Wandy

 A quick question around memberships & tickets....my mate has got a ticket for Saturday - currently residing in his Apple Wallet. He got it by via another member winning the ballot, who then sent the email to him with the link to add the ticket to wallet....which it did with no problem.

I was amazed that this had happened, but will the e-ticket actually work at the turnstile? If so, then this is surely an easy way to get a ticket from someone else. But wasn't the whole e-ticketing brought in to stop this kind of thing happening?

Eddie will be given time, and deservedly so. He will be given at least another 18 months to prove his credentials. Going out of the CL this season isn’t a big deal in the grand scheme of things. It truly was a free hit to get some valuable experience of playing at the highest level…something which we did remarkably well IMO. We’ve finished bottom but only based on some some fine margins.

I’m not remotely bothered about missing out on the EL either. For this season it was correct to have an all-or-nothing approach to CL qualification.

The next month is critical though. With players coming back we need to solidify a place in the top six and also absolutely MUST win the derby. Ideally we beat Chelsea too as a trophy win really needs to happen pretty soon to get the gigantic monkey off our back.

And yet some on here spout their shite that the derby coming up isn’t that important. Absolute bollocks.

19 minutes ago, madras said:

It doesn't sit right with me that after having a season ticket for 34yrs and having years when Id miss 6 or 7 games away, that people who've never had one had a better  chance for away tickets because they had mates who bought away tickets on their season tickets and families season tickets for every away game.

 

I'll whisper it now as well, some of them aren't that bothered about the match, it's an away day on the piss and the gear with their mates.

Fair point. I don't know what the answer is then. Except maybe accept that away day atmospheres of old won't be coming back.

13 minutes ago, SteV said:

Or any way that lets you get one? 😂

 

Joking aside, I appreciate the frustration of someone in your position, been to countless aways in the past, gave up a ST for whatever reason, would likely have it back in a heartbeat but there’s none to get, and now effectively locked out of aways (unless dodging the rules).

 

But there really isn’t a solution that’s gonna work. You can’t just say to folk that have barely missed a game for however many years, ‘sorry we’re good now, so you’re back in the pot with everyone else’.

 

The best you can hope for, and something I would advocate, is the transferring of an away ticket to a named member, a limited number of times a season. No loyalty point involved (some would argue the person attending should get the point, I’m not sure, maybe would need to think about that more).

 

Not ideal, but it would give you a way back in, and the likelihood is if you’re someone who went away regularly, you’ve got a bit of a network of contacts who still have ST’s who you can call upon.

Mate, I've not been to an away game for years. But I do recognise the effort of all those who have through all of the shit years, and it doesnt sit right with me that lots of those people now cannot go.

Your ideas aren't the worst I've heard.

3 minutes ago, SteV said:

But how? Barely anyone would be on more than 3 or 4 points? You’d have people who’d entered 40 ballots and never got chosen.

Make them available through the old queue system then.

3 minutes ago, Hovagod said:

Yeah, but see that’s the point. They haven’t become a start up club at all. They’re Newcastle United as they always have been. It’s one thing embracing our scummy new ownership, it’s quite another to take the ready to go line on the issue. We are not Saudi FC and we were not formed in 2021.

In a way though, we have, like it or not. This is a new NUFC...unrecognisable from the club before it. And I've been going for nearly 40 years, before anyone starts. 

Just now, Hovagod said:

Eh? How?

People who got tickets off ST holders (who bought the ticket to build up their loyalty points and then passed them on). They are the ones who are now locked out. They went to all the aways but now have nothing to show for it.

11 minutes ago, Hovagod said:

It’s rewarding loyalty starting from the point we became good. It’s a contradiction in terms 

True. But the current system has shut out those who have been the most loyal over the last 10 years of shit (pre-October 2021).

13 minutes ago, SteV said:

At this point we’ve supposedly got 60/70k members plus 30k ST holders. So we’d have about 100k people eligible for 3k (less really) tickets every away game.  Even if only 15/20% apply, you’ll be doing very well to make two games a season.

 

In 10 years time?

I think you could start implementing it after a couple of years.

10 minutes ago, madras said:

Why should everyone start from. Scratch , because it would benefit you and your mates maybe ?

