THE Scottish Football Association has issued an apology after a large number of fans missed the first 20 minutes of Wednesday night's friendly between Scotland and Croatia at Hampden.
The problem arose from supporters needing to pick up pre-paid tickets outside the stadium, with only two kiosks open to deal with hundreds of fans. There was also an open sale of remaining briefs from the same outlets, which further exacerbated t
he problem and meant some fans did not see the first goal of the night, scored by Croatia's Niko Kranjcar after only ten minutes.
Police and stewards eventually decided to allow some fans, who were still standing in the queue 20 minutes after the match had started, into the ground without tickets.
A statement on the SFA website yesterday read: "Last night's match against Croatia was an incredible spectacle and a great result against a hugely talented group of players. The Tartan Army showed once again that they are undoubtedly the most committed and passionate supporters in the world.
"That is why everyone at the Scottish FA is deeply sorry that a number of fans experienced a delay in gaining access to the match.
"A preliminary investigation into why this occurred has already taken place and it is clear that a number of factors caused the problem and there are a number of lessons that we will take on board for the future."
Although Hampden was only around half-full for George Burley's first game in charge of the national team, with a crowd of 28,000, the chaotic scenes outside meant that some supporters were admitted to the West Stand despite having paid for more expensive North Stand seats.
While those supporters will receive a refund, there will be no recompense for those who missed a portion of the game.
The SFA statement added: "As you will know a decision was taken to move the people who were in the ticket collection queue directly into the stadium. We took this unusual step because we wanted to get fans into the ground as quickly as possible. This was done in an orderly fashion under the supervision of the police and we thank fans for their patience and co-operation.
"Taking this course of action meant that some fans were moved to a part of the stadium that differed from their ticketed seat. Once again, we apologise for this, but it was the best way to ensure that we got everyone into the ground as quickly as possible.
"Any difference in price between the seats will be refunded as soon as possible."
Hamish Husband, spokesman for the Association of Tartan Army Clubs, believes the problem could have been avoided had fans been allowed to pay at the turnstiles rather than only being able to purchase tickets at the collection booths.
"I passed the queue on the way into the stadium because my ticket was pre-booked through the Tartan Army, but the pre-booked stadium tickets are problematic," said Husband.
"There are issues with the whole structure because the police insist on all-ticket for these matches, when they're clearly not going to sell out.
"So why not have pay at the gate? That's the way out of it. What's the difference between a turnstile and a booth? Just let people pay in."
David Kells, the managing director of Hampden Park Ltd, said extra measures would be put in place at future matches. "Had the queue been left as it was, people would probably have been standing there for another half- hour before they would have got in," he said.
"A lot of people were also arriving at the stadium and joining the queue at the last minute. We would urge people to come along to the ground early to collect tickets."
Supporters encountered similar problems at the beginning of the Euro 2008 qualifying campaign.
Then, the match against the Faroe Islands was staged at Celtic Park due to Robbie Williams holding a concert at Hampden. Thousands of fans were left stranded outside the stadium for the first quarter of the game as Scotland rattled in two early goals in an eventual overwhelming 6-0 victory.
The problem then was due to a new ticket scanning procedure being introduced by the SFA, and the order was eventually given to override the system and allow fans to enter by simply showing their ticket to stewards.
The full article contains 739 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
