Brighton (A) drops to 10 loyalty points and could fall all the way to zero

Newcastle's second away game of the 2023/24 Premier League campaign dropped to 10 loyalty points earlier today with a combination of internal and external factors slowing ticket sales significantly.

At the time of writing, there are still around 1,200 tickets available at the Amex Stadium, meaning there's a good chance the game could fall all the way to zero points.

The primary driver in the sluggish sales is the club's new draconian guidelines on away ticketing, which have introduced severe penalties for supporters who pass their tickets on to friends and family "unofficially".

This has caused quite the debate on social media since it became public knowledge, with the club, the Newcastle United Supporters' Trust (NUST), the Newcastle United Supporters' Club (NUSC), and individual fan accounts bearing the brunt of people's frustration.

To summarise what has happened, NUFC has moved to prevent supporters with a large number of loyalty points from buying up and redistributing tickets on a "who you know" basis. Ticket and ID checks have been introduced at away games, with the threat of season ticket cancellations and loyalty point deletions if purchasing supporters are found to have transferred tickets.

As a result of this, NUFC's first Premier League away game of the season at Manchester City fell all the way to 10 loyalty points before selling out, having sold out at 45 points in 2022/23.

Secondarily, on the day of the Brighton game (Saturday the 2nd of September) the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) is staging a walkout, with the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen (ASLEF) observing an overtime ban on the same day and striking fully a day prior.

With the game kicking off at 5.30 p.m. on that Saturday evening and being Newcastle's second-longest away trip of the year at 299 miles (as the crow flies), people are understandably struggling to conceive of ways to get to and from the Amex safely and in good time.

This could all add up to mean a very different-looking Newcastle United away section for what is a massive game against a genuine rival for the European places this season. Or, worse still, empty seats in the away end, which has been unheard of since the takeover.

We'll keep an eye on how quickly the tickets sell now the points have dropped and let you know when they get to zero. There may be no away ticket ballot for season ticket holders for this one.