NUST (Newcastle United Supporters Trust) publish new report – Here’s my take on it | OneFootball

The Newcastle United Supporters Trust (NUST) has recently published its annual survey report for 2023.

On its website, the NUST highlights that “it will act responsibly as a guardian of the future of Newcastle United. If the Trust believes that the Club is being run incompetently and not in the interests of the supporters, the Trust will not be afraid to criticise. The Trust however, will not exist just to be critical; the Trust will also be about helping the club, tapping into the skills and expertise of its members and offering solutions.”

At the front of the annual survey report, the Football Supporters Association suggests that “the need for fan engagement at all levels across the game has been emphasised following the Fan-led Review into Football Governance, of which the Newcastle United Supporters Trust submitted evidence into. Fan engagement at Newcastle United is like chalk and cheese in comparison to pre-October 2021, and it’s great to see NUST at the heart of the new relationship with the club.”

It’s fair to say that the Trust has a set of laudable objectives, although as an avid reader of The Mag, especially the comments section, it’s fair to say that many do not hold it in very high regard and there has been criticism in regards the Trust’s recent intervention in ticketing.

I decided to take a closer look.

The annual survey report highlights some of the Trust’s achievements in the year. These include donating £200,000 to local charities, standing up for fans following the overcrowding situation at Hillsborough during the FA Cup third round tie at Hillsborough, and playing an instrumental part in the return of Strawberry Place into NUFC ownership after raising objections to the proposed development of that land. NUST also make some interesting observations in relation to the club’s ownership and sponsorship, how ‘Wor Flags‘ enhance the matchday experience and the Women’s team.

However, it’s ticketing which gets most coverage, taking up almost one-third of the entire report.

The Trust begins by saying it had raised concerns with the club over the way in which tickets were allocated for the League Cup final and following that, ran a pulse survey on the issue of ticketing in which the majority of its members felt that 10% or less of away tickets should be made available for corporate attendees.

Fast forward to the eve of the 2023/24 season, following the announcement from the club that home tickets would be randomly allocated following a ballot within the price region of £44 to £74, the Trust successfully contributed to a club rethink within 24 hours, that will now mean members can select a price category that suits them when entering the ballot. That was certainly welcomed by many as a positive intervention.

Other key changes that the club has made to ticketing include the removal of automatic membership from the season ticket, the introduction of a payment scheme for cup competitions and the roll out of digital ticketing.

Some controversy in that lot, and the Trust pondered what lots of folk contributing to The Mag did, for example, how easy will it be to transfer tickets to family and friends, what if my phone breaks, what if I don’t have a smartphone and is the club tech reliable enough for this to roll out successfully? I think all of these questions have been answered and the reality is that nothing too problematic has occurred, or where there are issues, they seem isolated and not at all widespread.

However, there still seems to be much controversy surrounding loyalty points; namely whether the loyalty point system is fit for purpose.

NUST explains in its survey report that it attended two ticketing workshops organised by the club during the pre-season, during which its starting point was that whilst the loyalty point system works well to reward the most dedicated travelling fans and that should be protected, there is scope to cut down on abuse of the system, for example by those who benefit from accruing loyalty points for tickets that are then regularly sold on. The Trust responded to specific questions asked by the club:

NUFC: How do we introduce new home and international fans to away matches?

‘The Trust is of the view that there should be no preferential treatment for any new fans to gain immediate priority access to away tickets, be they local, national or international fans.’

NUFC: Is the loyalty points system a fair way to distribute away tickets?

‘NUST is of the view that the existing loyalty point system is fundamentally fair providing it is not abused. It is the correct way to distribute away tickets, rewarding those fans that have travelled all over the UK and Europe following Newcastle United over many years.

The system could be improved, which could include loyalty points being awarded for purchasing season tickets, a membership and/or home cup tickets. The Trust welcomes the club’s recent commitment in relation to timing of away ticket sales and would recommend this is done on a daily basis with qualifying points requirement dropping each day. The Trust would welcome full clarity on the number of tickets made available for each away game, and notes other clubs such as Manchester United publish this detail on their website. The Trust acknowledges that a small percentage of away tickets are made available to corporate ticket holders and players’ families. The Trust does not agree with the distribution of standard entry away tickets to these categories and believe a Premier League-wide reciprocal agreement should be made to create an area for such away fans within existing corporate areas.’

NUFC: How do we ensure people buying the tickets are using them (e.g. not selling them on)?

‘The Trust is aware that other clubs have utilised a collection process whereby a small number of randomly selected ticket holders must collect their ticket at a game and provide ID to match the ticket purchase to do so. Any such process should not be over zealous or delay entry into a match. A Premier League-wide digital ticketing strategy may also help in this area. In addition, NUST suggest that the club monitor social media and third-party re-sale platforms and put in place sufficient penalties for abuse of loyalty system to act as a deterrent.’

Personally, I don’t believe there is anything fundamentally wrong in how the Trust has specifically responded to these important questions. Who wouldn’t agree that there shouldn’t be preferential treatment for new fans to gain immediate priority access to away tickets? Or that rewarding those fans that have travelled all over the UK and Europe over many years, shouldn’t continue? Or that the loyalty system shouldn’t be abused?

In fact, the Chair of the Trust, Greg Tomlinson recently commented on social media “Trust position on loyalty point system – it’s fundamentally fair providing it isn’t abused. Don’t believe everything you read on Twitter.”

So, like them or loathe them, it seems to me that having taking the time to read their annual survey report, the NUST have done a decent job this past year.