High School of Dundee's Newcastle v Barcelona tickets cancelled after fan backlash

A Dundee school has had dozens of tickets for Newcastle United’s Champions League home game against Barcelona cancelled following fan backlash.

The High School of Dundee purchased 45 tickets for next Tuesday’s opening group match before any Newcastle supporter – who can pay up to £47 a year to receive ticket priority – entered a ballot.

However, following fan backlash led by the Newcastle United Supporters Trust, the school’s tickets have now been withdrawn.

A High School of Dundee spokesperson confirmed: “This afternoon we were informed by the approved provider that the tickets have been cancelled.”

However STV News understands that two other schools in Dundee appear to be running a school trip package to the match.

A newsletter on the Harris Academy website confirms the secondary school was running an overnight excursion which included a trip to the football match.

It is unknown if the Harris Academy trip will be affected following the cancellation of the High School of Dundee’s tickets.

It is understood one other unnamed Dundee school also has a school trip to the match planned, but the status of their tickets is unknown.

Baffling situation

Over 110,000 users were in an online queue for the hotly anticipated fixture at St James’ Park, which went on sale on September 9.

The Newcastle United Supporters Trust (NUST) said it was happy to hear the tickets had gone back on sale for supporters, describing the situation as “baffling”.

A statement read: “Newcastle United Supporters Trust are happy to hear from the club today that a number of tickets in breach of season ticket terms and conditions for the game versus FC Barcelona have been cancelled and made available to supporters via the club’s ticketing site.

“With other Premier League clubs known to have involvement with third party sites and with such high demand for tickets at St James’ Park, we welcome Newcastle United taking visible action to deter and penalise those who may be profiteering from other fans, or in this baffling case, a number of school pupils from Dundee.”

The statement highlighted that reduced ticket availability due to high demand, as well as the sale of tickets through third party sides or unauthorised means was one of the “biggest concerns” for fans, with the situation “highlighting frustrations once again”.

The statement concluded: “Ticketing can be a divisive subject but we feel united in the stance that tickets belong in the hands of genuine Newcastle United supporters and thank the club for their approach to those who misuse the system. We will continue to request transparency across all ticketing procedures.”

Newcastle United have been contacted for comment.