Newcastle United canceled over 100 season tickets due to unauthorized resale, issuing an apology for an oversight. This followed concerns over ticket access for the Barcelona game. The club has taken action to ensure fair ticket distribution to genuine supporters, with the Supporters’ Trust advocating for transparency.
Newcastle United has taken decisive action by canceling over 100 season tickets following an investigation into the unauthorized resale of tickets for matches at St. James' Park. The club has also issued an apology to its loyal supporters for an “oversight” that allowed this to occur. The issue came to light after it was discovered that seats sold to tour organizers a decade ago were “not detected until recently,” leading to tickets being resold without the club's authorization.
The action follows an incident where a school nearly 200 miles away managed to purchase tickets for the highly anticipated Champions League home game against Barcelona on Thursday night. This raised concerns among fans who struggled to secure tickets through official channels, with 110,000 fans reportedly in an online queue for the remaining seats.
Image source, Getty ImagesNewcastle United recorded their first win of the season against Wolves at the weekend
According to the club, when the new owners took over four years ago, they terminated agreements with third parties that allowed them to sell tickets. This included a deal made a decade prior with a small group of tour organizers “for the benefit of school groups.” However, the club acknowledges that they failed to realize these organizers were still selling tickets due to the absence of a formal agreement.
"At a time when we are doing our utmost to protect legitimate access for Newcastle United fans, we want to be fully transparent and apologize for this oversight," the club stated, emphasizing their commitment to ensuring fair access to tickets for genuine supporters.
Further details revealed that the High School of Dundee purchased 45 tickets for the Barcelona match in the same month that 110,000 fans were in an online queue for seats. While the school claimed they purchased the tickets in good faith from a provider, the tickets were subsequently canceled by Newcastle United.
In response to the ongoing issue, Newcastle United has terminated a total of 103 season tickets in recent days for breaching the club's terms and conditions. The club has clarified that this latest situation does not involve individual supporters reselling their tickets for matches at St. James' Park.
The tour organizers had acquired the season tickets during the 2015-16 campaign. Newcastle United has stressed that the continued use and unauthorized resale of these season tickets at a “higher package price” went unnoticed because there was “no formal contract in place for the tour groups.”
"Upon being made aware of this issue, the club took immediate action," the club stated. "The club have not received any funds above the face value price of these season tickets and have immediately returned the seats for sale to supporters who have entered the official ballot for upcoming fixtures."
The Newcastle United Supporters' Trust (NUST) reported that they had received numerous messages from disgruntled fans after learning that the High School of Dundee had secured tickets for the Barcelona game. Lisa Mole, the chair of NUST, expressed satisfaction that the matter had been brought to their attention and subsequently resolved. She emphasized that NUST will continue to advocate for transparency and ensure that the interests of Newcastle United supporters are prioritized.
"We're happy that the club have taken action, people have been made accountable and the season tickets have been removed," Lisa Mole said. She also expressed disappointment that such a situation had occurred, stating that “these things shouldn't have been going on” and that “it's 103 seats every single home game that have been going to people we would class as outside of the fanbase.”
The club's decisive actions and apology reflect their commitment to addressing the issue of unauthorized ticket resales and ensuring that genuine supporters have fair access to matches at St. James' Park.