Lol, not at all. The club has essentially become a start-up club with everything starting again from scratch and ticket allocation should maybe reflect that. My main aim would be to allow those who have gone to aways on ST Holders' tickets (but now cant get a ticket at all) have a new and equal chance to get a ticket.

Just now, SteV said:

So at what point does that system move away from ballot and back to points becoming relevant?

They could start balloting separate portions of the away tickets based on certain amounts of loyalty points.

Just now, Hovagod said:

That’s not rewarding loyalty though. 

Eh? How come? Everyone starts from scratch and builds loyalty points. When I say everyone I mean all members. ST holders should get no perks when it comes to away tickets.

5 minutes ago, SteV said:

You can’t say let’s have a ballot for away tickets, but once I’ve got enough points to start being able to get tickets, pack it in and go back to the normal way 😂

Its not doing that though. Its basically a reset of the away loyalty points system with everyone starting from scratch.

25 minutes ago, Hovagod said:

Ah, yes, those fair weather fans who kept their ticket for years while others gave up and sacked off following the team. They’ll be the problem. 

Like it or not, the ST holders who put up with everything that Ashley did, including allowing Rafa to walk and replace him with Bruce, are the ones who are less likely to make noise at a game.

21 minutes ago, SteV said:

Presumably resulting in a ballot for away tickets then….

Yes. It would be better than the current system. But then start building loyalty points up from this new system.

27 minutes ago, madras said:

That's funny because the lads I know that didn't have season tickets, didn't even apply for tickets but got them off mates who had points but didn't go to aways are still going and they tell me they are still seeing the old familiar faces.

Your talking about yesterday? Your mates got in through ST-holding mates giving them their tickets?

Seen a lot of people complaining about the lack of atmosphere in the away end yesterday. Seems to be a trend occuring whereby the big away days attract the spectator-type of ST holders who sit on their hands at games.

The derby is going to be full of these types, unfortunately, and the Mackems will no doubt be pouring scorn on the lack of noise from the away end. You can just see it coming.

Why ST holders get any kind of preference for away games is a mystery to me. In reality they should reset the loyalty point system to zero and make games available to all members equally.

Not worried about today, or in fact anything that happens in a PL game coming up soon....and I fancy us to beat Milan & Fulham. I'm very concerned about the derby though, and fear for him if we lose that. We are so close to it, and our away form is so poor, that even going on a decent run in the next few games won't have me that confident going into it. Unfortunately this season is showing we are capable of going from a great performance in one game to an absolutely dreadful one in the following game. What happens in the derby is anyone's guess right now.

On RTG their ITKs are now adamant that we have been given 7k tickets and have got the whole North Stand, both upper & lower tier.

Given how bad our away form is this season, this game is no longer a shoe-in. Anything but, in fact.

It shouldn't be the case but lose this and I could see a section of the fanbase losing faith in Eddie. Not wanting him out per se, but just jumping on any setback going forward with a wild over-reaction.

Times might have changed but, like it or not, this is still our biggest game of the season. We can't lose this match, not when we have such an obvious upper hand on the field...and definitely not when they've basically given us their entire home end.

5 minutes ago, Scoot said:

 

And RTG rumour?

Aye, from people at the match apparently. They've gone back from amber to red again. Very entertaining. 

Latest rumour is 6,500 and all in the lower tier of the North Stand. Jolly good.

26 minutes ago, Danh1 said:

On that thread they have found that seyson cards are back on sale in their North Stand Lower and are now convinced we are only getting the top tier. 

As expected. 

That thread will be deleted soon to hide the embarrassment.

A petition now.  To stop something that probably has never been on the cards anyway. 
 

https://www.change.org/p/prevent-newcastle-united-s-access-to-lower-bowl-for-safety-and-fairness?recruiter=11942066&recruited_by_id=2fd99c80-4252-0130-c2ab-3c764e049b13&utm_source=share_petition&utm_campaign=share_for_starters_page&utm_medium=copylink

4 minutes ago, Scoot said:

Interesting, wonder how many we'll get them if that turns out to be true.

 

By the way, reading that thread is hilarious. They're on an level of fume tonight.

That entire end is more than big enough to accommodate 7200 NUFC fans with segregation. Fair play to the local plod if they have agreed to the full 15%.