CITY today promised fans there will be no more ticket fiascos after learning "painful lessons" over the FA Cup quarter-final.

The club have come in for a mountain of criticism about the way arrangements for next weekend's home clash with Reading have been handled.

City admit the decision to allow unlimited ticket sales was a blunder – and will not be repeated. They also plan to upgrade the online ticketing system that has struggled to deal with the overwhelming demand during the cup run.

Chief operating officer James Mason said: "The first few days were very painful for everyone. We are all Bradford City fans at the club and the last thing we wanted to do was to hurt other supporters.

"We were caught cold with this. We thought implementing the same unlimited-ticket policy as the Sunderland game would work but we were wrong.

"We knew we were going to get very close to a sell-out because of the appetite the FA Cup run has created.

"But with it being Reading, a non-Premier League side without the star names, and live on TV, we under-estimated the interest. We never expected to sell 18,000 tickets in one day.

"We made a mistake and underestimated the furore it would cause."

City have tried to rectify the situation by opening up previously unused areas of Valley Parade to create more room. They have also spent the week tracking down season-ticket holders who had missed out in the melee.

Mason said: "We know a lot of people have been upset and rightly so. We are sorry about that.

"We hope that because of our efforts in not just burying our heads in the sand but trying to find extra tickets, that they appreciate we are doing all we can to put things right.

"How many other Football League clubs would have the chairmen picking up the phone to contact individual supporters?

"But we would ask any season-ticket holders who want to go to the game and still have not got a ticket to contact the club by e-mail.

"We've spoken at length with supporters and supporters' groups. We've read e-mails and letters that have come into the club.

"We have to learn from this in the future in both our online ticketing system and our policy of getting tickets to season-ticket and flexi holders first and foremost.

"It's been a very painful lesson for me to learn. I don't make decisions solely but going forward I will make sure we protect and safe-guard season-ticket holders because they are the lifeblood of the club."

A crowd of 24,021 saw City beat Sunderland in round five – Valley Parade's biggest audience for 55 years. The club expect another virtual sell-out next Saturday but insist the ticket policy was not about maximising profits.

Mason said: "We could have increased the prices to do that and had half the crowd. It was never about profiteering or filling the stadium to make money.

"We wanted that special atmosphere that only Bradford City fans can create. We saw it against Sunderland and Millwall and the way it helped the team come back from behind at Chelsea and Halifax.

"That's what Phil Parkinson has asked us to recreate again. But we've learned lessons from how we've achieved it this time.

"These are very exciting times to be associated with Bradford City. Now is the time to group together and get behind the team.

"Whether we progress in the FA Cup or not, whether we get promoted or not, the aim of the club is to become bigger and better. If that's the case, we have to learn how to stage big games."

Season-ticket holders without tickets should contact the club at bradfordcityfc@compuserve.com.