Ticket shambles

WE arrived at Newlands Rugby Ground on Saturday in good time for the late 7.30pm kick-off. At the gate our recently renewed season tickets were abruptly rejected as “invalid” and we were instructed to fight our way through the thronging crowds to another gate to resolve (this, in spite of telephonic confirmation that our tickets would be valid for he game and for 2017).

At the second gate we were again told to join another queue of about 30 very impatient and unhappy fans. While waiting we were once more pulled out of the queue to join yet another queue in a room under the grandstand where three employees were fighting a losing battle to contain the many very impatient and indignant ticket holders whose paid-for tickets were apparently “invalid”.

The game was already 10 minutes into the first half. Some five minutes later the employees gave up and asked us to visit the WP rugby offices the following week (says a lot for online purchasing) and for all of us to follow them to our seats. We were led up numerous flights of stairs to the very top of the Grand Stand where we were abandoned, far away from our booked and paid for seats on the lower gallery.

Another journey down to the ground floor and out into the street and another convincing of a gate attendant to allow us admission at our original gate by bypassing the gate controls. At no stage was there any sign of management.

Twenty minutes after kick-off we were eventually seated to find not only the big screen not working but that fat cat Wakefield waddling around the touchline, hands in pockets, seemingly oblivious to any ticket crisis and surveying the spectators whose financial contributions WP Rugby squandered into bankruptcy. WP Rugby, your incompetence and total disregard for loyal season ticket holders is ticking all the boxes for those who want to move rugby to Cape Town Stadium.