Hordes of English Premier League (EPL) fans are furious with Optus following its “disastrous” debut broadcast of the 2016/17 season.

Early Sunday morning (AEST), football devotees logged on to devices to watch EPL on Optus’ live streaming app for the first time, but were left bemoaning a “pathetic” service.

Hundreds of irate customers inundated the telco’s social media accounts to complain about streaming not being properly “live”, and broadcasts continually freezing.

“@OptusSport the quality is awful,” Johnny O’Keefe tweeted. “Can’t even see the score and don’t tell me its my connection because Foxtel streams perfectly on my laptop.

“It’s pathetic that your company has bought the EPL rights if you’re not even prepared for it.”

User Patrick Avenell wrote: “EPL on Optus is around 50 seconds behind live play. Great news for bookmakers!”.

In a statement to The New Daily, an Optus spokesperson admitted live streaming an event would always be slightly slower than a traditional broadcast to television, which may not please some fans.

“While we have not received a large number of calls about lags to the streaming service, we recognise that individual experiences can vary, particularly over devices, browser interfaces, and networks,” the spokesperson said.

Complaints began as Leicester City slumped in the EPL’s opening 2016/17 match. Photo: Getty

Optus snatched the Australian EPL broadcast rights from Fox Sports for a reported $189 million for three seasons.

The telco is offering the EPL streamed on mobile, desktop or tablet, streamed on television (through Fetch TV and Apple TV) or to those who have an Optus television satellite dish.

SBS has the rights to show one live EPL match per week.

The tweet below claimed to illustrate the delay between Optus’ streaming and SBS’ live television broadcast:

https://twitter.com/roy613/status/764436629012357121

You need to turn off all notifications if you are watching on Optus otherwise you will know a goal has been scored before you see it

— Tony Pignata (@tpignata9) August 13, 2016

*the results are in*
Optus coverage was delayed, not in HD and constantly buffering.

— – Mat – (@mat_boore) August 14, 2016

‘The quality wasn’t perfect’

A representative from an official Australian-based Tottenham Hotspur supporter group told The New Daily his stream was problematic.

“I watched [Everton vs Tottenham] through Optus on an iPad,” OzSpurs member Tommy said. “The quality wasn’t perfect.”

Despite the troubles, Tommy was satisfied with how Optus packaged the EPL on its app, and was excited to see how it would develop in the future.

“My personal opinion is that Optus are breaking major ground and long term everyone will be much better off because of it,” he said.

Hull City’s shock defeat of Leicester City was when streaming problems began for Optus. Photo: Getty

In response to the criticisms, Optus acknowledged that “the technology used to deliver ‘over-the-top’ content via broadband and mobile networks is slightly slower than traditional terrestrial and satellite broadcasting”.

“This is consistent with the viewing experience on other web-based or app content services currently operating in Australia (e.g. Foxtel Go or ABC iView live streams),” Optus said.

In response to losing the EPL rights, Foxtel added new channels to its sports offering – free of additional charge – to replace the content.

On Foxtel, beIn Sports broadcasts a range of international football leagues, while Arsenal, Manchester City, Tottenham, Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool will have their games shown on delay on Fox Sports the day after.

Liverpool is one of three EPL clubs with its own channel on Foxtel. Photo: Getty

Separate channels dedicated solely to broadcasting content created by Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United were also added to Foxtel free of additional charge.

In early June, Optus slashed the prices of its EPL broadcast offerings after significant consumer backlash.

Fans must be an Optus customer with a landline, internet or mobile plan to watch EPL via the telco.

Many EPL fans in Australia had hoped Optus would back down from broadcasting the league, however the telco stuck to its belief that it would provide a great service for consumers.