Newcastle cancel school's tickets for Barca game

Newcastle United have cancelled tickets purchased by a school nearly 200 miles away for the Champions League home game against Barcelona.

Forty-five tickets for the group match at St James' Park on 18 September were bought by the High School of Dundee - days after 110,000 fans had been in an online queue for the remaining seats.

A school spokesman said the school purchased the tickets in good faith after being "approached".

But it is understood that the tickets came from unauthorised reselling by fans who have now had their season tickets cancelled.

A Newcastle spokesman said: "These tickets will be made available to Newcastle United supporters through the club's existing ticket sale process."

A similar number of students from the school attended Newcastle's most recent Champions League game, against AC Milan in 2023.

A spokesman for the school previously said the tickets were "bought as part of a group package".

But Newcastle do not have an authorised reseller and the only way to sell season tickets is through the club's official platform at face value.

Lisa Mole, chair of the Newcastle United Supporters Trust (NUST), said fans are "fighting every week to get a ticket".

"We have members who pay a membership fee every year who are not guaranteed a ticket, and we have had numerous members contact us who did not get one ticket in the ballot last season," she said.

"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."

It is understood that 78 Newcastle season tickets or memberships have been cancelled this season for unauthorised selling.

About 4,500 membership accounts are on an internal watchlist because of suspicious activity, while about 750 supporters are being actively monitored for potential touting.

Newcastle are purchasing unauthorised tickets in an attempt to identify the sellers.

More than 130,000 bot attempts have also been foiled for the Barcelona game.