If Celtic fans won’t buy them, why not give Newcastle United fans another 7,200 tickets? | OneFootball

I was interested to read on The Mag on Wednesday, of how few Celtic fans had bought tickets for the friendly on Saturday 19 July.

This in sharp contrast to Newcastle United fans who weeks ago (see below) had swiftly snapped up all 7,200 away tickets.

One of the main reasons given, was that many Celtic fans don’t think they should have to pay for their tickets.

With apparently in the past they got free tickets for friendlies if they bought a season ticket.

After reading that article on The Mag yesterday, I had a further look into what was happening with this friendly and from what I read in the Scottish/Celtic media, it appears that so low has been the demand from Celtic fans, that only limited areas of the stadium have tickets on sale to home supporters.

So my question is – If Celtic fans won’t buy them, why not give Newcastle United fans another 7,200 tickets?

Now before anybody reacts, this is a rhetorical question. I don’t need to be told the reasons why this is never going to happen.

Firstly, Celtic fans and their club wouldn’t want to be humiliated in having their stadium taken over and the home supporters outnumbered, even for a friendly.

Secondly, the Glasgow Police aren’t going to be keen on 15,000 Newcastle United fans making the trip.

However, the fact remains that a lot of other Newcastle supporters beyond the official 7,200 allocation, will still buy tickets, only they will be amongst the Celtic fans.

I know United aren’t alone in this but it is always a huge frustration when Newcastle easily sell out an away ticket allocation and you know many more thousands could have been sold but the home side not willing to do so, then the match comes around and you see massive numbers of empty seats. We often see this in cup matches when Newcastle are drawn away, especially at Premier League clubs such as Fulham who will always struggle to sell to their own fans in these games.

What I wanted to talk about as well, was a more general point about Newcastle United fans and away matches.

This isn’t a dig at those United fans who get the tickets and get to go to away matches.

Instead, it is a lament for how things used to be, compared to now.

Back in my day growing up, it was a bit of a rites of passage as a Newcastle fan, when you made the transition from being a regular at St James’ Park, to then starting to go to away matches.

It was so exciting, travelling all over the place with thousands of other NUFC fans wherever we went, huge numbers in the 1980s. You just decided you wanted to go to an away match, agreed with your mates how you were going to get there, then turned up and paid cash to get in.

It couldn’t be more different now and with a maximum of only 3,000 away tickets for any away match, far less for certain games where they have less than a 30,000 capacity, tickets are difficult/impossible to come by. I love what is happening at Newcastle United with Eddie Howe and his players, but when I think of all the brilliant adventures I had going to away matches, especially in those years when I was 16-21, I feel so sorry for those of that age these days where so few of them can ever get to a single away match, never mind what it was like in my day when only (lack of…) cash would stop me going to all of them.

This Celtic match perfectly sums up just how very different things are these days for Newcastle United fans and away games.

Even though a hefty 7,200 away allocation, these were all swiftly snapped up by season ticket holders. Not a single ticket got down as far as becoming available to any of the 100,000+ Newcastle United members, let alone the countless other NUFC fans who are neither season ticket holders nor members.

Plus, remember, this is only a friendly!

There is no magic answer on availability of tickets (although an 80k new NUFC stadium would be a start…) and away ones in particular. However, not able to see your team playing in the flesh on even a semi-regular basis, is all a bit depressing, no matter how well the team are doing on the pitch.

Newcastle United official announcement – 16 May 2025:

‘Tickets for Newcastle United’s pre-season trip to Scottish Premiership champions Celtic FC are now sold out.

Eddie Howe’s side will travel to Scotland to face Brendan Rodger’s Bhoys at Celtic Park on Saturday, 19th July (kick-off 3pm BST), competing for the first ever adidas Trophy, and tickets initially went on sale to season ticket holders with 35 and above away points on Tuesday, 6th May.

Points were reduced daily at 2pm (BST), excluding weekends and subject to availability, before selling out on Friday, 16th May.

Following supporter consultation there will be a limited allocation open to season ticket holder ballot for those who do not meet the away points threshold. This ballot will go live at 2pm BST on Monday, 19th May and will close at 2pm BST on Tuesday, 20th May.

Supporters will be asked to input card details. If they are successful in the ballot, payment will be taken and the season ticket holder will be notified by email. Those that are unsuccessful in the ballot will also be notified as such and will not be charged.

Anyone under the age of 13 must be accompanied by an adult aged over 18 at Celtic Park.

Due to the size of the allocation, the club will be offering sale to seat instead of the usual travel groups for this fixture. If you are in a different points threshold to a junior and wish to sit together, please contact the Box Office and arrangements can be made to ensure juniors are not sat separately.

Tickets will be in paper format.

There are 1,200 restricted view tickets within the allocation, these are to be sold once the full view allocation has sold out.

Celtic Park is a cashless stadium.

No visitor tickets will be available on the day at Celtic Park, all tickets should be purchased in advance from Newcastle United.