Craig Kelly calls out AFL after priority members missed out on grand final tickets

The AFL has been criticised by Collingwood chief executive Craig Kelly after priority one members missed out on grand final tickets despite a guarantee from the club.

Collingwood fans celebrate the win over GWS Giants at the MCG last Friday. Picture: Getty Images

Collingwood chief executive Craig Kelly challenged the AFL to add another 3000 grand final ticket allocations for the club after some members missed out on Monday.

Mr Kelly said the current allocation afforded to the club was “far from enough”.

“As a competing club, we receive 17,000 tickets which is far from enough for our most loyal members,” he said.

“We believe members who contribute their hard earned should be rewarded with a fair opportunity to witness our team on the biggest stage.”

Collingwood boasts the league’s largest membership with more than 106,000 during the season.

“We know grand finals are a case of high demand and limited availability which is why we call on the AFL to increase competing club allocations from 17,000 to at least 20,000 tickets,” Mr Kelly said.

Some Collingwood priority-one members have been uproarious after not receiving grand final tickets which are supposed to be guaranteed. Picture: Getty Images

Thirty-seven priority one members woke to a rude shock on Monday when they discovered they had not received their grand final tickets guaranteed by the club.

The balloting process run by Ticketek distributes random seating locations and categories to members who register for grand final tickets. Any member who selected “no standing room” in their application, and was subsequently allocated standing room in the random ballot, missed out on tickets.

Another 700 members will wait to hear the fate of their tickets after they were told they had either entered incorrect credit card details or they had insufficient funds.

Mr Kelly confirmed the 37 members who missed out would be allocated a seat for Saturday and the other 700 members would be contacted by Ticketek and the club later on Monday.

Collingwood CEO Craig Kelly, left, has called out the AFL for not allocating enough seats for members at the grand final. Picture: Michael Klein

Ticketek defended its grand final ballot system, suggesting it simply followed the “direct instructions” given to it regarding ticket distribution.

“All aspects of the ballot process, including allocation of tickets, timing of payment and notification of successful entries are all facilitated as per direct instructions to Ticketek, and all have been followed accordingly,” a spokesperson said.

Ticketek welcomed any further opportunity to work with the AFL and clubs to review the balloting system.

AFL fans lined up outside a Ticketek office in Melbourne’s CBD over the weekend, citing their distrust for the online balloting system.

Debra Cooper, a Geelong fan, is an AFL priority one member who believed grand final tickets were worth waiting on the street for, adding that she had been partaking in the “camp out” tradition for about 20 years.