Macclesfield Town have apologised for the problems some Chester FC supporters had getting into the ground when the clubs met last Tuesday night.

An estimated 150 visiting fans were still queuing for tickets outside Moss Rose when the game kicked off at 7.45pm with some missing the first 15 minutes of the match.

Silkmen director David Woolliscroft said the club was sorry for the delays.

Macc use a cashless turnstile system with home and away fans encouraged to buy tickets in advance.

Mr Woolliscroft said fewer than 20 tickets were sold to visiting supporters before the day of the game. 

“This meant almost all of the visiting support had to buy a ticket when they arrived at the match,” he said.

“In normal circumstances, an away attendance of 457 would be easily handled by our two ticket office staff. 

“However on this occasion, the three Chester supporters’ buses arrived at the same time and within 15 minutes of kick off time. 

“This ultimately led to some away fans missing kick off.

“We apologise that visiting supporters missed the opening period of the match.”

Mr Woolliscroft explained the cashless turnstiles  had been in place in three years and were brought in for improved security and because the old  turnstiles in most parts of the stadium were not fit for handling cash.

He added lessons had been learned from last week’s game.

“We will ensure better communication of our ticketing procedures to visiting clubs in future,” he said.

Richard Bellis, co-editor of the Blue and White fanzine, was one of the visiting supporters stuck outside the stadium when the game kicked off.

“There was a huge queue of about 100 people,” he said.

“They wanted you to buy a ticket from the away ticket office before going through the turnstiles, but they only had two people serving fans and it meant there was a huge bottleneck.

“There was an easy solution too because they had between four and six turnstiles open. If they’d have made it pay at the gate, then two or three times as many people could get served at the same time.”

Macclesfield won the game 3-2 with goals from Scott Boden, Steve Williams and Chris Holroyd.

Gareth Seddon and John Rooney replied for the Blues, who have suffered three straight defeats.

Steve Burr’s side had been due to travel to Aldershot Town on Saturday but heavy rain saw the Recreation Ground pitch declared unplayable the night before.

FC Halifax Town visit the Swansway Chester Stadium on Thursday (7.30pm) with the Blues in desperate need of points.

Burr made two additions to his squad last week with goalkeeper Aaron Chapman and defender Matty Brown joining on initial one month loans from League Two leaders Chesterfield.

Both will be in the squad for the game on Thursday, which is being shown live on BT Sport.