Newcastle United drew 1-1 with Barcelona at St James’ Park on Tuesday night in a memorable Champions League encounter at St James’ Park.
Harvey Barnes put Newcastle in front in the 86th minute before Lamine Yamal’s 96th-minute equaliser. The sides will face each other once again at Camp Nou next Wednesday on level terms as they look to secure progress to the quarter-finals.
But after complaints following Newcastle’s 3-1 defeat to Manchester City in the FA Cup at St James’ Park last Saturday, there were fresh problems raised by supporters after the draw with Barcelona.
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St James’ Park footage angers NUFC supporters
Ahead of the defeat to Manchester City, the Emirates FA Cup official social media accounts shared footage of supporters in the home end at St James’ Park wanting autographs from City winger Antoine Semenyo, one individual was also seen holding a Man City shirt.
In response to the footage, Newcastle United Supporters Trust raised the issue with the club directly amid concerns tickets were not being properly allocated to genuine supporters.
A club spokesperson responded: “Thanks for raising this. I appreciate the Trust bringing this to us directly. I completely understand why fans feel strongly about maintaining the integrity of home areas, just as we do. I’ve looked into the situation involving the individual seen with a Manchester City shirt.
“While I recognise how this appears, I do not yet know the circumstance or intent of the person involved but I can confirm our ticket sale processes were adhered to for this match.”
NUFC raise Barcelona concerns
Then, against Barcelona just days later, the situation appeared to worsen as many Barcelona fans could be seen in the home end at St James’ Park, making no attempt to hide their loyalties during the match.
It prompted a further statement from NUST, which read: “The amount of Barcelona fans in the home end was frustrating & extremely disappointing considering how many #NUFC fans were unable to get tickets for tonight.
The problem comes after concerns were raised to the club earlier this season about the selling of tickets through third party websites at an inflated cost. The club have made an effort to clamp down on such re-sales, yet local fans are still missing out.
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