Newcastle United have confirmed 97 per cent of the tickets available within the Carabao Cup final priority periods were purchased by current season ticket holders. Reaction was mixed on social media this week as fans taking part in the Wembley ballot discovered their fate.
The draw was made after supporters in higher priority slots, which took factors like loyalty points and a more extensive purchase history into consideration, had bought their tickets. Overall, the EFL have allocated 32,761 seats for Newcastle supporters in the West End of Wembley Stadium.
Despite the national ground holding 90,000 spectators, deductions were made to accommodate corporate seats and those reserved for sponsorship partners. A separate small allocation also went to full-time Newcastle United staff, players' families, owners and club partners.
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Amid the backlash, the Newcastle United Supporters’ Trust (NUST) spoke with the club regarding the ticketing process. A lengthy statement confirmed how the tickets were allocated.
"We appreciate that every Newcastle United supporter wants to be there to support the team at Wembley and we offer our sincere apologies to anyone who has been left disappointed,” a club statement relayed by NUST read.
“Unfortunately, demand has greatly outstripped the supply of tickets we have been allocated for the Carabao Cup final and we are unable to obtain more. With this in mind, we considered our options around ticket sales very carefully and worked hard to ensure tickets were made available to supporters in as fair and equitable a way as possible.
“Accordingly, we established a set of priority periods based on eligibility criteria - heavily weighted towards season ticket holder status, number of loyalty points and Carabao Cup ticket purchasing history during the current 2022-23 season.
“97 percent of the tickets available within the priority periods have been purchased by current season-ticket holders, with a very small allocation made available to members and supporters with purchase history in the Carabao Cup. This is in line with our on-sale policy throughout previous rounds of the competition.
“In addition, a small allocation has been allocated to our hard-working full-time staff, our players' and coaches’ families, our owners and our official partners at a ratio that benchmarks favourably in comparison to other clubs that have reached domestic cup finals in recent years.
“We appreciate this will be little consolation to any supporter who has missed out, but we hope the above information is helpful in understanding how tickets have been allocated. Thank you again for taking the time to contact us. Your support is truly appreciated.”
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