Newcastle United season ticket holders and Newcastle United members – Question raised again | OneFootball

The question has been raised again on Newcastle United season ticket holders and Newcastle United members.

At least for me it has.

I noticed this below on social media this Saturday morning.

As there are nationwide protests this weekend from fans of Premier League clubs, regarding ticket pricing.

Newcastle United Supporters Club via Twitter/X – 26 October 2024:

‘This weekend fans are joining forces against rise of ticket prices and erosion of concessionary pricing across the Premier League

At NUFC, fans have seen prices rise by as much as 10.25% over the past 2 seasons

Season Ticket Holders on long term deals face the double whammy of significant price increases and a reduction in the number of months a ST can be paid over (from 12 to 9)

We are working with other NUFC groups NUST and The FSA to support the action and encourage everyone to get involved.’

Obviously, I would love to see all Newcastle fans, all football fans, pay as little as possible for tickets.

However, at St James’ Park it is a more complicated story.

For most Newcastle United season ticket holders, they have been living the dream.

Mike Ashley used cheap ticket price deals to try and buy off fans to keep them going to games, the current/new owners tied into the cheap Ashley deals when they took over. Only when it gets to the end of this current season can the NUFC owners do anything about it, make it fairer for all fans.

As I said, at the minute, many season ticket holders are living the dream, paying the same price as they did 12 or so years ago, when Mike Ashley bought so many people off with the long-term season ticket offer.

In the Leazes and Gallowgate I know many Newcastle United season ticket holders who are paying only around £460, less than £25 a match.

The sympathy should be for those NUFC season ticket holders sitting next to them who aren’t on the Ashley deals, the full season ticket price currently for those seats is £727, if not on the Mike Ashley deal. This season those fans paying almost £300 more than those on the Ashley deal, more than £38 a match, compared to only around £24 for those on the Ashley deals.

Up in the Family Area the same story, Ashley sold those on the cheap to fill those then difficult to sell seats. Up there this season it is only £460 adults and £86 for kids! It is £217 normal season ticket price for kids in Gallowgate and Leazes.

All of this is set to change though.

The Mike Ashley season ticket deals end in May 2025 and then these current NUFC owners aren’t tied to those deals. I am sure they will get rid of the family area at same time. Why would they do any different?

It will simply be a case of levelling up, those in the family area and those on long-term Mike Ashley deals, paying full price, as many other Newcastle United season ticket holders already do.

I think it is the right thing for sure getting rid of this inequality and I say that as someone who isn’t in either camp, as I currently don’t have a season ticket.

What would be great is if the Newcastle United owners charge all of the fans who sit in the same/similar areas the same price BUT make that price a reasonable one. Or at least as reasonable as possible in this (Premier League) day and age.

As for myself as one of the Newcastle United members.

I also want to plead my/our special case.

As I say, those Ashley deal season ticket holders are paying around £24 a ticket in the Leazes/Gallowgate, those around them paying full season ticket price are paying around £38 a ticket.

For myself and many/most other Newcastle United members, it is more like £60 a ticket!

Since the start of the 2023/24 season I have only been successful in four member ballots for Premier League matches.

It is £37 per season to be a member and adult ticket prices start at £50 (£47 for less attractive matches) and if I get four Premier League successes again this season in ballots, my ticket price per match will have been around £60 a match (when you add in the part of the cost of membership pro rata).

Of course, if you are a member and only go to one Newcastle United home match (whether through choice, bad luck in ballots, or a combination of both), then that will have cost you a minimum of £84 or £87, depending on which match.

As recent articles on The Mag have pointed out, the price of going to football these days is ridiculous, compared to the prices many of us paid back in the day before all-seater stadiums and ALL clubs taking that as the opportunity to massively increase prices.

As one of those articles on The Mag pointed out, in the mid-1970s an adult paid around 50p to stand in the Leazes End, now a single ticket to sit in the Leazes End is £50. Costing 100 times as much to watch your team! Whereas in these last fifty years, inflation should have seen prices go up around 13 times as much. Even if you rounded that up to twenty times as much, it should still only be a tenner now to watch Newcastle United from the Leazes (and Gallogate) End.

Reality is that football fans pay more and more.