The Newcastle v Barcelona ticket controversy has finally been clarified, with Newcastle United explaining why busloads of tickets ended up with pupils from Scottish schools.

In fact, it wasn’t just a single incident, as the official Newcastle announcement outlines below.

Almost like a Scooby Doo episode, when the disguise comes off to reveal the culprit, it turns out to be…Mike Ashley!

The current NUFC owners explained that over a decade ago, Mike Ashley and his associates had sold several season tickets to ‘tour organisers’, who then distributed them to schools.

The club say they only recently uncovered this practice, revealing that those managing the tickets were reselling them as part of a ‘higher priced package’ for school groups.

The statement confirmed that 103 season tickets have now been cancelled after breaking the rules and terms.

At least two schools from Dundee were given access to a coachload of tickets for Newcastle against Barcelona.

Still, many Newcastle supporters recognised this as routine in the Leazes/Milburn Stand, with large parties of Scottish kids and accompanying staff present.

Strange nevertheless that this hadn’t been previously identified by NUFC staff working during matchdays, or raised with officials.

A good outcome regardless, since 100+ extra seats each game will now be given to Newcastle United fans instead of neutrals, while those abusing the scheme had been profiting for years.

‘After deeper investigation into the unauthorised reselling of tickets for St. James’ Park games, we have now cancelled 103 season tickets in recent days for violating rules.

This case does not concern individual fans reselling their tickets, but rather a group of season tickets handed to tour operators in the 2015/16 season for school trips.

The club ended all third-party ticket  agreements following the ownership change in 2021, including certain hospitality sales and ticket allocations linked to an ex-commercial partner.

Yet without a formal deal for the tour organisers, the ongoing resale of these season tickets at inflated prices wasn’t noticed until lately.

Once informed about this situation, the club immediately took corrective action.

At a time when we strive to protect fair access for Newcastle United fans, we feel it is right to be open and apologise for this lapse.

The club did not earn anything beyond the ticket face value and has now returned the seats for sale to supporters entered in the ballot for upcoming games.