Etihad Stadium heavily criticised again as fans are locked out of St Kilda-Carlton clash

UPDATE: ANGRY fans have slammed Etihad Stadium for being underprepared for the massive crowd of 47,945 that attended the St Kilda-Carlton clash.

The queue outside Gate 5 at Etihad Stadium during the opening quarter of the St Kilda-Carlton game. Picture: Manuel Lawrence/Twitter @manny_lawrence

ETIHAD Stadium and the AFL have blamed patrons arriving late for a fan crush that saw them only entering the ground early in the second quarter.

Angry St Kilda and Carlton fans slammed Etihad Stadium for being underprepared for the massive crowd of 47,945 on a sunny autumn day.

While stadium chiefs expected a crowd of around 35,000, the match was a sellout with fans without a ticket forced to queue for over an hour to get into the ground.

Hundreds of fans were forced to watch the action on big screens outside Etihad Stadium.

Etihad Stadium admitted it was caught off guard by the larger than expected turnout – the past five games between the two teams at the venue has averaged 30,480 fans - and staffed accordingly.

Fans also complained they couldn’t buy tickets online while waiting in the queues and some food outlets weren’t open.

But Etihad said it had opened all its ticket booths and had not turned away any fans, still selling standing-room tickets to fans who wanted them.

Thanks everyone for your patience. We've moved in to standing room inside the stadium. The crowd's much larger than expected #AFLSaintsBlues

— Etihad Stadium (@EtihadStadiumAU) June 12, 2016

Etihad Stadium spokesman Bill Lane said the stadium was fully prepared despite underestimating the size of the crowd.

“We strongly encourage people to pre-purchase tickets and encourage them to print tickets at home,’’ he said.

“If a lot of people arrive in the last hour at a 55,000-seat stadium it will lead to a lot of congestion.

“We had ticket boots open that were appropriate to the number of gates.

“We have our maximum staff working, we had all ticket windows open, it’s one of the biggest walk-up crowds in years.

“We were preparing for mid-30,000 and even a few less. So it’s been a great success in terms of numbers.

“It is fantastic so many people have turned up but if they turn up in the last hour and haven’t bought a ticket they run the risk of running into a lot of congestion.”

Tom Hickey takes a selfie with Saints fans after their win in front of a huge Etihad Stadium crowd. Picture: AAP

Lane told the Herald Sun 10,678 pre-game tickets were sold on the day.

“That is a huge walk-up before the game,” Mr Lane said.

“A busy walk-up amount is 5000 to 6000 and this is almost double that.”

Those who did see the action unfold inside the ground saw St Kilda stun Carlton to win by 32 points.

St Kilda members Rachelle Beulke and daughter Alex, 15, couldn’t get a seat together inside so ended up watching the game on a big screen outside the ground.

“It was ridiculous the number of people who were having to sit outside,” said Rachelle, 41.

“I have been going to the footy for 20 years and never seen anything like it.

“It was shocking ... just mayhem.”

Mum and daughter Rachelle and Alex Beulke were unable to sit together. Picture: Tim Carrafa

AFL spokesman Patrick Keane said if fans turned up within minutes of the opening bounce they could expect to take some time to enter the ground.

“All 55 gates were open and staffed. Basically it was as quick as we could get people in. The AFL and the stadium predicted a crowd of 34,000 and we had a crowd us just under 48,000 which is a great result.

“Many people arrived in the 10 minutes before the match so it took until quarter time to get the last of them in.”

St Kilda said it was an issue for stadium management and had no further comment.

The attendance for the ground was the second largest in 20 contests between Carlton and St Kilda at the venue.

Fans voiced their anger and disapproval on Twitter.

Plenty still waiting outside #AFLSaintsBlues pic.twitter.com/TeAkoJ7wIr

— St Kilda FC (@stkildafc) June 12, 2016

@EtihadStadiumAU you are a terrible excuse for a football stadium #AFLSaintsBlues

— Aleisha Kinross (@aleisha_ck) June 12, 2016

@EtihadStadiumAU why don't you open up the hundreds of empty level 2 seats to tge public?

— chris austin (@chris_austin182) June 12, 2016

How we are watching the game @EtihadStadiumAU today... #debacle pic.twitter.com/TFRxMJP8cB

— Pauline H (@PaulsyH) June 12, 2016

@EtihadStadiumAU Pathetic. Pathetic. Pathetic... Absolute disgrace

— Andrew Kinross (ಠ_ಠ) (@Kinna39) June 12, 2016

@EtihadStadiumAU Joke. You've got people paying good money to be told there are no seats, after waiting in line for 40 mins. Hopeless.

— Aleisha Kinross (@aleisha_ck) June 12, 2016

@EtihadStadiumAU @AFL you couldnt run a chook raffle, damn disgrace the way you run this stadium

— Leanne Muzslai (@e8de9571673844e) June 12, 2016

Can the @AFL just buy Etihad Stadium already? The most poorly managed stadium I've seen in my life. #bringbackwaverly

— Andrew Kinross (ಠ_ಠ) (@Kinna39) June 12, 2016

@EtihadStadiumAU you've got people sitting all through the walkways on level 3. What's your ohs policy on this? #AFLSaintsBlues

— shadylane (@242649) June 12, 2016

@EtihadStadiumAU stated no level 1, 2 or 3 tickets available. Whats that, half of level 2 is empty. What a joke @afl pic.twitter.com/rTdVjSbcyk

— Aaron C (@vicfitpt) June 12, 2016

Hey @EtihadStadiumAU maybe let people know when you're only doing single seats on level 1&2. People turning back in waves #AFLSaintsBlues

— Daniel Warwick (@drwar41) June 12, 2016

@EtihadStadiumAU @AFL absolute chaos ga seating no room for anyone open up the empty seats on level 1 and 2 #AFLSaintsBlues

— Jason (@PoppyJase) June 12, 2016

What an absolute joke @Ticketmaster_AU and @EtihadStadiumAU for not having online general administration tickets. 10-15k fan missed 1str qtr

— Aaron C (@vicfitpt) June 12, 2016

Huge queues at @EtihadStadiumAU. 25 mins running and we're about 2/3 of the way along ... Car v StK #LOSF pic.twitter.com/83CiMcYM4u

— Manuel Lawrence (@manny_lawrence) June 12, 2016

.@EtihadStadiumAU seriously underestimated the crowd today. Chockers at the gates and half opened. Food outlets closed too. Poor effort.

— Rory Sackville (@sackers1) June 12, 2016

Originally published as Etihad Stadium heavily criticised again as fans are locked out of St Kilda-Carlton clash