A ‘result’ in the Newcastle United members ballot for Tottenham…

The second Newcastle United members ballot of the season, for the Tottenham match.

A hot humid day in London so a few beers at my mate’s open-air bar in Paternoster Square is called for, where I could await the ballot result, checking my phone every few minutes.

Unfortunately, no one at the bar today to mull over past football with me and my lad, so anxiety is heightened.

At five past four I get an email. BALLOT RESULT, it says in big letters.

‘YES!’ I shout out loud in public, assuming it’s a result, as the other week I was not informed of the “result” for the Southampton ballot. That first ballot of the season saw 5 pm just roll by without a word from NUFC. This time though I excitedly scroll down the email and see the word ‘unfortunately’ in lower case.

Why get my hopes up with the headline ‘ballot result’?I would have preferred to watch the clock tick by and receive nothing, safe in the knowledge I had failed in the ballot. The only chance remaining will be when the small number of tickets go on sale on the queuing first-come-first-served basis for this Tottenham game.

For the people at the club behind this system, they need to learn quickly that “result” means achievement and success to most people. Not getting tickets, is not a result. Embarrassing myself in public by jumping up and shouting in front of a multitude of strangers, only to quietly backtrack, is a result for my laughing teenage kids.

So, it is Tuesday 6th August where our next chance will lie for Spurs.

Having said that, my attempts to buy tickets for Southampton, after failing in the ballot, were scuppered by the Newcastle United ticketing website. Having queued to get in and finally getting into the site, I was refused purchase after selecting the seats we wanted.

So I exited, queued again, re-entered the site, but was refused purchase again. The technology just did not seem to work and appeared to be glitching, allowing me to select seats but unable to purchase them.

Well, we did appear to have lady luck in the Newcastle United members ballots last season, getting most of the top games, unlike a lot of my mates who drew blanks game after game. We had no problems the season before last with queuing and purchasing tickets no problem.

Before the takeover, I was able to go to games home and away with my young son and will be forever grateful to the lads who got us away tickets and so able to hand on the football bug, or as some people call it, indoctrination.

Our first live game will probably be Fulham away, which last season was £71 for an adult ticket and £35 for a junior, which made me wince, but I paid.

I did not though that for this Tottenham match, if successful the Newcastle tickets are minimum £50 for adults, unless applying for the family enclosure.

The solution to ticketing problems?

How about a decent-sized stadium so we can all get in?

That would be my solution.