- Ipswich Town’s home game against Everton was supposed to start at 3pm
- But it did not kick off until 3.15pm following ‘turnstile issues’ at Portman Road
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Saturday’s Premier League game between Ipswich Town and Everton was unable to start on time due to ‘turnstile issues’.
The game, Ipswich’s fourth home fixture following their promotion to the Premier League, had been due to kick off at 3pm.
However, it was delayed by 15 minutes.
The club issued a short statement via social media at 2.39pm. It read: ‘We are aware of an issue with the turnstiles, impacting supporters’ entry to Portman Road ahead of this afternoon’s game. We ask for your patience as we work on a solution.’
A second statement 11 minutes later then added: ‘This afternoon’s game will now kick-off at 3.15pm.’
Meanwhile, Everton blamed the delay on ‘IT issues’.
The Toffees tweeted from their official X account at 2.50pm: ‘Due to IT issues here at Portman Road, kick-off has been delayed until 3.15pm.’
Everton’s players had already finished their pre-match warm-up when news of the delay broke.
Sean Dyche’s men then returned to the pitch to continue warming up.
The issues at Portman Road meant that the stadium was nowhere near full as the clock approached 3pm.
But a third statement from Ipswich at 3.05pm confirmed that the issues, now said to a be a ‘localised power issue’, had been resolved and the stadium soon filled up.
As both clubs had promised, the game did indeed begin at 3.15pm.
Famous Ipswich fan Ed Sheeran was among the crowd on Saturday.
