Can somebody tell Obi he can stop now as the competition is over…..Did he just mumble ‘what competition. ‘ ??
just in from the Trust Strawberry Place leasehold returns to NUFC Over many years NUST have been consistent in our suggestion that the land at Strawberry Place should not be sold for private development ,and should be developed for the benefit of the football club and local community. When an application was made for planning permission NUST objected to the application and made representations before the Council’s planning committee opposing the proposed development. We are pleased to see that the land is to be transferred back to NUFC and look forward to learning about their plans in the coming months. Ticketing Questions Put to Club - Wembley and away tickets Newcastle United have reached their first final in 24 years. What is clear to the Board of the Trust is that ticketing issues and queries are the most important matters to many Trust members. Periods 1 to 3 of Wembley ticket sales have now taken place and the club have clarified a number of matters, but during the last few days the Trust has been still been seeking answers to the questions asked by our Members. With this in mind the Board has spoken to Newcastle United and we are pleased to report that the club have provided answers to questions raised by members on ticketing. Member Question: For Wembley, is there any chance tickets will actually go down to periods 4,5 and 6? Or are they only periods that will take place if tickets don’t sell out in each previous tier? Answer from NUFC: Each period is guaranteed to take place. Trust analysis: The club is seeking to ensuring some members and non-members (with purchase history) will receive tickets in their attempt to ensure a range of fans have access to Wembley. The vast majority of tickets will go to season ticket holders. Periods 4-6 seem to be ballots so not every qualifying applicant will receive tickets, unlike in periods 1-3 where tickets are guaranteed if you qualify and purchase through the cub site in your allocated period time slot. Member Question: Why are less and less tickets for away games going on sale to season ticket holders? Are they holding back more tickets for corporate than they used to? Answer from NUFC: As you can appreciate, demand for away ticket allocations during this season is significantly higher from fans. We can confirm that there have been no changes in the allocation of 10% made available to staff, players, and corporate ticket holders for away matches. For specific matches this season, like Crystal Palace vs Newcastle United, the away fan capacity at Selhurst Park was reduced by roughly a couple of hundred seats. This was a local Safety Advisory Group (SAG) issue rather than a decision made by Crystal Palace in isolation, and therefore it wasn’t something we were able to influence. This now applies to all clubs visiting the ground moving forward. There have been instances during this season where there has been an increased uptake from players wanting their families to attend a game. In addition, and in the interests of being transparent, permanent full-time staff are now able to apply to purchase a ticket on a balloted basis from a very small allocation of tickets. As you might expect, lots of our staff work home matches but are not able to watch the match itself. This scheme gives our hard-working people the chance to enjoy watching the team they work so hard to support behind the scenes, and I hope you would agree this is a worthy addition. Rest assured, this takes only a small number of tickets. Please be assured that our fans are at the heart of the club and we will always look to ensure our loyal supporters are rewarded with access to as many away match tickets as possible whilst supporting our other matchday commitments. We hope the above clarifications help NUST members with the queries they have raised with us, many thanks to Newcastle United for their prompt engagement on these matters and their transparency on these issues.
Not sure what to make about the ballots taking place. Personally, I wouldn’t think it was right if someone from period 5 onwards got a ticket and I didn’t. No problem with periods 1-3 getting tickets as ‘earned’ the right based on the criteria but if I’m period 4 then surely that means I’ve ‘earned’ the right ahead of those in periods 5 onwards.
Got mine now. Got sick of all this talk of Periods and Ballots. Was a bit dubious about the online site I purchased it from but I rang their contact centre and the Scouser who answered said that they did most finals and had sold a lot of tickets for the Champions League Final last year.
