ORGANISERS of a giant party for Saints fans at Wembley, which has come under fire from ticket holders, say they only encountered problems because revellers were eager to have a good time.

Held at Silver Spoons just metres away from the stadium, the party for 2,000 fans has been criticised for not giving punters the cheaper food and drink that they paid for.

But organiser Nick Illingsworth, of the Saints Trust, said that the party was a success and only ran into difficulty because many fans were drinking so much beer.

Tickets were sold for the party, which started at 9am on Sunday morning, at £10 each with a special offer at the bar for three pints of beer for £10.

Fans bask in the glory of a Wembley win

But dozens of revellers have complained about the event.

One who wished to remain anonymous said: “Having paid a tenner on the promise of cheaper food and drink, I was surprised to find that the drink (what little drink they actually had available) was actually more expensive than most of the pubs in the area.

“There was no food available at all, although judging by the state of the place, that may not have been a bad thing.”

Illingsworth, right, who runs Come On You Reds! which organised the event and sold tickets on their website, said the party was inspected by police, trading standards and licensing officials who were all happy with what they saw.

“The problem was it was a victim of its own success,” he said.

“People were there from 9.30am and they were drinking more beer than the bar could cope with.

“They even had to go buy more in the form of cans to provide enough beer.”

Fans videos from Wembley

Illingsworth said the food was also provided by specially set up catering vans and a takeaway next door which offered food at cheaper prices than those at Wembley.

“The vast majority of the fans present seemed brimming with the “spirit” of the day and like ourselves concentrated on enjoying the occasion,” he said.

“But, inevitably as at any event, some are bound to have experienced less than their expectation.

“In this case Silver Spoons itself was taken by surprise by the sheer exuberance of Saints supporters.

“They have had so called bigger clubs than Saints in recent years, but none had displayed the capacity to drink and be merry that Saints supporters showed on Sunday.”

Organisers are asking anyone with problems from Sunday to email them on info@coyr.co.uk