bobbydazzla

Wow, you must love having a snout Smoking isn't allowed anywhere in the ground, so you might want to stock up on some nicotine patches or gum I've heard a rumour there's a smoking area being created just outside the ground at Leazes Terrace, as the club are hoping it might get "accidentally" burnt down and we get the green light for redevelopment of the East Stand

So am I. Conceived behind Dontino's Nite Spot and born in Hexham General Hospital. I was also King of the Wentworth Roller Disco from 1990-1992. So pipe down with the passive aggressive anti-Hexham jibes please.

And if you do get access there’s then a random allocation of whether you sit on your sofa, armchair or chaise longue

I use Blue Line actually

I've had the misfortune of being sat next to ST holders who seem to only want to go to the game to bitch and moan and scream abuse at the players. Even when we're winning. I just don't get the mentality.

Totally agree, but unfortunately I think it's more likely they'd look at purchase history and decide that people who've been going for years are less likely to be the sort of customer they want inside the ground. They've got tens of thousands of fans like me and you in the ground on ST's already. The master plan appears to be attracting "untapped" customers by making it as easy as possible for anyone who fancies it to have a go at winning a ticket in a lucky dip. As an example think of all those wealthy International students in Newcastle, get them in the ground as neutrals who want to watch a Champs League quality side and they might go back to China as Newcastle fans. Then we've got a rapidly growing Asian fan base. And so on. Also the ticket price increases this week have barely been mentioned, most are ranting about the ballot and seat selection instead. Wouldn't be surprised if they start coming after ST's with big price hikes and more corporate seating areas. For starters they can't be happy that people are still paying Ashley era prices for Champs League quality football.... Then Silverstone gets to say "look, I'm mint at my job, revenue at NUFC jumped from £fuckall to £shitloads" It's just more achievements on his CV, he's got no loyalty to longstanding fans of Newcastle United

86th in the queue Saw a seat near my preferred one and just stuck it in my basket and got the fuck out of there. Went back to look for a seat for a friend but where empty seats showed up, they couldn't actually be booked. This was a couple of minutes after 10. I've got extremely lucky. And I have massive sympathy for people who have missed out. This new system is beyond a shambles.

I think a lot would depend on how flexible the club are willing to be about ticketing. Following recent events it feels like all the club are interested in is filling the stadium with no thought for fan experience or customer service. The average punter will want some say about where in the ground they sit. Also a lucky dip 1 week before the match doesn't give many fans outside of the region time to plan their travel, hotels etc. If it stays like that then I can see interest starting to decline and the huge demand we're experience right now is the peak, not the norm. So maybe a modest increase to the existing site will suffice.

We have reseller sites, most are awful, but some are ok although those are just an official method for legit buyers to pass on unwanted tickets at close to face value eg Ticketmaster resale But don’t forget, the club has created a ticket resale system, they just haven’t told anyone how it actually works and it goes live in less than 12 hours

Yep, I know which parts of the ground I enjoy and have like minded people in. And I expect a lot of others who have been to games do too. I guess the club are just assuming that the desire to watch a game live outweighs the preferences that people would have. The new atmosphere created by lobbing everyone in at random will be intriguing, to say the least

It’s one of the main reasons why I’ve had a lifelong desire to be able to choose where I can sit

Seems like it The question remains as to why, when every other stadium in the land allows attendees to select a seat

It’s the worst music ever created in the history of mankind. Will create more ear distress and nausea than if you were to hear your parents having sex in the kitchen whilst you sat with your mates and watched Byker Grove on telly in the living room

For anyone wondering what the club’s official line is, I got a bland copy n paste response after politely contacting some of the leadership. It’s not addressing the key detail behind their decision but headlines are: - Demand is greater than supply - We consulted with fans in ticketing meetings and there was frustration they couldn’t get tickets last season - We’re not planning any system change - We’ve logged your concern - Visit the fan zone when we build it - DJ Otzi will be played after every goal I like to think that I’ve made my point, even if it’s falling on deaf ears for now.

Was there no-one you know who could have logged on at 10am and bought a ticket for you under the old system ? Even if you’d asked in here because you felt you had zero chance of a ticket whilst others were going to loads of games, am sure people would have taken some satisfaction helping you get one. I definitely would have tried for you.

