By Matthew Jones
August 10 2004

Newcastle have had their ticket allocation for Saturday's Premiership opener at the Riverside reduced as both Boro and Middlesbrough City Council claim that fans have not listened to warnings stating that they must remain seated during games at the Riverside Stadium.

On top of this, travelling Toon fans have been told that if they stand up during Saturday's game, they will have their allocations for other away games slashed too.

A spokesperson at Newcastle said:

"Despite us doing our utmost in recent seasons to communicate the risks of persistent standing in the seated deck to the fans, many of them have unfortunately not taken this advice seriously.

"As a result, for United's first away match of the new season the safety advisory group for Middlesbrough FC, which is chaired by Middlesbrough Council, has instructed Middlesbrough FC to reduce the allocation of tickets available to us in an attempt to bring home the message that persistent standing will not be tolerated.

"This will happen at many other grounds across the country this coming season unless the travelling United fans refrain from persistent standing. The behaviour of the United fans this season away from St. James' Park will be monitored at each away match and reports forwarded to the Football Licensing Authority.

"The Newcastle United safety advisory group, under the chair of the Newcastle City Council, have also indicated that Newcastle United will have to take positive action to reduce standing by fans of certain clubs which visit St James' Park. Discussions are currently ongoing with the city council as how the club best progress this matter.

"Football clubs must at all times ensure that their stadiums are as safe as they can possibly make them, and after the Hillsborough Disaster, great efforts have been made to ensure that tragedies of that nature never happen again.

"The objective of a supporter should be to come along and enjoy a match, shout and cheer in support of your team, and stand at times of excitement - but please think of the consequences if you do persistently stand."

The spokesperson added:

"The background to this unfortunate situation is that Newcastle United made every effort to communicate to their fans the risks of persistent standing in the seated deck.

"This has primarily been done by way of a leaflet prepared by the club and issued to all season ticket holders, and also via turnstiles on matchdays.

"In addition, the information has been detailed in the official matchday programme, over the tannoy by the match announcer, included within the ground regulation notices displayed all round the stadium concourses and in an article done by the Evening Chronicle."

Read more on the Official Newcastle United Website