This makes me feel so sorry for Newcastle United fans desperate to watch their team – Ridiculous

For Newcastle United fans, this is now the biggest challenge of all.

No, I’m not talking about winning the Premier League.

Even though United will go top, at least temporarily, if winning today in West London.

I am of course talking about getting into matches, the struggle for Newcastle United fans to get tickets now.

We all know how difficult, near impossible, this is at St James’ Park.

However, I’m not talking about that, not this time anyway.

Last weekend at Molineux, the Newcastle United fans at the game, as well as those watching on TV, saw so many empty seats.

Wolves fans blaming this on the owners, the state of the club, the quality of football, the raised ticket prices and so on.

I have a certain amount of sympathy for them BUT not a patch on how I feel for the Newcastle United fans so desperate to watch their team. So many empty seats and so many NUFC supporters who would love to have filled them, whatever the price.

Seven days on, next match, next away game.

Only 2,300 official Newcastle United away fans.

Yet what will they see?

Well I had been reading stuff this week and very similar to what Wolves fans had said in the lead up to last Sunday’s match at Molineux.

On Saturday morning this sums up what Newcastle United fans can expect to see at Craven Cottage today…

Tickets in home areas on general sale the day before the game. Advert in Metro paper in London today. Club have priced out it’s own fans and now can’t sell out – despite all assurances from the Club ground will be peppered with away fans @WhiteNoise1879 @FulhamSuppTrust pic.twitter.com/L4gFEAERu7

— Davidoff (@davidftracey) September 20, 2024

Yes, loads more empty seats that so many Newcastle United fans would have loved to fill!

Yes there will be plenty of Newcastle United fans who will have found their way somehow into the home sections, at a minimum of £71 per adult ticket! Compared to the £30 maximum that is allowed for official away fans in the Premier League.

However, it is still tricky to get these and you needed (as I understand it) a previous purchase record AND I have heard in recent days of a number of (supposed!) Newcastle United fans getting their payments returned and tickets taken off them as they are suspected NUFC supporters!

My guess is that some jobsworth has gone through the previous booking history and anybody who has bought tickets for today and in the past has only bought Fulham v Newcastle tickets, will be those potentially targeted.

Anyway, how sad is it that in this day and age, Premier League clubs are allowing so many empty seats that could have been filled by away fans so willing and desperate to pay for those unsold seats?

Fulham used to be brilliant. I’m sure we used to get more than the now 2,300 allocation AND there was the ‘neutral’ section next to the official Newcastle United fans, where Fulham actively encouraged non-Fulham fans to fill thousands of seats. Which in reality simply became just an extended away end when clubs like NUFC were visiting.

The greed of the Fulham owners now meaning today there will be so many empty seats that aren’t filled by either Fulham fans or Newcastle United fans, or indeed those neutrals/tourists of the past.