Milburn Stand lead the way as Newcastle United season ticket holders desert their team

It is now Saturday morning, only hours to go until the Brighton match, with the Milburn Stand leading the way when it comes to Newcastle United season ticket holders attempting to desert their team.

The club allow the Newcastle United season ticket holders to sell their tickets for individual Premier League games. Using the online club system, season ticket holders can make their ticket available for a league match, with Newcastle United members then able to go onto the NUFC official ticketing site (you have to be then logged in as a member to see the tickets that are available) to buy.

The club also make money from this. As I understand it, the fan (season ticket holder) selling the ticket is credited with the pro rata match price of their season ticket and if the ticket is then bought by a member, they are charged the far higher single ticket price, with the club banking the difference.

These tickets are usually rare and very difficult to buy for Newcastle United members.

Each Premier League match a small number of season ticket holders put their tickets up for sale and they are instantly bought by members. For members it is a case of right place right time and grabbing the ticket that has just gone up before a rival member can do so.

Not this time.

I have been monitoring this during recent days, on Monday I was surprised to see 30-40 tickets up for sale from Newcastle United season ticket holders. As the week went on, this went from 30-40 to 40-50 to 50-60 to 60-70, because as members were buying them, even more season ticket holders putting theirs up for sale. On Thursday morning I counted 127 tickets for sale that Newcastle United season ticket holders had put up, then that had grown to 275 showing for sale by Friday afternoon.

Remember, this doesn’t mean that 275 season ticket holders had put their Brighton tickets up for sale. That is how many were available at that point on Friday. When a ticket gets bought it then disappears. Members are consistently buying them but so many more are constantly getting added, the number available at any one time keeps going up and up.

Milburn Stand leads the way

On Saturday morning I have now done another count up, this was 7am with eight hours to go until kick-off.

I have done the split between the four stands.

28 East Stand
109 Gallowgate
123 Leazes
159 Miburn

A total of 419 Newcastle United season ticket holders with their Brighton tickets up for sale.

Not a single area of St James’ Park where there aren’t tickets up for sale for this Brighton match.

This usually is never the case, a trickle of season ticket holders put their seats up for sale in this way for each match and they are swiftly bought up. My guesstimate would be that already well over a thousand Newcastle United season ticket holders have put their Brighton tickets up for sale and so 600+ of them have been bought by members, but as of 7am this morning there were 419 that hadn’t been bought.

It is quite embarrassing how many Newcastle United season ticket holders are doing this. A small number of them of course will have very valid reasons and simply can’t make the match but clearly the vast majority just can’t be bothered to go because of recent results. Looking to flog their tickets for today’s match and use the money to go on the drink today etc.

To me this is abusing the privilege you have as a season ticket holder, if you are choosing not to go simply because things aren’t going well at this moment in time. When the team needs your support most of all, you choose to desert. This is especially ironic when I am guessing many of these people will also be the ones who are most vocal in wanting to push the thought that Newcastle United could end up in serious relegation trouble, if other results go against us and United lose to…Brighton.