' From next (2017/18) season '

' From next (2017/18) season '

Newcastle United will be forced to move away fans next season (hopefully!)

A return to the Premier League would see Newcastle have to move the location of the away fans at St James Park.



From next (2017/18) season, every Premier League club will be required to have a pitch-side away section, so that visiting fans are guaranteed to be as close as possible to the action and boost the atmosphere generated during games.


by Graham Porter


If/when Newcastle return to the Premier League next August, they will be forced to move the away fans.

Currently all the away fans inside St James Park are located in the top level of the Leazes End but being back in the top tier would mean a change of location.

Recent times have seen the Premier League eventually realise that much of the attraction of English football is the atmosphere created inside the stadiums.

With such a high proportion of Premier League clubs’ income coming from overseas TV money, there is now an acceptance that much of that is generated because football fans in other countries see that English football has something which is unique, thanks to the away fans.

No other country has so many football fans travelling to away matches week in week out, obviously the geography of the country helping as compared to the distances between many clubs in countries such as Germany, France, Italy and Spain. The friction/’banter’ between two sets of fans essential to drive the atmosphere if the overseas TV money is to be protected longer term.

The Premier League reacted to falling numbers of away fans by first establishing the ‘away fans fund’, with Premier League clubs given £200,000 per year from central funds to pay for initiatives to encourage more away fans to travel. Clubs used this money at their own discretion in various ways – discounting ticket prices when their own fans travelled, paying for free coach travel, and even using it to improve facilities in the away section at their own stadium.

This initiative has now moved on and from this season until at least 2019, all away tickets for away fans at Premier League stadiums will cost no more than £30.

Ironically, Newcastle United’s fall into the Championship means their regular away fans are very likely to end up paying MORE for tickets, with this past weekend seeing Sheffield Wednesday charge Villa fans £42 for Championship football.

Back to the top tier and the 20 Premier league clubs have now agreed yet another move to help generate better atmospheres at matches and encourage more away fans to travel.

From next (2017/18) season, every Premier League club will be required to have a pitch-side away section, so that visiting fans are guaranteed to be as close as possible to the action and boost the atmosphere generated during games.

It remains to be seen exactly how this would work in practice and exactly how many of those away fans would need to be ‘pitch-side’ – but clearly, if Newcastle return to the Premier League then it would mean a major change inside St James Park and at least some season ticket holders forced to move.

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Good to see even the FA trying to increase the atmosphere at grounds. And people on here argue the position of fans has nothing to do with the atmosphere in a stadium...

Good to see even the FA trying to increase the atmosphere at grounds. And people on here argue the position of fans has nothing to do with the atmosphere in a stadium...

Spot on. The FA recognise that the placement of fans directly affects atmosphere so they are doing something practical about it. We need to do the same as it's more obvious than a bulldogs bollocks that it matters.

Good to see even the FA trying to increase the atmosphere at grounds. And people on here argue the position of fans has nothing to do with the atmosphere in a stadium...

Spot on. The FA recognise that the placement of fans directly affects atmosphere so they are doing something practical about it. We need to do the same as it's more obvious than a bulldogs bollocks that it matters.

Yes they may recognise placing AWAY fans near the pitch is good ! But what city fans want means putting HOME fans either side of away fans a recipe for trouble as West ham are finding out , how do city fans get past away fans if move canton to family stand? Our fans have to walk past away fans ! Or do what police did recently at another game and keep home fans from leaving stadium for 2hrs for safe passage of away fans!
Atmosphere does depend on where you are in ground on level 4 half way line is better than in Ninian or canton stands also the game dictates levels of noise within ground.

Good to see even the FA trying to increase the atmosphere at grounds. And people on here argue the position of fans has nothing to do with the atmosphere in a stadium...

Spot on. The FA recognise that the placement of fans directly affects atmosphere so they are doing something practical about it. We need to do the same as it's more obvious than a bulldogs bollocks that it matters.

Yes they may recognise placing AWAY fans near the pitch is good ! But what city fans want means putting HOME fans either side of away fans a recipe for trouble as West ham are finding out , how do city fans get past away fans if move canton to family stand? Our fans have to walk past away fans ! Or do what police did recently at another game and keep home fans from leaving stadium for 2hrs for safe passage of away fans!
Atmosphere does depend on where you are in ground on level 4 half way line is better than in Ninian or canton stands also the game dictates levels of noise within ground.

This has been done to death Allan. The Olympic Stadium was never designed for football and a football stadium designer commented that it should be ripped down and rebuilt for this purpose. I travel away a lot and West Brom is a perfect example of where it works just fine, plus there are many others. It won't happen with us simply because of Wayne Nash.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/37828905

Good to see even the FA trying to increase the atmosphere at grounds. And people on here argue the position of fans has nothing to do with the atmosphere in a stadium...

