Earlier this week, Dean Wilkins posted a great article (‘What a time to be a Newcastle United fan’) on Eddie Howe and NUFC that I wholeheartedly agreed with.
How can anyone criticise Eddie Howe and what he has achieved in such a short space of time, especially when you consider Newcastle United were dead in the water when he took over?
Our club and team written off by pundits and heading straight to the Championship.
Eddie has done such a good job igniting the club and hence the support.
So much so, that when on Monday I logged on to the Newcastle United ticketing site to be part of the members queue for the supposed chance of getting tickets for the Sunderland game, I found myself placed 139,103 in the queue.
Oh well.
Last season we managed to get tickets five times through the ballot.
This season we have had two and games are rapidly running out.
No problem. That is what a ballot is. It is the chance of getting a ticket and if your luck is in…
The stark reality is that we do not have a Newcastle United stadium that can accommodate the size of the support.
My only grievance is with the supporters who fall back on the defensive phrase of where were you when we were pants? Well me and my mates were there with our kids, the supposed lifeblood of football.
However, just like many others we were not season ticket holders and so we have fallen into the giant hopper of supporters wanting tickets but unable to get them.
Arsenal have just announced that their season tickets are going up, as well as match day prices with category A and now A+ etc. They have a hundred thousand plus waiting list for season tickets. Make of that what you will. When they expand the capacity of their stadium I doubt they will be selling season tickets.
Recently we played Spurs who are struggling in the league and I could have easily purchased tickets for our game but in their end. Eighty pounds for seats next to the away support. I decided to check the White Wall where tickets were available for ninety eight ponds with no concessions. I flipped the question of should we buy to my fifteen year old son, who resoundingly said no. So there you have it. Supply and demand creating a capitalist’s football dream.