BRADFORD City tonight stressed that demand was always going to outstrip supply for tickets for the club's glamour FA Cup tie with Chelsea on Saturday.

Some angry Bantams fans have taken to social media to say that "genuine" fans had missed out on prized tickets for the fourth-round tie at Stamford Bridge when they were sold out within hours at Valley Parade yesterday morning.

The club said while it "sympathised" with fans who had not managed to get tickets everything had been done according to its allocation criteria.

The club had initially divided up its allocation of approximately 6,000 tickets to Away Priority Card Holders, then Season Ticket and Flexi Card Holders who attended the third round replay against Millwall.

Many fans queued for hours to buy tickets with some even arriving at the ground on Friday afternoon.

All tickets were snapped up within hours.

Although the club said it had already been given the maximum allocation on away tickets in accordance with FA Cup rules, a spokesman said the club would be speaking to Chelsea to see if any extra tickets were available for any non-Away Priority Card Holders who had already committed to travelling to watch City at Yeovil yesterday, prior to the result of the Millwall replay.

A club official said: "We sympathise for the fans who haven't got tickets, but there were 12,000 fans at the Millwall game, which suggests there was at least double the demand for the allocation.

"We also have 12,000 Season Ticket and Flexi Card holders.

"The allocation was always going to mean there were some fans who wanted tickets but couldn't get them."

The club source said the number of tickets for Away Priority Card holders had been capped at 2,000, but only about 1,100 had been sold.

"The cards could have been bought for £10 at any point in the season, so fans complaining they have missed out on tickets could have taken that opportunity prior to the Millwall game," said the club official.

"The sales did double prior to that game, but there were still tickets left.

"Tickets then went on sale at 10am on Saturday to Season Ticket and Flexi Card holders, with stubs from the Millwall game."

The club said the online ticketing system had experienced problems due to high demand, and also admitted that multiple tickets had been issued to Season Ticket holders prior to the Millwall game.

It said to use those tickets stubs to get tickets for the Chelsea game however, proof of Season Ticket or Flexi Card ownership had to have been e-mailed to the club.

"No preference was given to those queuing or applying on-line, everything was done on a first-come, first-served basis," said the club official.

"We received a marquee tie against Chelsea, so some fans were always going to lose out, even in a flawless system.

"The first fans were queuing at the ground from 4pm on Friday, and then throughout the night in snow and freezing conditions, which was unbelievable.

"Anyone arriving on Saturday morning was always going to struggle to get tickets.

"Any fans who are saying they are aware of loopholes where fans without the relevant criteria got tickets, we don't know how this could have happened.

"It couldn't have happened online or at the club shop.

"We sympathise with people who queued in the snow or spent hours online, but the simple fact is that for big games, the demand outweighs the supply. There is very little we can do.

"We don't want to sour a historic day for the club at the Premier League leaders, and we are asking all fans to come together to support the club ahead of Saturday."

Fans had posted comments online about Priority Card Holders not being able to get tickets, with one labelling the process a "fiasco".

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