Just 2616 turned up to watch Gold Coast take on intrastate derby rivals North Queensland Fury at the stadium  three quarters closed to the public and where walk-up fans risked being turned away at the gate.

The price of tickets see-sawed over the last couple of weeks - with kids tickets tripling in price just a few days before the game - and there was confusion over public transport costs and arrangements.

More than 7000 attended the same fixture just two months before, but this week's stadium crisis saw just a fraction of that number attending.

Fans also complained that despite the club's U-turn on public transport costs - agreeing only under pressure to pay for fans' fares to and from the parking-free venue - the promised extra trains failed to appear, leaving the few fans who did turn up stranded for more than hour before being herded onto packed carriages.

Now club captain and Socceroo star Jason Culina has called for a solution to be found before it has any more impact on player performances. Gold Coast were beaten 2-0 by an injury-ravaged Fury, who United had thrashed 5-0 just weeks before.

"What's been going off the pitch has been a distraction to the players and it's a big disappointment to us," Culina told the Gold Coast Bulletin. "You always want to give your best but we can't pretend that none of what's been going on has affected us.

"A percentage of the way we've been playing is down to everything that's going on. Sometimes it's hard to get motivated for games.

"It's probably not a good thing to say, but when things aren't going your way with what's happening around the club you can lose a bit of focus. We can't change anything ourselves -- that's for the front office to decide.

"But you obviously want to see crowds, and of course we'd like to see the ground opened up fully for the visit of Sydney FC next Saturday."

Culina met fans after the game and said sorry for the debacle gripping the once glamour club of the A-League - but insisted he would stick it out on the Gold Coast.

He added: "I basically apologised to them and told them that we're going to put things right.

"I couldn't sleep on Saturday night, I was just tossing and turning going over in my mind the performance and what we need to do to fix things.

"I still believe in the club. I love this club and I don't regret joining at all ... What's happening now, on and off the field, has just made me even more determined to succeed."