Newcastle Cancels 45 Tickets Allocated to Dundee Schoolchildren for Barcelona Champions League Match
Club cites supporter backlash; school says tickets bought in good faith from an approved provider
Newcastle United has cancelled 45 tickets that had been allocated to schoolchildren from the High School of Dundee for the club's Champions League fixture against Barcelona on Sept. 18, the club said, after complaints from regular match-going supporters.
The school group, based nearly 200 miles from St James' Park, had purchased the tickets through an approved seller as part of a packaged trip that was advertised to parents for £295, which the school said included the match ticket, travel and overnight accommodation. A spokesman for the High School of Dundee said, "The High School of Dundee was approached by an approved provider and the tickets were bought as part of a group package."
The decision to withdraw the tickets followed vocal objections from season-ticket holders and other supporters. Lisa Mole, chair of the Newcastle Fan Supporters Group, said the allocation "stung" because many long-standing supporters are regularly unable to secure tickets. "It's a ballot — people are not guaranteed a ticket — but it does sting when they see people who are not necessarily Newcastle supporters being given an opportunity to go to such a high-profile game," she said.
A Newcastle United spokesman said the 45 tickets will be returned to the club's pool and made available to supporters through the existing ticket sale process. The club said the tickets had not been purchased directly from Newcastle's official website but were obtained via an approved third-party seller.
The match is expected to draw heavy demand: more than 110,000 online users were reported to be in queues seeking tickets for the fixture. The club has faced repeated issues with unauthorised resale and touting this season. It has cancelled 78 season tickets and memberships linked to unauthorised selling, placed about 4,500 accounts on a watchlist for suspicious activity and is examining more than 700 fans for possible touting, the club said.
Supporters' groups have increasingly pressed the club and regulators to clamp down on secondary-market sales and to prioritise long-standing supporters for high-profile fixtures. Newcastle's action to reassign the Dundee group's tickets underscores tensions between meeting commercial or community requests and safeguarding supply for season-ticket holders and local fans.
This is not the first time a school group from the fee-paying High School of Dundee has attended a European fixture involving Newcastle; a similar-sized party travelled to the club's Champions League group game against AC Milan in 2023. The club did not provide further detail on how the returned tickets will be allocated beyond its statement that they will be offered through the usual sales and ballot procedures.
The Barcelona game is scheduled to be played at St James' Park on Sept. 18. Newcastle United and representatives of the High School of Dundee did not provide further comment beyond their initial statements.