SOUTHAMPTON Football Club has issued an apology to fans after “unacceptable” delays caused some fans to miss kick-off on Sunday.

A statement posted on the club’s website said it will start work “immediately” with its access partner to “fully understand the reason for this delayed entry and the solutions to avoid a repetition.”

Fans also experienced issues with collecting tickets on Saturday with some queuing for hours outside St Mary’s stadium.

Here’s the statement issued by managing director Toby Steele in full:

“Further to our communications during the game against Manchester United this afternoon, the club would like to once again apologise for the ticketing and entry issues which many fans experienced.

"The club has already started a full investigation into today’s turnstile entry issue, where our initial assessment is that the scanning of tickets took significantly longer per person than we experienced in our recent pre-season matches and our own behind-closed-doors testing.

"We will start work immediately with our access partner to fully understand the reasons for this delayed entry and the solutions to avoid a repetition.

"Please rest assured that the club views these stadium entry delays as unacceptable.

"Regarding the delayed receipt of Season Tickets by certain purchasers, once again please accept our apologies. Although many fans did receive their Season Tickets in time, we accept that the delay or non-arrival caused an unnecessary anxious wait for some fans.

"Again, the club does not view this as acceptable and the delays we experienced with our supplier of the physical card is, whilst not something we could ultimately influence, a matter we take responsibility for and must ensure does not happen again.

"Today’s ticketing and entry issues were not the start we wanted to the 2021/22 season from a fan experience point of view. We know you have waited 16 months to be at a full stadium of Saints fans getting behind the team and today’s issues will have tainted that experience for a large number of you.

"Consequently, we will be giving all general admission ticket holders (both Season Ticket holders and individual match purchasers) a refund for today’s game (a credit will be given to Season Ticket holders’ accounts).

"Due to the volume of refunds, please bear with us while we process all transactions.

"Once again, on behalf of the club, please accept our apologies if your matchday was affected by today’s ticketing and entry issues.

"Thank you for your amazing backing of the team today and continued support at St Mary’s."