Some Celtic Fans Offered Refund After Club Investigation

PARTICK THISTLE have released a statement this afternoon with regards to the ticketing issues which cropped up during the recent Scottish Cup tie.

Around 200 Celtic fans were displaced when it transpired they had been sold tickets for an area of the ground which was no longer being used.

The supporters were eventually seated elsewhere which led to over capacity fears considering the game was sold out for the away end.

Thistle also commented on Celtic supporters gaining access to the home section and accommodated any of the fans who managed to make it inside the section.

The Championship club have offered all of the supporters who were displaced a refund for their stress on the day once entering Firhill.

The board put this error down to an old ticketing system being used and selling seats which were no longer in use. Thistle have acted swiftly on this and have made it clear at no point was safety an issue when it came to over capacity.

Here is the full statement:

Following our recent William Hill Scottish Cup tie against Celtic at The Energy Check Stadium at Firhill, Partick Thistle FC undertook a comprehensive review of ticketing arrangements. This was in addition to a full and standard debrief carried out alongside Celtic FC, Police Scotland, Safety Officer Dougie Stevenson and G4S.

Upon the conclusion of this review, Partick Thistle can provide the following information for supporters.

• Match tickets for home supporters for the Colin Weir Stand, which were being sold online, began being bought by away supporters. As soon as the Club became aware of this, online purchases stopped. When a number of purchases were identified as being made by Celtic supporters, these purchasers were offered a refund – a number of purchases were duly refunded in this way. The request for any away supporters who had purchased tickets in this way to return them in exchange for a refund was publicised via both Partick Thistle FC and Celtic FC social media channels.
• On the day of the match, the Police created a sterile section within the Colin Weir Stand to house any Celtic supporters who had not taken a refund and who had managed to gain entry.
• For the Jackie Husband Stand, which was to house away supporters, our ticketing partner used an outdated ticketing template in error. This resulted in around 200 supporters purchasing tickets for seats that were no longer available. This issue came to light around one hour before kick-off. A number of those supporters displaced were rehoused in additional seating set aside within the Jackie Husband Stand’s hospitality section. In addition, around 100 Celtic supporters were moved to vacant space within the sterile section created for Celtic fans in the Colin Weir Stand.
• All supporters affected by the ticketing template issue were offered a full refund of their purchase price.

• At no stage before or during the match was either Stand over capacity.
• One Celtic fan affected by the ticketing situation made a complaint to the Safety Advisory Group of Glasgow City Council. This was dealt with at a SAG meeting last week.

In conclusion, Partick Thistle Football Club would like to apologise to all supporters inconvenienced due to issues with ticketing for this fixture.

Following our comprehensive review, we have now put in place the following:

1. The Club has commissioned a new ticketing provider, utilised from March 3rd onwards.
2. The Club will ensure the updated seating template is utilised at all times by the provider.
3. A physical check will be undertaken by the Club prior to every ticketed match in the future, to ensure tickets issued correspond with physical seating in place.
4. Tickets in PTFC sections for future ticketed matches will only be sold to PTFC season ticket holders, sold within the Stadium at home matches or to “Club Members”, a new sign-up facility that will be available within the new ticketing system. This will ensure only PTFC supporters gain entry to PTFC sections.

The Club believe these improvements will help ensure an improved ticketing service for supporters for future matches and trust that this update reassures supporters that we have responded thoroughly following the issues relating to this fixture.