Newcastle United have announced they will refund anyone holding tickets for their remaining home games which will be played behind closed doors.
Although the move has been welcomed by fans’ groups, it is belated. Newcastle are the last club in the Premier League to have offered to reimburse supporters unable to attend St James’ Park in the wake of lockdown restrictions imposed by the coronavirus pandemic.
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Steve Bruce’s side have five home league games outstanding as well as an FA Cup quarter-final against Manchester City, and the Newcastle United Supporters Trust (NUST) feels the club has dragged it feet over issuing refunds.
Newcastle’s excuse has been that the owner, Mike Ashley, is in the process of attempting to sell the club for £300m to a Saudi Arabian-led consortium. The takeover has reached the final stage only to hit an apparent snag in gaining Premier League approval.
Lee Charnley, Newcastle’s managing director, was expected to be replaced by an appointee from the supposedly incoming regime some weeks ago, but he is still at the helm and on Thursday finally acted on the ticketing problems.
Newcastle said fans who had purchased single match tickets can apply for “a refund or account credit equivalent to the full ticket price for all relevant upcoming matches”. A club statement added: “Supporters who purchased a 2019-20 season ticket will be eligible for a pro-rata refund or pro-rata account credit for the remaining five Premier League home matches. This will not include additional half-season tickets which were redeemed free of charge.”
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Newcastle said the process will happen in two stages and thanked everyone for “their patience”.
NUST “welcomed” the intervention but criticised the club’s decision to charge season-ticket holders for the 2020-21 campaign, despite it remaining unclear if and when fans will be allowed to return. “We will continue to push the club for more certainty on next season,” it said.
