Arsenal officials said there had been no unrest or injuries as supporters queued in increasingly congested conditions. There were, though, allegations that some fans had been allowed unchecked entry to the stadium as access doors were opened to relieve pressure. In response the club said stewards were present with handheld scanners to process each supporter’s ticket.
UPDATE: This afternoon's game with Nottingham Forest will now kick off at 1pm (UK), due to a delay at the turnstiles.
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) August 12, 2023
A club statement apologised for the fiasco, while Mikel Arteta echoed the sentiment after his side’s 2-1 win. “From my position apologies to all of [the fans] for what happened,” Arteta said. “As a spokesperson for the club I apologise. We will look at what happened and try to improve it. Thank you to everybody for the patience they had, thank you for the refs and Forest to allow the kick-off to be delayed and make sure we had the atmosphere that we deserve to play a Premier League match.”
