Kick-off for Arsenal’s Premier League opener has been delayed after ticketing chaos at the Emirates Stadium left thousands of fans trapped outside the ground.
The Gunners were due to start their campaign with a 12:30pm kick-off against Nottingham Forest on Saturday but that was pushed back by half-an-hour just ten minutes before the scheduled start.
The Emirates has moved to full e-ticketing over the summer and supporters had been urged to arrive early in anticipation of any teething problems, but a complete system failure left the vast majority of fans unable to gain access to the ground.
Photographs on social media showed thousands of fans stuck in near standstill queues trying to get in, with stewards carrying out manual ticket checks at some turnstiles.
The Gunners are looking to get their campaign off to a flying start having finished second to Manchester City in last season’s title race.
Mikel Arteta has made just one change to his side from the XI that started last weekend’s Community Shield success, with Eddie Nketiah replacing Gabriel.