I think you’ve got too caught up in the specific issue of Haydn’s mates gall bladder. He’s just used it as an illustration of the principle of allocated seats being unsuitable for some people It could equally have be an 80 year old with a dodgy hip and bad eyesight being lobbed in level 7, it could be a 6 year old being scared shitless amongst the radgies in Strawberry Corner and so on and so on Thats the point that‘s being made Theres already unhappy people who are posting in here who were successful in the ballot, but been given seats they would never have chosen to pay £44 for This isn’t not about loyalty, or working hours, or gall bladders, or entitlement Its about people attending an event in a stadium being able to select an available seat that suits their personal preferences and budget Which is standard industry practice

I posted this in Tickets, but even if we just look at the Villa game in isolation this is how it has played out......and it's absolutely diabolical. - We bought memberships in good faith, but weren't told how the ticket sales would work. - We had to choose ticket price categories in the ballot, without being able to see on a seat plan which part of the ground we were applying for. - We don't even know if L7 is open to all, or just for families. - Ballot success was only confirmed 8 days before the match. - There's no provision for anyone's personal circumstances when entering the ballot e.g. Haydn's mate not being able to walk up stairs. - If your allocated seat isn't suitable, you can't sell your ticket - Resale tickets are released tomorrow but we don't know how to buy them It's a fan relations disaster and there should be hell on. I've contacted leadership at the club directly in order to share my concerns, but there needs to be a constructive and co-ordinated effort to get our frustrations aired.

But there’s a clear and legitimate work around for those people. You only had to know members who could be online at 10am, then link accounts. Lads in here were helping each other out for instance. I couldn’t even get a membership in 2022/23 as they weren’t selling them post-takeover. But I had friends with season tickets who I had to ask to let me use their +1 If you were determined to be there, there was usually a way. Now there isn’t. It’s a lucky dip.

Bobby Dazzla finds some friends or forum members who are able to be online at 10am during the week. He links his supporter number to them and asks them kindly if they could buy his ticket.

And don’t forget to mention that from Oct 2021 to Aug 2023 Bobby Dazzla bought a ticket to every game and was usually in Strawberry Corner putting his full support behind the team, even in the days when relegation looked a certainty. He’s also a former season ticket holder, went to away games in both top flight and 2nd tier and was at 1999 & 2023 cup finals. He’s supported the club for 35 years and stopped going to the match as a protest against the Ashley regime. Joe Bloggs just likes to take selfies at big events and post them on Instagram.

A person who wanted to go last season and was determined to attend had multiple routes to try and secure a ticket. This season there's one way. A lucky dip.

Tiered in this instance means you would build up some sort of recognition for previous purchase history or unsuccessful ticket applications, giving easier access to tickets for people who historically have been regular match goers Cos at the moment you have 3 groups that are vastly different. 1) season ticket holders 2) people who can afford the very expensive hospitality tickets 3) anyone else (NUFC fan, neutral or away fan) can pay their £37 membership and be on an equal footing in the lucky dip If you're not a season ticket holder, or able to splash £200+ on a hospitality ticket, then you might as well have zero history of supporting the club

Potentially it's the worst of both worlds. If someone couldn't log on at 10am, or didn't have a friend who was available at 10am that they could link to, then now they've got to cross their fingers in the random ballot. So how many people who were frustrated at being locked out by the old system, are now chuffed to be going to the Villa match ? Personally, I don't know a single one.

I totally get why the 10am weekday time was unfair for some Would you have been able to log in if they'd moved sale times to evenings or weekends ? Or if they'd kept 10am weekdays could you have linked your account to someone who could log on at that time ? I was always able to make myself available at sale time, so got tickets for pals who weren't There was easy workarounds to the old system, if people were determined to get a ticket they probably could. But now it's 100% down to luck. No level of control over how likely you are to get a ticket, or where you'll be sitting in the ground.

As Ian says, there's a large group on here who have rarely missed a game since Oct 2021 that didn't get tickets for Villa I'm very intrigued to know how many of the people who were either unavailable for 10am sales, or tried and failed to get a ticket in 10am sales, actually managed to get a ticket in the ballot. Cos as I understand it, that's the group that the two main groups the new system was supposed to benefit.