Sheffield United Wembley ticket chaos as fans exploit ‘glitch’ to book seats early

Sheffield United fans looking to secure their seats for this month’s FA Cup semi-final at Wembley faced ticket chaos this morning - with supporters without season tickets able to purchase a week early.

Tickets for the final-four date with Manchester City went on sale this morning at 9am, supposedly to give a week of priority to fans who have a season ticket for the current campaign. Sales were due to open to members next Thursday, with any remaining seats going on sale a day later.

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But scores of fans reported an apparent glitch with the ticketing system, which allowed season ticket holders to buy multiple tickets and assign them to friends and family allocated on their account - even if they were not yet eligible.

The issue seemed to be resolved around lunchtime but not before many fans had been able to book their seats ahead of their eligibility period. One Blades fan tweeted about being able to buy two extra seats for friends who aren’t season ticket holders, describing it as an “awful cock-up from the ticket department.”

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Blades fan Ben Fielding told The Star: “I’m a season ticket holder and I was under the impression I had a week’s priority to get my Wembley tickets. However I woke up to a phone call saying it’s a free-for-all for tickets and non-season ticket holders can get them.

“By the time I got on, there were only single tickets left on the bottom tier. As I first went on I could assign multiple to my name ... and I could also assign tickets to my friends who don’t have season tickets.

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“I just feel hard done by for season ticket holders who weren’t on at 9am and who lost out to those whose mates assigned them tickets, even though they don’t have a season ticket.”

The top-priced tickets, at £120 for adults and £100 for concessions, appeared to sell out early this morning, with only a couple of £100 (£80 concessions) seats showing as available at the time of writing.

“Me and my friend who also had a season ticket are now not sitting next to each other,” Fielding added, “but as close as the remaining tickets would allow - which took about an hour to get as odd tickets came available.”

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