Buddies’ apology to locked out fans

Investigation launched after number of Dee fans missed start of game

St Mirren have apologised to the Dundee fans who were stuck outside at kick-off on Saturday and launched an investigation into the hold-ups.

The Buddies unfurled the Championship flag before their match against the Dens men but the festivities ended earlier than planned.

With both sets of players out on the pitch, referee Alan Muir got the action going five minutes before the scheduled 3 pm start.

That meant a sizeable amount of Dundee’s 1,200-strong travelling support missed the beginning of the match because they were still trying to get into the Simple Digital Arena.

The Paisley men have now said sorry and will look into the reasons for the hold-ups at the turnstiles.

Their statement read: “St Mirren Football Club would like to sincerely apologise to any supporters affected by issues at turnstiles before (Saturday’s) match against Dundee.

“The match kicking off five minutes early, something we were not aware would happen, appeared to further add to the issues suffered.

“We understand that there was a large degree of disappointment and frustration with those who were affected and can assure we don’t take this lightly.

“The club will conduct a full investigation into why this happened and will address any issues to ensure a situation like this does not occur again.”