THE ITALIAN JOB
CLUB’S SILENCE ON ISSUE IS HARDLY A SURPRISE AND TYPICAL OF ASHLEY REGIME
Is Longstaff poised to leave Magpies?
WHETHER it is the last act or the latest, there is no excuse for Newcastle United’s inaction on season ticket refunds.
We say Newcastle United’s but this one is on Mike Ashley and Lee Charnley for – make no mistake – there are people working for the club who believe the situation should be sorted.
However, like everything else at St James’ Park right now, the mute button is on.
With the takeover playing out in the background, that was inevitable on some things – although to not even brief head coach Steve Bruce on what to expect is curious to say the least.
Yet at a time when fans might be experiencing financial hardship and it has now been acknowledged that supporters will not be back at St James’ Park, to simply stonewall justified questions about what is going to happen to season ticket money just about sums up this regime.
It is no way to treat fans who stuck with the club after the bitterest summer in recent memory.
They paid their hard-earned money for a whole season of action but we now know they will miss a third of the season.
On top of that, fans who paid for Bournemouth away tickets and for the Manchester City FA Cup game are also owed money.
Other Premier League clubs have moved quickly to address this.
Refunds, transferring the money to charity or gifting it to foundations or club Academies have been offered.
However, the owner and managing director at Newcastle – who are also continuing to take direct debits for next season – will not even acknowledge the issue.
We asked the club on Saturday and were told there was no plan formulated yet. It would be incredible if it was not so predictable.
The takeover will be complicating matters.
It is at a delicate stage and no-one would be expecting the club to be making signings or renewing contracts right now, given new owners could be days away from getting the keys to the castle.
A big transaction like a refund of season ticket monies may need agreement from both sides – but there have been no attempts to do that and it feels like a convenient reason to pass the buck.
Some have suggested they may be leaving it for new owners to get an early PR win but United were taking money from fans for 2020/21 season tickets in March before the deal was done with PCP Capital Partners. There are no excuses for that. There are ways to address this open sore if they want to. Communicate to us that it has been acknowledged at the very least. At least talk to the Newcastle United Supporters Trust, who have made multiple attempts to resolve this issue.
Mark Douglas
It is no way to treat fans who stuck with the club after the bitterest summer in recent memory.