Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
AAP
AAP
Shayne Hope

Pies want more AFL grand final tickets for 'big clubs'

Collingwood officials have responded to fan fury over ticketing procedures for the AFL grand final. (James Ross/AAP PHOTOS)

Collingwood boss Craig Kelly wants "big clubs" to be handed a greater allocation of AFL grand final tickets than rivals with smaller membership bases.

As competing clubs, the Magpies and Brisbane Lions have each been allocated 17,000 of the 100,024 available tickets for Saturday's MCG decider.

Kelly said that number was "far from enough for our most loyal members", demanding an increase in future seasons to at least 20,000.

He added clubs such as Collingwood, Richmond and Carlton should receive a larger percentage of tickets than clubs with fewer members.

"We've got 106,000 amazing members and we can't look after them at this time of the year," Magpies CEO Kelly told reporters on Monday.

"Yet the same rights are given to someone who's only got 60,000 members.

"It doesn't make a lot of sense to me."

According to AFL figures released this month, Collingwood have a league-high 106,470 members.

West Coast (103,275) and Richmond (101,349) also boast six-figure tallies, while Brisbane sit 15th on the AFL membership ladder with 54,676.

"The reality is we drive the economy of a lot of the stadium stuff and we need our members to be looked after because every week they're over there (at the MCG) paying their hard-earned cash," Kelly said.

"So we've just got to find a way to make it a bit fairer for those that have got more (members) and are driving more results."

Kelly also called on the AFL and Ticketek to come together with clubs to fix a "massive issue" with the ticket allocation process after some of Collingwood's top-tier members were left outraged in recent days.

The Magpies are trying to find seats for 37 priority one members who did not select the standing room option during the registration process and therefore missed out in the ballot.

Kelly said he would "move things around internally" to ensure the 37 members receive tickets, indicating club staff could lose some of their personal allocations.

"There's going to be some disappointed people in the building behind me," Kelly said, in front of the Magpies' AIA Centre.

Collingwood members were split into priority one, two and three categories for grand final ticket access according to their level of membership.

Priority one members, who paid close to $1000 for their membership, were guaranteed tickets but were unable to select the location or price category of their seats.

Some ended up with less desirable seats than those going to priority two and three members.

Other members who had credit cards charged on Sunday did not find out their ticket category until Monday morning.

"The systems, the process, the forms just need to be better and easier so we don't have these problems," Kelly said.

"We're totally committed to making sure that our members are looked after."

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.