Glasgow 2014: Fans suffer long wait for tickets

A second round of Glasgow 2014 tickets went on sale this morning. Picture: PA

Hopeful spectators endured online queues of up to an hour in some cases as the organisers of Glasgow 2014 released thousands of tickets.

Successful applicants who thought their chance had passed after the initial sales process took to social networking sites to register their delight, although others directed criticism towards officials, complaining of online technical problems.

The sale, which began at 10am, was only open to those who failed to get a ticket the first time around, with the exclusive window designed to give them a chance before wider general sales.

During the initial four-week window for Glasgow 2014, which ended on 16 September, demand far outstripped supply with around 2.3 million requests received for up to one million tickets. Out of the 17 sports on offer, events including track cycling, diving, swimming, judo, shooting and the men’s 100 metres final were all over-subscribed, with random ballots deciding who received tickets.

Tickets were available for 12 of the 17 sports at the start of yesterday’s resale, including badminton, hockey, rugby sevens, weightlifting and netball. Places were also available for the opening and closing ceremonies.

Even with the high-profile events off the table, those who applied online and over the phone were delighted at being able to attend. Some said they had a new-found appreciation for certain competitions.

Steve Inch of Glasgow was among the many applicants who took to Twitter saying they had tickets. He wrote: “Yeah – got some tickets at last! As of today I am a weightlifting, artistic gymnastics and bowls fan.”

Another applicant, Andrew Forbes from Edinburgh, wrote: “About an hour wait but badminton and table tennis semi- final tickets secured #excited.”

There was availability for the one athletics session at the start of the second sales-period, meaning demand was high.

Some people said they faced waits of around an hour both online and over the phone. Organisers thanked fans for their patience and said they had experienced “very high demand”, with “large” queues to the website and “very high” call volumes to the ticketing hotline.

Those who had problems said Glasgow 2014 were to blame. Mauro Pavoni, the father of Roberto, a member of last year’s Team GB Olympic swimming team, tweeted: “Complete farce by @Glasgow2014 to buy tickets. Website not accessible, Tel is forever busy and Swimming tickets unavailable anyway!”

A spokesman for Glasgow 2014 said: “Since lunchtime there has been no queue on the website. We will continue to monitor the ticketing system and would like to thank all our customers for their patience.”

Those who missed out on the first tickets allocation process will have another chance to pick up briefs today on a first-come, first-served basis via the official Glasgow 2014 website, www.tickets.glasgow2014.com or the ticket hotline, 0844 826 2014.

As of tomorrow, the sale will be open to people who got some of the tickets they applied for. Everyone who registered to buy tickets will be invited to buy until 6pm on Saturday 26 October. Any unsold tickets after that date will go on general sale.