Newcastle apologise to fans over ticket controversy

Newcastle United recorded their first win of the season against Wolves at the weekend

Newcastle United have cancelled more than 100 season tickets and apologised to supporters for an "oversight" after seats sold to tour organisers a decade ago were "not detected until recently".

The club have taken action following a further investigation into the unauthorised re-selling of tickets for matches at St James' Park.

It comes in the wake of a school nearly 200 miles away being able to buy tickets for the massively in-demand Champions League home game against Barcelona on Thursday night.

The club explained that when the new owners took over four years ago, they ended agreements with third parties that allowed them to sell tickets.

That included the deal agreed a decade ago with a small group of tour organisers "for the benefit of school groups" - but the club did not realise they were still selling tickets because there was no formal deal with the organisers.

"At a time when we are doing our utmost to protect legitimate access for Newcastle United fans, we want to be fully transparent and apologise for this oversight," the club said.

Forty-five tickets for the Barcelona match were bought by the High School of Dundee in the same month that 110,000 fans had been in an online queue for the remaining seats for the highly anticipated fixture.

A spokesman for the school said they purchased them in good faith, after being "approached" by a provider, but the tickets were subsequently cancelled by the club.

Newcastle have now terminated a total of 103 season tickets in recent days for breaching terms and conditions.

The club says the latest situation does not relate to individual supporters re-selling their tickets for St James' in "this instance".

The tour organisers bought the season tickets in the 2015-16 campaign.

United stressed that the continued use and unauthorised resale of season tickets at a "higher package price" was not discovered because there was "no formal contract in place for the tour groups".

"Upon being made aware of this issue, the club took immediate action," a statement read.

"The club have not received any funds above the face value price of these season tickets and have immediately returned the seats for sale to supporters who have entered the official ballot for upcoming fixtures."

The Newcastle United Supporters' Trust (NUST) had been "inundated with messages" from upset fans after tickets for the Barcelona game were snapped up by the High School of Dundee.

Lisa Mole, the chair of NUST, said the trust is "glad they had brought it to attention and it had been sorted".

But she stressed that NUST would continue to "push for full transparency and make sure Newcastle United supporters are put first".

"We're happy that the club have taken action, people have been made accountable and the season tickets have been removed," she said.

"But, at the same time, it's very disappointing that we're in a situation where this has even had to happen.

"These things shouldn't have been going on. It's 103 seats every single home game that have been going to people we would class as outside of the fanbase."