Some fans were left empty handed after waiting in the freezing cold for up to four hours to get tickets to see their club’s historic match against Arsenal.

More than 1,000 supporters queued around the Gander Green Lane’s 3G pitch as temperatures fell to zero early on Sunday, February 12.

About 5,000 fans are expected to pack out the ground when they face the Gunners at 7.55pm on Monday, February 20.

It will be the first time the club have made it to the fifth round of the competition.


Supporter George Kent said: “There was uproar when it was when Bruce Elliott announced it would be just one ticket each because we’d been led to believe it was two per season ticket holder.

“Bruce dealt with it very well under considerable pressure. Someone, who clearly has no idea about how well Sutton United is run, called the club corrupt, which was like a red rag to a bull for Bruce, he was having none of it.

“The whole situation was harsh on all those people who queued for hours and didn’t get a ticket. I stood there for four hours and couldn’t feel my toes by the time I got my ticket. It’s a shame the capacity isn’t a bit bigger they had 8,000 against Coventry all those years ago, but it is what it is.

“Although people will miss out, it’s clearly been a huge learning curve for the club. It’s just a reminder that despite all the great strides the club has made in recent years, it is still very much a non-league club run by volunteers.”

Bruce Elliott, Chairman of Sutton United, said in a statement: “Having successfully sold tickets for the sell-out games against AFC Wimbledon and Leeds United we are bitterly disappointed that some of our loyal and fantastic supporters have been left without a ticket for the Arsenal game.

“We would like to thank everyone who helped the club yesterday, and to the many supporters who showed great patience and understanding in what became a difficult situation which led to us having to restrict the sales of tickets to one per person.

“We will clearly look at what we could have done better, and will review our ticketing policy for future games. We are a traditional non-league club who pride ourselves on being a volunteer run Community Club, and are learning every day.”

Did you miss out on getting a ticket for the match? Email: anders.anglesey@london.newsquest.co.uk