Wallsendmag

Just reading this about Espanyol. They are making a drive to get more younger supporters on board and say the average age of their season ticket holders is 37. Would be interesting to know how that compares with us but I reckon we've got at least 10 years on them there. https://www.rcdespanyol.com/en/new/more-than-30,000-members-and-25,000-season-ticket-holders/16177

The problem with extending capacity though is that it's essentially just a Level 7 extension. Adding 8k of the cheapest seats with the worst view in the stadium. Looking at it from a purely business perspective I just can't see the point bearing in mind the cost and then the return. As someone else mentioned that could also be the final nail in the coffin regarding atmosphere at SJP. The L7 expansion absolutely killed the Leazes End. I used to sit there from 1993-2006 and the change in atmosphere from 2000 onwards was tragic. Same could well happen to the Gallowgate.

Again that's another thing that PSV do. So you have the usual family section that you get everywhere, then they have the East Side and NE Corner which is for their more lively element but then you have another Corner which you can only buy a season ticket in if you were born after 30th June 2005, so essentially it's a section for U21s. Unsurprisingly that part is also pretty boisterous and makes good noise. Season ticket in there costs €205 so basically €12 per game or just over a tenner in our money. There's loads more we could be doing here, that's Newcastle and England generally, but sadly I think the ship has probably already sailed.

OK as a few of you will know I regularly travel over the North Sea to watch PSV Eindhoven play. Was there yesterday and the one thing that always jumps out to me is how different the demographic of their fanbase is to ours. That's the 100% biggest problem at SJP and I honestly don't see a solution to it. Sat outside a bar yesterday watching all the other supporters walking past us and it was a massive majority of large groups of lads in their 20s and 30s. Admittedly the overwhelming choice of clothing was Stone Island and at first glance "football hooligans" is probably the first thing that would enter your head (very rarely see any bother there mind although away fans aren't allowed to drink in the City centre so you never see any) but generally it's large groups of younger males who like a bit bounce about, daft carry on, and a sing song who make up a large part of their support. Compare to an average home game here and it's predominantly men and women in their 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s who make up a large amount of the fanbase. Typically these don't enjoy a bit bounce around (they don't even like standing at the match) or a sing song. They want to sit there, arms folded and to be entertained. That's how it is here now. All seater ST culture and high ticket prices have driven us to where we are these days and the unfortunate reality us that there is no going back. The other 19 PL clubs all have the same problem however. It's an English problem, not one that's specifically ours. A new stadium might help out for the first few seasons with the novelty factor but then it would sink into the same malaise that SJP finds itself in today I reckon.

Slightly surprised if they've decided to stay at SJP and extend to 60k+. All I can assume is that there's nowhere else in the city centre vicinity to build a new one. For the owners point of view it's going to be a lot of hassle and a lot of money to build an extension where the vast majority of the new seats will be the cheapest in the ground, ie Gallowgate Level 7. Speaking as someone who absolutely hates sitting in Level 7 it wouldn't be a particularly inspiring move for me but I suppose if a new city centre stadium is completely off the table it's the next best thing, but with all this talk about how poor the atmosphere is, I can't see how bolting 8k seats onto the Gallowgate and tweaking the East Stand will make any positive difference in that respect though.

I was there today. Currently sat in departures at Schiphol. Bakayoko played. Was poor yet again. After a great start to the season he's really struggled for form these past couple of months. Personally I think he's playing on the wrong wing and him and Lozano should swap. Was interested to see Minteh today and have to say I was very impressed. Very lively, scored a good goal and was pretty much a menace until he went off in the 75th minute. Played through the middle today but I think he also has the attributes to play out wide, he has pace and some nice tricks. I'd think he'd be knocking on the door of the first team next season and going off today alone he looked a better option than either Almiron or Murphy in my opinion. Also sure I read on here that the Feyenoord fans don't like him. Well we were sat a couple of blocks along from the away fans and they love him! He got an incredible reception off them when he was subbed.

He also reckons Malcolm Macdonald was at their home match last Saturday and was having an argument with one of the lads who's part of this newly formed Supporters Club telling him they were going on about things all wrong way. Impression I get off him is that most the fans have now either stopped going or the ones that remain are just totally disillusioned with the club. 183 at their last home game says it all.

Mate of mine had just joined their newly formed supporters club. Already just shy of £200 members and by all accounts they've already raised a few £K in subscriptions and donations. They emailed the club a on Monday I think it was about arranging a meeting with them so that they couldn't work together to hopefully bring some stability and prosperity to proceedings but unsurprisingly they haven't bothered to respond. He also reckons they were donated a turnstile form some security company a couple of months ago (no turnstile was one of the things their ground failed on last year) and its still just standing there outside. They haven't even bothered to install it. Oh, and they still refuse to take card payment at the gate.

Applied to do this workshop online. Something needs to change.

Very few people wore replica shirts back then but that was soon about to change. This is 100% certainly the 91/92 season and the first match at Newcastle where I remember fans wearing replica shirts en masse was at the final game of the following season v Leicester when we won the league and released the new Asics kit the day before the match and 1000s queued up to buy it.

Read something a few weeks back saying the average age of a Chelsea season ticket holder is now 58!

Me and the lad I was stood with last Wednesday both noticed the state of the pitch. Really poor condition and sadly doesn't really lend itself to getting the ball down and trying to play football. Just so uneven and bobbly.

Was a topic on their forum the other day about their season ticket prices and how even though they (allegedly) get 40k crowds they don't get the financial advantage that brings due to the tickets being some of the cheapest in the league. Surprisingly a few said they'd be happy to pay more.

Aye same for me. About 15 mins to Benfield and about 25 mins to Stan. Missed Saturday though work and same tonight. Was there last Wednesday v Whitley which I thought was a decent game between 2 pretty good sides who'll both be top 6/7 this season. Wouldn't mind Stan having 1 more season in NL before going up to the next league but of course it's no longer optional.

Would have been there tonight if I wasn't stuck on nightshift as it's a nice 15 minute walk for me. Looks like I dodged a bullet

100% 91/92 season. Looks a decent crowd as well, probably around 22/23k so it would either have been Blackburn, Tranmere, Swindon or Millwall I reckon. They were all 0-0 after 17 mins.

"Why's the corner full of shit?"

I'm going to the PSV v Feyenoord match on Sunday. Will be interesting to see him live if he's selected.

Seriously? Is it something to do with Twitter like? Doesn't give the competition much credibility if whatever these are can make it to a National Final.

You've lost me here

Who do they play in the Final? No doubt a team from down south who have a 30 minute travel.

Carragher proper spitting the dummy out there. Probably a harsh decision but marvellous that it's happened to them.

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Even 1 person is too many, let alone a minority. Sad thing is the club don't seem to be listening and are ploughing on with it regardless. More and more people coming to the conclusion that these ticketing workshops are purely lip service and their plans are already pre decided beforehand.

Was reading this earlier on twitter. Apparently he's not the only one. Appears that his ticket was a dud so the stewards manually scanned him (and others) in but this hasn't registered with NUFC. He can prove he attended the match as he bought a pint inside the ground so he has a bank statement to prove it but seemingly that's not enough. Just another absolute farcical ticketing situation the club has created this season. I'm so glad I no longer bother with aways as I genuinely couldn't be arsed with the hassle.