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Recommended To All Newcastle Fans – Relief Of Choosing Whether To Go Next Season

10 years ago
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Having a season ticket at Newcastle United wasn’t a choice for most of us, if you could afford it then you had to have it, Kevin Keegan’s transformation of Newcastle fans’ fortunes meant realistically you had to buy one if you wanted to watch the lads regularly.

Season tickets then became like gold dust, the waiting list was in five figures and most season tickets were passed into the hands of friends if the holder couldn’t go any more, or in many cases they became a shared commodity – half the matches but a more affordable half the price.

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Those days are gone.

Last season you could have comfortably got a ticket to any match, Manchester United wasn’t even sold out.

Thousands have turned their backs and only when the season starts will we get the truth as to how big the fallout has been with the disgust at Mike Ashley’s running of Newcastle United, exactly how many fans have simply had enough until he leaves.

I sympathise with all of them, as I do with those who decided to renew their season tickets, or missed the deadline to cancel…

I am in the middle ground, my son and myself have packed in our season tickets but still intend to go.

We just couldn’t face guaranteeing Mike Ashley his money up front. I also don’t go along with the theory that we will spend any more if we go to all/most of the matches and pay one by one, all of the matchday offers Ashley puts out to try and make sure there is a crowd behind his adverts, means I won’t pay any more – or very little on top. When it comes to the matches that are much more expensive, why would I be that bothered anyway to see us get stuffed by Manchester United again, or the mackems for that matter?

How often we go is of course another matter.

As it stands I intend to go all of the time but the great feeling I’m experiencing is that it will be on my terms, not Ashley’s.

In truth the first half of last season wasn’t great, yes we had some stand out results and a number of good displays, but otherwise there was a lot of negative football and a massive reliance on Ben Arfa and Cabaye & Remy in particular, to produce moments of magic to win matches.

The second half of the season was too depressing for words and trudging up to St.James’ Park was becoming more of a chore, that feeling that you had no choice because Ashley had your money and you were backed into a corner.

That is no more. If and when I go to watch Newcastle United, and yes – give Ashley my money, it will be on my terms.

It will be my son and myself deciding each match whether we are going or not.

If, as I expect, the summer transfer business is a joke, then Pardew starts talking rubbish/lies again, we might just say ‘no, got better things to do than put up with this rubbish and have them laughing in my face’.

Maybe I will be pleasantly surprised and a ragbag collection of Spanish second division players and free transfers will transform our fortunes, I really hope so.

Whatever happens though, we will be in control and not Ashley.

Yes we’ve lost hundreds of loyalty points that would have guaranteed Cup Final tickets (don’t laugh) and yes maybe I will end up paying a few more quid if Pardew and Ashley prove me wrong…

I don’t care though, I have woken up and realised you can’t live that way as a football fan.

What I do know as well is that if all 52,000 of us didn’t have season tickets and decided match by match, Mike Ashley wouldn’t be running Newcastle United in this car crash waiting to happen fashion.

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