Newcastle DID know tickets were being sold on to Scottish schools by third parties - now CRAIG HOPE reveals exactly how long it's been going on, the reason the club say it happened and the other Premier League teams also at it

Newcastle United staff DID know that tickets meant for their supporters were being sold on to schools in Scotland — and have provided those seats to be resold by third parties at marked-up prices for 10 years.

The club said last week they were unaware of season-ticket seats being sold through third parties, after it came to light that 45 tickets were sold to a private school in Dundee for this Thursday’s Champions League opener at home to Barcelona. 

Those seats were quickly cancelled and the season tickets removed without refund, after the club said the resale breached their terms and conditions.

However, a Daily Mail Sport investigation can reveal that senior figures within the ticketing and security operation have known about the arrangement since 2015. They failed to flag it as a concern after the club's 2021 Saudi takeover, when demand for tickets began to exceed supply.

Newcastle say this was an ‘oversight’ which ‘slipped through the net'. But while there is disappointment and anger among the club's hierarchy that what was an accepted practice under Mike Ashley continued for nearly four years after his departure, the club say there is also satisfaction that it has been identified and resolved quickly.

Our probe can reveal that at least 100 season tickets have been sold to two tour operators in Scotland for more than a decade and that those seats have been resold for every home game since, almost exclusively to non-Newcastle supporters from north of the border.

In an email seen by Daily Mail Sport and including four members of staff across ticketing, security and safeguarding, it is stated that the ‘usual two groups’ will be attending a home match. It lists third-party tour operators Premiership Experience, of Glasgow, and PE5 Sports Tours, of Edinburgh, as the providers and two schools in Scotland as the recipients.

A total of 103 tickets were accounted for with the club’s knowledge, at a time when staff knew it breached their own terms and conditions for seats to be resold. The email is from two seasons ago but sources say staff and stewards were made aware of the attendance of the groups for every home game.

Supporters who sit in the East Stand/Leazes End corner told us that Scottish schoolchildren have been using seats in their area for several years. We have also learnt that complaints were made to the club’s supporter services team post takeover — raising the presence of groups from Scotland whose in-game behaviour was distracting and disruptive — but nothing came back.

The club say that season tickets being sold to third-party operators was never brought to the attention of anyone at executive level, and that no profit was made by the club or anyone within it. They say they are working hard to protect the integrity of season-ticket and membership access.

We understand that all 103 tickets revealed in our investigation have now been removed from those third-party sellers. But there is concern among supporters' groups that action was only taken after it was made public that the High School of Dundee were offering £295-per-pupil packages for the Barcelona game.

This led to outrage among fans, including the tens of thousands who missed out on the Champions League fixture. There were over 100,000 in the online queue for additional Barcelona tickets last week.

It is not known if there are other third-party operators with season tickets inside St James’ Park, but the club say they now know what they are looking for within their system. During Saturday’s 1-0 win over Wolves, a group of Scottish children were still present in the East Stand/Leazes End corner. 

It is understood these tickets have now been cancelled for all matches going forward and will be made available to supporters.

A statement released to Daily Mail Sport by the Newcastle United Supporters Trust has raised concern over why it took so long for the issue to be addressed.

They said: ’Newcastle United Supporters Trust is extremely disappointed by the revelations that supporters have been missing out on tickets, while a third-party operator was given access to season tickets to resell at a profit — with the club’s knowledge, according to Daily Mail Sport’s investigation.

‘The involvement of an external agency to sell tickets at a profit to non-Newcastle United fans should never have been allowed to happen, especially post-takeover when demand has been at unprecedented levels and also since the introduction of strict restrictions of ticket transfers for regular fans. The owners of these season tickets have been allowed to breach the terms and conditions.

‘We welcomed the club’s action to remove the tickets once we raised the issue of Scottish schools receiving FC Barcelona tickets with them, but supporters will rightly ask why this practice was not identified and stopped sooner. We also ask how it came to pass that no one at senior board level was aware of this practice.

‘With the introduction of a new CEO, David Hopkinson, we hope to see an improvement in leadership and transparency around ticketing which has been sorely lacking, as illustrated by the way this particular issue has played out. NUST will continue to push for transparency and accountability in all ticketing matters to ensure that Newcastle United supporters are always put first.’

Newcastle, in the wake of the Barcelona furore, stated that to resell season-ticket seats is a breach of their terms and conditions.

A spokesperson said last week: ‘Newcastle United has cancelled a number of tickets for the UEFA Champions League match with FC Barcelona due to a breach of season ticket terms and conditions. The relevant season tickets have also been cancelled with immediate effect and without refund. These tickets will be made available to Newcastle United supporters through the club's existing ticket sale process.’

It raises the question — why weren’t they already made available to ‘Newcastle United supporters’, given some inside the club knew that third parties were selling them on for profit ahead of every home game?

There is also the issue of schools and sports clubs in Scotland being the target for the resales, rather than local children. It is thought this allows third parties to mask the mark-up on ticket prices by including travel and accommodation, evidenced by the £295 package for Barcelona.

Another school in Scotland, Kirkcudbright Academy, announced to their pupils on Friday that the ‘Premier League Experience’ trip to Newcastle’s game against Wolves the following day had been cancelled. They said the tour operator had informed them that they had been advised by Newcastle United and Northumbria Police that, ‘as a matter of safety, no groups should attend the match’.

A Northumbria Police spokesperson said: 'We had no involvement in the decision taken regarding the tickets.’

Premiership Experience also advertise packages for Manchester United, Manchester City and Burnley. They, and PE5 Sports Tours, did not respond when contacted by Daily Mail Sport.

On the back of our story, the club released a statement on Monday evening apologising for the oversight.

It read: 'Following further investigation into unauthorised reselling of tickets for matches at St. James' Park, we have now cancelled a total of 103 season tickets in recent days for breaching terms and conditions.

'This instance does not relate to individual supporters re-selling their tickets, but to a batch of season tickets sold to a small number of tour organisers during the 2015/16 season for the benefit of school groups.

'The club terminated any third-party ticket provider agreements shortly after the club's change in ownership in 2021, including some hospitality sales and a small allocation of match tickets for a former commercial partner.

'However, with no formal contract in place for the tour groups, the continued use and unauthorised resale of their season tickets at a higher package price was not detected until recently. Upon being made aware of this issue, the club took immediate action.

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

'Supporters who suspect unauthorised reselling are urged to send relevant information to [email protected].'