Spot on. The FA recognise that the placement of fans directly affects atmosphere so they are doing something practical about it. We need to do the same as it's more obvious than a bulldogs bollocks that it matters.

Yes they may recognise placing AWAY fans near the pitch is good ! But what city fans want means putting HOME fans either side of away fans a recipe for trouble as West ham are finding out , how do city fans get past away fans if move canton to family stand? Our fans have to walk past away fans ! Or do what police did recently at another game and keep home fans from leaving stadium for 2hrs for safe passage of away fans!
Atmosphere does depend on where you are in ground on level 4 half way line is better than in Ninian or canton stands also the game dictates levels of noise within ground.

This has been done to death Allan. The Olympic Stadium was never designed for football and a football stadium designer commented that it should be ripped down and rebuilt for this purpose. I travel away a lot and West Brom is a perfect example of where it works just fine, plus there are many others. It won't happen with us simply because of Wayne Nash.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/37828905

It's not only Nash musnt forget its the club as well, and the council can drop capacity on safety grounds if they feel it's needed? And main thing is the stadium was purpose built with away fans and home fans having maximum distance apart! Think time to except club will never change their stance

Good to see even the FA trying to increase the atmosphere at grounds. And people on here argue the position of fans has nothing to do with the atmosphere in a stadium...

Spot on. The FA recognise that the placement of fans directly affects atmosphere so they are doing something practical about it. We need to do the same as it's more obvious than a bulldogs bollocks that it matters.

Yes they may recognise placing AWAY fans near the pitch is good ! But what city fans want means putting HOME fans either side of away fans a recipe for trouble as West ham are finding out , how do city fans get past away fans if move canton to family stand? Our fans have to walk past away fans ! Or do what police did recently at another game and keep home fans from leaving stadium for 2hrs for safe passage of away fans!
Atmosphere does depend on where you are in ground on level 4 half way line is better than in Ninian or canton stands also the game dictates levels of noise within ground.

This has been done to death Allan. The Olympic Stadium was never designed for football and a football stadium designer commented that it should be ripped down and rebuilt for this purpose. I travel away a lot and West Brom is a perfect example of where it works just fine, plus there are many others. It won't happen with us simply because of Wayne Nash.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/37828905

It's not only Nash musnt forget its the club as well, and the council can drop capacity on safety grounds if they feel it's needed? And main thing is the stadium was purpose built with away fans and home fans having maximum distance apart! Think time to except club will never change their stance

As it stands its not going to change but it clearly works at other grounds without an issue. Good to see a statement by the FA that spotlights the importance of atmosphere at football matches as an essential part of its attraction.

On a separate note, City have pulled on back!

Good to see even the FA trying to increase the atmosphere at grounds. And people on here argue the position of fans has nothing to do with the atmosphere in a stadium...

Spot on. The FA recognise that the placement of fans directly affects atmosphere so they are doing something practical about it. We need to do the same as it's more obvious than a bulldogs bollocks that it matters.

Yes they may recognise placing AWAY fans near the pitch is good ! But what city fans want means putting HOME fans either side of away fans a recipe for trouble as West ham are finding out , how do city fans get past away fans if move canton to family stand? Our fans have to walk past away fans ! Or do what police did recently at another game and keep home fans from leaving stadium for 2hrs for safe passage of away fans!
Atmosphere does depend on where you are in ground on level 4 half way line is better than in Ninian or canton stands also the game dictates levels of noise within ground.

This has been done to death Allan. The Olympic Stadium was never designed for football and a football stadium designer commented that it should be ripped down and rebuilt for this purpose. I travel away a lot and West Brom is a perfect example of where it works just fine, plus there are many others. It won't happen with us simply because of Wayne Nash.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/37828905

It's not only Nash musnt forget its the club as well, and the council can drop capacity on safety grounds if they feel it's needed? And main thing is the stadium was purpose built with away fans and home fans having maximum distance apart! Think time to except club will never change their stance

As it stands its not going to change but it clearly works at other grounds without an issue. Good to see a statement by the FA that spotlights the importance of atmosphere at football matches as an essential part of its attraction.

On a separate note, City have pulled on back!

Think our past fans history as put paid to changes?
And Yes and even if lose it shows we can be competitive against the best?

Didn't stop us today.
Fantastic support from City fans

Our away support is always fantastic, whatever the numbers. Club should be looking after them big time as they are taken for granted. Safe journey home folks.