Cheap Newcastle tickets for kids

Dec 9 2007 by Neil Farrington, Sunday Sun

A SHOCKING statistic is the inspiration for Chris Mort’s crusade to attract the kids back to St James’s Park.

The United chairman is set to launch new part-season tickets aimed at the children he knows have been priced out of the Premier League.

“At the Liverpool game (on November 24), we had 52,000 – a fabulous attendance, but less than five per cent were under the age of 16,” reveals Mort.

That frightening fact has prompted him into a change of plan.

“Originally, I didn’t think we’d do half-season tickets,” he said. “I just thought that if people want to come along for games in the second half of the season, they could apply for tickets and it would be quite good to mix up the fanbase.

“But now I think we will do half-season season tickets for a couple of blocks and sell them cheaply to kids – maybe £50 for secondary school kids and £25 for junior school kids.

“What do we want the profile of the club to look like in 10 years’ time? It would be good to get today’s kids coming to the ground and becoming Newcastle United supporters.

“Hopefully, that might make a good Christmas present.

“Sir Bobby Robson has been telling me how, as a boy of less than 10, he’d come on the bus with his dad to games. And I’m thinking: ‘There are some little Bobby Robsons out there today, but they’re not coming!’”

Mort adds: “We’re also setting up a Newcastle United Foundation – a registered charity that will be the focus of all the community and charitable work we do.

“As part of that, we are going to start our own Football In The Community Scheme.

“The Premier League and the Football League ended the old FITC scheme – which, although it bore our name, was run more or less independently of us.

“The new one will be more of a Newcastle United scheme.”