Word reaches us that there are serious problems with booking online for Arsenal’s home matches. Confirmation of the problems some fans are having can be read here on the onlinegooner forum.

The long and short of it is this. Some members are finding that their credit cards are being accepted for some games, but not others. So they have reserved seats in the online booking system, only to be timed out as the site fails to accept their credit card details. They then have to go through the application process again and select new – often less desirable – seats. This only applies to some members, some credit cards and some games. It all seems a bit random.

It’s an IT problem related to the expiry dates on the cards. The IT people are furiously looking into it, but they’ve drawn a blank. Suspect they need some more expert help as this sounds to me like some kind of virus. Whatever, the club’s advice for those experiencing problems is to phone or apply by post – and how reliable those methods of access are at the moment is a debatable point! One of the problems with the idea of a mailed application is that there is no way for a buyer to tell whether a transaction will go through until the time the tickets go on sale, although if you are aware it is likely, I guess you can just apply in advance of the on sale date.

But basically, it looks like one major balls up, although probably unfair to level this one directly at Arsenal. Still affects their reputation with the paying punter though, so hopefully they are desperate to get this resolved so as to avoid losing custom.