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Opinion

No excuse as Newcastle United start taking lower away ticket allocations

5 years ago
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Following Newcastle United these days isn’t exactly easy.

A club owner who does everything he can to turn you off supporting your team.

Whilst his deliberate act of undermining Rafa Benitez at every turn, means that the cheap as chips squad rarely produces any decent level of football.

However, like many others, it is the away matches that keep me going.

I still go to all the home games but that is more of a chore and just out of habit, whereas on the road, you rarely fail to have a good time.

Man Utd is a prime example, obviously the way the game turned out (for the first 69 minutes…) was a massive bonus, but in the lead-up to kick-off the atmosphere was class in the away end.

Whether it is pride, defiance, or lots of alcohol to help you to forget the reality of our situation, the Newcastle away support was well up for it.

Just a shame there weren’t more of us…

Of all the indignities foisted on us, the latest is Mike Ashley and his minions now cutting the number of away tickets they are taking. Whether this is just another punishment or something else, who knows?

Instead of the usual 3,000+, Newcastle took only 2,500 for the game at Old Trafford.

The game was an instant sell-out once it reached the day when season ticket holders with zero loyalty points could buy them, the tickets never reaching general sale.

Three weeks ahead of the Southampton match, that has also sold out, for Newcastle fans anyway.

However, once again ridiculous, as Newcastle have only taken 2,450 instead of the 3,200 that were sold out last season.

No doubt the most likely explanation/excuse from the club will be the fear of losing money on unsold tickets. Yes, we wouldn’t want to risk Mike Ashley missing out on an extra few quid he could take out of the club.

Maybe the Cardiff match is being used as some kind of guide…which would sum up just how clueless those making decisions at the club are.

Whilst there were some unsold tickets, there was still a very decent Newcastle away turnout in Wales but a lunchtime kick-off live on TV was just about the worst scenario possible AND not something to use as a guide for future games.

Pretty much any game in the south is guaranteed to sell out for Newcastle, the enormous number of exiles guarantees this.

For loads of years you had the Ashley regime bizarrely taking only 2,000 tickets for the likes of Arsenal away, I hope we are not going back to that.

In these rubbish times of supporting Newcastle United under the Fat Controller, is he even going to put a longer-term squeeze on fans getting a bit of fun out of away days?

It also is yet another example of Mike Ashley crushing the club’s ambitions long-term even further, by taking fewer and fewer away tickets it cuts off the supply to those living further afield. If exiles in the south for example can’t get hold of tickets, how on earth can they indoctrinate their kids?
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