The minority spoil it for the majority – only season ticket holders to go to away games
Posted on July 20th, 2011 | 38 Comments |
The justification for all of this is the events that took place at the Darlington friendly which we can all agree made a mockery of our club and it’s fans. It was quite simply disgraceful to see the events unfold and even worse to see fans saying “they hope it happens again” – if that’s what you go to a football game for, do something else with your time instead of ruining it for the rest of us.
That, of course, is exactly what has happened today. The minority has ruined it for the majority and if you want to go to an away game, you had better fork out £20-£25 a year for membership or upwards of £300 for a season ticket.
A club statement today had this to say:
In order to combat any possible trouble at future away fixtures, a new policy will be implemented by the club which will see ticket sales restricted to Season Ticket Holders and Members only. As such the buyer will be held accountable for any trouble associated with the purchase/use of a ticket.
Supporters attending the forthcoming game at Leeds will be reminded in advance of the game of their responsibilities to the club, fellow supporters, and the game of football as a whole.
Newcastle United sincerely hopes that this incident is a one-off never to be repeated again and that as the 2011/12 season unfolds, the good name, fervour and loyalty of its fans will once again be to the fore up and down the country.
I can understand why this is a good move in the event this happens again as it will make each ticket holder more accountable for his or her actions when playing away from home however it is incredibly disappointing to see such a lack of faith in the supporters who have stuck by the club through hell, high water and Dennis Wise. (Although after seeing Dennis Wise at the club, ‘high water’ seems like quite a good deal.)
Is it purely political reasons between the police, the club and the FA? Or is it the extra money the club are wanting? All funds received from the membership does get put into the academy, after all. Perhaps it’s a mixture of both, who knows? All I really care about is the fans who face the very real possibility that they may not be able to attend away games as a result of this decision.
Of course, season ticket holders and members can buy more tickets but if memory serves correct there’s a limit to how many they can buy at once – not being either of those, I would rather refrain from comment.
It’s an unfortunate day for Newcastle United fans as this decision will ultimately leave a lot of fans in the dark when it comes to away days – the participation of which, many believe, is the mark of a true supporter.
This is undoubtedly a terrible decision by the club and we can only hope that this doesn’t bite us over what may already prove to be a vital season.
Really annoying for me – I live in Kent so obviously don’t get tpp go up to Newcastle much and I was hoping to catch an away game at one of the London clubs this season. I guess I’ll have to become a meber then although £25 is a lot when I’m already paying £50 for a new shirt every season. It only cost me £1 to join the Labour Party, and we actually get to vote for our leader.