Portsmouth Football Club would like to thank supporters for their continued patience and support while buying season tickets.
More than 5,000 flexi-season ticket holders have already upgraded to a full season ticket within the first 24 hours of sales.
However, we are conscious that some supporters spent several hours queuing in the rain at the ticket office.
We are extremely sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused and we will review our processes to explore where we can make improvements in the future.
It is fair to recognise that we have had to contend with a unique set of circumstances.
The government’s decision to allow football stadia to return to full capacity, while extremely welcome, has created operational challenges given the short timescale to upgrade flexi-season tickets to full season tickets.
Added to this, we have had to deal with a reduction in stadium capacity for safety reasons, which has regrettably meant that some season ticket holders have had to relocate from their usual seats.
We have worked closely with the safety authorities over the past 72 hours to see if we can increase the number of seats from that originally advised and have been successful in achieving this
We did experience technical problems with the eticketing site earlier, which have now been rectified
The club would like to stress that the eticketing site is fully operational, allowing fans to upgrade their season ticket or move seats – including in groups – if their regular seat is unavailable.
Further to that – and like most businesses – we have been impacted by staffing shortages caused by Covid.
A selection of fans also had problems with their banking provider, which were outside of the club’s control.
We would like to remind flexi-season ticket holders that they have until 5pm on Wednesday, September 1 to upgrade to a full season ticket.
Season ticket holders can also use the eticketing site to secure seats for the opening three matches against Crewe, Shrewsbury and Plymouth, with a priority window to secure their regular seat until 5pm on Tuesday.
Phone lines have been extremely busy and all our staff have been working to full capacity to speak to supporters. The lines have now closed and will be back open from 9am on Friday.
Around 5,000 flexi-season tickets have already been upgraded and we thank fans for their continued patience and support.
As mentioned above we are also pleased to confirm that after working closely with Portsmouth City Council and PMC Construction, there has been a rise in capacity from 16,482 to 17,696.
Please note that due to the stadium redevelopment work, the club are not selling new season tickets this season. Only supporters with a flexi-season ticket are able to upgrade to a full season ticket.
Portsmouth Football Club would like to reiterate that we appreciate the patience shown by our supporters while working to these tight deadlines amidst the ongoing – and vital – stadium redevelopment works.
Everyone at the club is working tirelessly to ensure Fratton Park is ready to welcome back supporters after what has been a difficult year for us all.