Newcastle United returned a whole block of tickets to Saints earlier in the week and they have now sent another 500 or so back which are now on sale to Saints fans,

Newcastle United used to have one of the largest traveling supports in the Premier League, older Saints fans will remember back in 2002 when not only had the full allocation of 3,200 in the ground but at least that many again in the City without tickets.

But those days seem long gone and for the game in a couple of weeks they could have one of the lowest away followings of any Premier League fixture ever at St Mary's .

Of course the fact that they battling with relegation will have something to do with this, this game comes at a time just before the final games when the support rallies behind the team and it is of course their second longest game of the season.

But it is more than this, it is a story of a club whose supporters have been exploited by its owner and have had enough, Mike Ashley was initially seen as the saviour of Newcastle when he bought the club, but his stock is no longer high amongst supporters who feel that the club no longer cares for them and is determined to squeeze every last penny from their pockets.

Other clubs should take note, when things go well the crowds will be there, but if you don't look after them they will soon walk away, especially if like Newcastle's they feel they are being ill treated and taken for granted.

Charging supporters for the privilege of just being able to buy tickets is totally unacceptable, no one minds a small administrative charge but when fans have to fork out £25 just to be able to buy tickets its a case of clubs being greedy.

So in a couple of week's time there will be few of the Toon Army in the ground, but bare in mind it is a lot lot more than just fans walking away when the team is doing badly, it is about the fact that if you don't build loyalty amidst your fan base then you are heading for a fall.

Club's would do well to remember that without supporters they are nothing and Saints fans would do well to remember that there for the grace of God go I

Photo: Action Images

bigrob68 added 10:37 - Mar 25 What poor support they have
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dirk_doone added 11:10 - Mar 25 They haven't even sold the small number of tickets they've retained so there could be empty seats in the away section again, which is a pity because the home sections will be sold out.
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legod7 added 11:16 - Mar 25 bigrob,They get around 50,000 for home games every week. The capacity is just over 52,000. They are one of the best supported teams in the country even with Ashley in charge
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dirk_doone added 13:04 - Mar 25 I think Rob was joking. Apart from a couple of years in the 80s and 90s, when their average gates dropped to 16,000, they've always had fantastic home support. You can't blame their fans for not wanting to come all the way down to Southampton after the terrible season they've had.
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arfurdent added 14:04 - Mar 25 life is hard up on Tyneside, surviving on BBQ whippet and ferret
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Mushty added 17:41 - Mar 25 "one of the lowest away followings of any Premier League fixture ever at St Mary's" has got to be a bit of an exaggeration. It looks like they've still got over 1500 seats, I can't believe they won't shift those over the next two weeks, and that's still loads more than the likes of Blackburn, Boro, Hull and plenty others regularly brought down. Did Wigan ever bring more than 2 or 300?

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SaintNick added 08:58 - Mar 26 Perhaps wigan would have brought lower and a few night games, but in general few clubs have brought less than 1,500 in the Premier League although Stoke were poor this season
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SaintBrock added 09:28 - Mar 26 Most people would not contemplate the 300 odd mile journey to the south coast and back because of the time and cost involved. It certainly isn't a down and back one-day trip so involving overnight stays and so on. Travel is daunting as well with the state of congestion of our roads these days or the horrendous rail fares and the cross-London connection frustrations as well. Cut the Geordie lads a bit of slack. I wouldn't do it and probably many of you would be daunted even by the prospect of such a marathon weekend. My bet is that there is a direct correlation between distance and ticket sales to visiting teams.

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SaintNick added 09:59 - Mar 26 I did it up and back in a day this season and it was a Sunday 1.30pm kick off, we took about 1,500 up there and it was only a few days after going to Vitesse Arnhem. If Newcastle were in line for the League they would fill the away section. Also they could probably fill it with exiled Geordies living in London alone. Yes there are extenuating circumstances why they are sending so many tickets back, but the fact its a 300 mile trip etc is not one of them, its what football supporters do, Liverpool had no problem filling our away end last week

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Chesham_Saint added 16:23 - Mar 26 I do have some sympathy but they're also not shy in accepting the plaudits as the most passionate fans (Skates excepted of course) in the country so they can expect some stick for this...
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SanMarco added 14:58 - Mar 27 I like Newcastle in terms of their supporters - they are just about the best there is. I feel sorry for the fact that they are under the iron heel of the Wonga/Sport's Direct way of operating. Those that have a pop at the Liebherrs should perhaps always take an 'Ashley pause' before doing so. I know that football is now a big part of the corporate capitalism that holds sway but Newcastle Utd as a corporate entity is as bad as it gets.

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