Man United among clubs thrown into ticket sale CHAOS after global tech outage - as system failure leads to Sky Sports News crashing, airlines grounding and banks shutting down

Manchester United are amongst the clubs that were forced to delay ticket sales following a global tech outage.

Sky Sports News crashed on Friday morning after the major tech failure, with the outage sparking chaos across the world, while Sky News was also affected.

Hospitals, train services, banks, stock exchanges and TV channels were all knocked offline.

United had been planning to start selling tickets ahead of the new Premier League season, but their ticketing website was unavailable, with sales initially postponed until midday before later being rescheduled for 10am on Monday.

A statement from the Official Manchester United Matchday account read: 'Unfortunately, due to a global Microsoft Servers outage which is affecting many systems, including ours, this morning’s ticket release will be postponed until midday.

'The website will also remain unavailable until the issue is resolved. Further updates will be provided here, including any further potential delays.'

A later update added: 'UPDATE: today's ticket release has been postponed until 10am on Monday 22nd July.

'This is due to ongoing technical issues caused by a global Microsoft Servers outage.

'We are sorry for any inconvenience caused.'

Other clubs including Brentford, Crystal Palace, Middlesbrough and Coventry were also affected.

Brentford wrote on X: 'Due to an issue with third-party software affecting businesses globally, Brentford FC's Ticketmaster platform is currently experiencing technical difficulties. Supporters looking to purchase tickets are advised not to join the online queue.'

Crystal Palace experienced similar problems, with ticket sales for their game against Brentford being held back until Monday.

They wrote on X: 'Due to a global issue affecting Microsoft systems, on-sale for Brentford v Crystal Palace tickets has been delayed until Monday (10:00). We are unfortunately unable to process ticket sales either online or over the phone, so please do not call the box office. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.'

Meanwhile, Middlesbrough wrote: 'Due to the global IT outage we are currently unable to process card payments over the counters in our Ticket Office and online'.

Coventry stated: 'Due to the ongoing global mass IT outage, we're currently unable to process any ticket sales via the Ticket Office or on our eticketing website.

'We will update supporters in due course.

'Apologies for any inconvenience this may cause'.

The global technical fault caused Windows computers to suddenly shut down, which led to departure boards turning off at airports such as Heathrow, Gatwick and Edinburgh.

Train passengers were also told to expect delays due to IT issues, with some GP surgeries also shutting down.