While some customers were able to get to the final stage of the ticket-buying process they were timed out and forced to start the process again. Others struggled to even access the ticket-buying section of the website and were instead greeted with the message: “Sorry ... There was a problem processing your request. Please close your browser and try again.” Ticket sales were ultimately suspended until Wednesday, with sale times to be staggered across the next two days. The system failure comes less than a month after the MCC announced it had extended its deal with Ticketek despite multiple crashes in recent years. Gale said such failures couldn't be tolerated in 2018.

“Clearly we’re frustrated and angry for the major inconvenience and time wasting for our members and fans,” Gale told Fairfax Media. “We acknowledge the AFL, MCC and Ticketek have worked very hard to rectify it. The MCC, and chief Stuart Fox, has called me to apologise to our members, and we certainly appreciate that. But I just think in this day and age, with the technology that we have at our disposal, with the emphasis we put on member engagement and customer service, we need to be better.” Following the glitch, the MCC and Ticketek agreed to waive the transaction fee for week one finals as a goodwill gesture. Fox said the situation was unacceptable. “Football finals should be an exciting and uplifting time for fans,” Fox said. “Whilst the issue of demand outstripping supply will always mean some people are left disappointed, inconvenience such as this morning’s occurrence is unacceptable.

“We have communicated our frustration in no uncertain terms to Ticketek. We will continue to work with Ticketek and the AFL to ensure the ticketing system works effectively for the remainder of the finals series.” The AFL said it was “extremely disappointed” with what had transpired. “We share in our club members frustration and are working with the venues [MCG and SCG] and their provider [Ticketek] for a full explanation,” the league said in a statement. “Additionally, we wish to assure competing club members that the member allocation for these games have been held while we worked through the issue.” Ticketek chief Geoff Jones agreed it wasn’t good enough. “Ticketek is waiving transaction fees as a gesture to those fans that were unable to secure their finals tickets today,” said Jones.

“We understand the excitement that footy finals bring and all the Ticketek team are disappointed that website issues impacted our service delivery to those fans. “I also apologise to the management and staff of our venue partners, the competing clubs and the AFL for the disruption to what is shaping as a phenomenal finals series.” AFL Fans Association president Gerry Eeman said fans were furious that problems with finals ticketing seemed to arise every year, often resulting in loyal fans missing out. “Unfortunately, this is an annual problem that is almost becoming part of the finals experience. The frustration of fans is palpable. If the Ticketek system can’t handle the traffic, consideration must be given to staggering when tickets go on sale for each game,” Eeman said. Tickets for the West Coast v Collingwood final are being sold by Ticketmaster and there have been no such issues purchasing tickets through that ticket provider’s website.

However, Ticketmaser did report that they were experiencing a printing delay on tickets until Wednesday and that tickets wouldn't be emailed to customers until after Wednesday. The company insisted that all other tickets would be available to print from online accounts after Wednesday as well. "Ticketmaster is happy to report a successful on sale for the blockbuster qualifying final at Perth’s Optus Stadium. It is the first finals on sale for Optus Stadium and we are proud to have serviced thousands of footy fans," a spokesperson said. "As with any major on sale, Ticketmaster works very hard behind the scenes to ensure we can handle huge demand and today’s on sale was no different." Revised times

Club Members – Wednesday August 29 11am Richmond v Hawthorn 1pm Melbourne v Geelong 3pm Sydney Swans v GWS Giants The club member purchase window remains open and exclusive for 24 hours.

AFL Members – Thursday August 30 9am Richmond v Hawthorn 9am Melbourne v Geelong General Public – Thursday August 30 1.30pm Richmond v Hawthorn