Alan Burrows has detailed the reasons for Aberdeen's 'error' over the sale of their cup final tickets against Rangers next month.
The club this evening confirmed that a "small number" of Viaplay Cup final tickets have been "deactivated" due to purchasers not meeting criteria.
They apologised over the sales process for Hampden briefs ahead of the match against Rangers amid fears rival fans had purchased tickets in the Aberdeen allocation.
The club also confirmed a further 2,500 tickets are still to be received by the ticket office with the total Aberdeen allocation to reach 19,500 at the national stadium.
Hands up - a genuine mistake. When you are dealing with human beings, even the very good and experienced ones can make a rare error… The positive for us is that we have quickly fixed the oversight by retrospectively applying the normal protection rules to all purchases,… https://t.co/MYUaMcRFFc
— Alan Burrows (@Alan_Burrows) November 17, 2023
The Pittodrie side's chief executive Burrows has further explained the reasons behind the mistakes.
He wrote on X: "Hands up - a genuine mistake. When you are dealing with human beings, even the very good and experienced ones can make a rare error… The positive for us is that we have quickly fixed the oversight by retrospectively applying the normal protection rules to all purchases, checking them all and deactivating / refunding any that wouldn’t have passed the normal protocols.
"We know that this will cause some disappointment for some Dons supporters in this group too who have no recent transaction history with the club. Our staff have worked day and night since Wednesday to check every transaction and I thank them for all their effort.
"In terms of the methodology of sales. Our ticket office set it up identically to what it has been for the previous two Semi-Finals (vs Rangers last season and vs Hibs recently), minus (briefly) that fail-safe oversight, obviously.
"The theory was to try and allow as many Dons fans to sit together at the Cup Final in larger groups with friends and family etc as possible. The weight of demand on Day 1 caught us out a bit - again, no hiding away, just the truth.
"With hindsight, we should’ve, and will in future, ensure a broader priority base for a longer time.
"Our priority now is to get hold of and distribute the remaining tickets to supporters on the waiting list - which the ticket office has been closed to update and is almost complete - based on Priority Points. Once again apologies, but thanks so much for the brilliant support."
