WATCH: Arsenal’s game against Nottingham Forest delayed by 30 minutes due to turnstile issues at Emirates Stadium

TV footage showed thousands of fans still waiting outside the Emirates 10 minutes before the scheduled kickoff, with only a sparse crowd inside the stadium.

General view of a big screen at the Emirates Stadium displaying a message that the match is delayed by 30 minutes. (PHOTO: Reuters)

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The start of Arsenal’s opening Premier League game against Nottingham Forest was delayed by 30 minutes on Saturday after a problem with the turnstiles at Emirates Stadium left thousands of fans unable to get in on time.

The kickoff had been scheduled for 12:30 pm local time but was pushed back because of an apparent issue with the club’s new digital ticketing system.

TV footage showed thousands of fans still waiting outside the Emirates 10 minutes before the scheduled kickoff, with only a sparse crowd inside the stadium.

Arsenal moved to full e-ticketing today and the talk outside the ground is that the system has now gone down, leading to these crowding issues.

Things surprisingly calm at the moment but tempers starting to fray slightly. For safety, hope they can open gates soon. pic.twitter.com/AeuYUcJCRq

— gunnerblog (@gunnerblog) August 12, 2023

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“This afternoon’s game with Nottingham Forest will now kick off at one pm (local time, 1200 GMT), due to a delay at the turnstiles,” Arsenal said in a statement.

Arsenal are unbeaten in their last nine home league games against Forest, winning five and drawing four. For the Gunners, Gabriel Martinelli has scored three goals in his two home games against Forest in all competitions.

This is the 11th time in the last 12 seasons that Arsenal have begun their Premier League campaign with a game in London