Angry football fans have shown QBE Stadium the red card on the first day of the under-20 World Cup, with complaints of "chaos" inside and outside the venue.
Fans complained about traffic jams, parking problems and snaking queues inside the Albany ground. The World Cup's flagship stadium will host one of the semifinals, the final and the third-place playoff.
People complained delays were so bad they were unable to get in to watch New Zealand play Ukraine until five minutes before halftime.
Long queues for hotdogs at the ground. Photo / Steve Deane
The complaints reignited Aucklanders' frustrations from the first night of the 2011 Rugby World Cup when traffic delays caused some fans to miss the All Blacks' opening game of the tournament and Rugby World Cup Minister Murray McCully put the boot into Auckland's event management.
Auckland Transport and Fifa's local organising committee are investigating what went wrong for the near-capacity 25,000 crowd.
Broadcaster Stephen McIvor, who MCed the opening ceremony, said the football was a "superb experience" but the off-field experience was a "total nightmare".
"During the game I went to get some food 10 minutes before halftime and it took me 40 minutes. This was all just to get chips.
"They had no real system. It was just chaos." McIvor said.
"After the game it took me at least an hour-and-a-quarter just to get from the carpark on to the motorway and about two hours to get back over the bridge,"
As fans dispersed from the stadium, there were further issues around queues and parking.
Some turned to social media to say their piece. Azmat Ali said, "And the gridlock!! Haven't moved from the carpark for last 45 minutes!!!" Niam Kerr-Bell was more direct: "Pity the traffic management is s***e around the stadium #goingnowherefastwithmykidsintheback"
Former New Zealand Football boss Grant McKavanagh said QBE Stadium was notoriously difficult when it came to traffic management.
"They've still got major problems there with transport. They always have had. When I was running games up there, there was once problems getting just 3000 people in on time.
"People ended up waiting in traffic for half an hour, and then also with people trying to get out.
"The way the stadium is built, everyone's trying to get out at the same place and it just congests. I don't how to solve it. Maybe they need to make it a one-way system."
Fans had a long wait for buses after the U20 World Cup game in Albany. Photo / Herald on Sunday
Among those trapped in the traffic was Herald reporter Steve Deane, who went to the tournament with a group of 11 parents and children, but backed-up traffic meant they didn't arrive until 40 minutes into the game.
"We missed almost the entire first half trying to get in because of traffic," Deane said.
"It was just horrendous. We tried to get something to eat at halftime and the queues were awful."
