Collingwood boss Craig Kelly rages at ticketing process as top fans without seats

Collingwood have engaged in a war of words with Ticketek after some of the club’s top-tier members were left outraged by the ticket allocation process for Saturday’s AFL grand final against the Brisbane Lions.

The Magpies on Monday confirmed they will find seats for the 37 priority one members who did not select the standing room option during the registration process and therefore missed out in the ballot.

Collingwood members were split into priority one, two and three categories according to their level of membership.

Priority one members, who paid close to $1000 for their membership, were guaranteed access to grand final tickets but were unable to select the location or price category of their seats.

Other members who had credit cards charged on Sunday did not find out their ticket category until Monday morning.

“Anyone who is a P1 member and were given a standing room ticket - that will be changed from standing room to an allocated seat,” Collingwood CEO Craig Kelly said in a statement released on Monday.

“I want to be clear, Priority Two (P2) and Priority Three (P3) members were not allocated tickets prior to P1, however, accessible requirement members were fulfilled yesterday.

“We call on Ticketek to improve their system so that the moment funds are taken out of bank accounts, tickets are released to members immediately.

“We have been informed that 700 members whose credit cards either failed or had insufficient funds are not at risk of losing their allocation.

“They will be contacted by Ticketek and the club this morning.”

In a statement to media, a Ticketek spokesperson said the process ran in line with instruction from the AFL, Collingwood and MCG “without issue”.

Kelly also took aim at the AFL over the number of tickets made available to the two competing clubs, which covers a total of up to 34,000 of the 100,024 available tickets at the MCG, saying the Magpies’ allocation of 17,000 tickets was “far from enough for our most loyal members”.

“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,” Kelly said.

“We want to assure all members that we are actively engaging with the AFL, MCC, Ticketek, and other stakeholders to push for changes and improve this system and access for our most dedicated members.”

A live site will be set up at Collingwood’s AIA Centre training base for fans unable to attain grand final tickets.

Kelly said members would be charged $4 for tickets, plus Ticketek’s processing fee, while non-members can attend for $20.

“This week is all about our Collingwood community and our connection with our members and supporters and we look forward to embracing the week together,” Kelly said.