Reading Greg McPeake’s article on The Mag (‘Interesting what these Chelsea fans had to say in the pub the other week’ – 1 Nov) about Chelsea fans giving up their season tickets because they’ve become too expensive, made me think about recurring comments on The Mag and elsewhere about Newcastle United fans and the changing demographics inside St James’ Park on match day.

One description that I’ve seen seems to sum up both the change and the general effect this may be having – that we now have a stadium full of spectators rather than fans.

This was part of the case argued by Chris Hall in his article (‘An open letter to Newcastle United fans’ – 8 Nov) which examined in detail what he sees as the changed atmosphere generated nowadays at St James Park and the reasons for that.

Reaction to that article was, unsurprisingly polarised, with people either praising it for hitting the nail on the head or slamming it as uninformed “bobbins”!

Chris was either exposing the reality of the “Fortress SJP” myth, or exposing his own lack of real experience in a frantic effort to blame the Newcastle United fans for the club’s failings. Take your pick.

I’m not setting out to insult or denigrate anyone by bringing up this issue. I’m well aware that, despite the continuing emphasis on growing the commercial side of match day, the stadium is still rammed with tens of thousands of passionate Geordies – but as season ticket holders of long standing they are inevitably growing longer in the tooth. The passion is, maybe, now internalised and reserved for the more extreme moments rather than roaring out in youthful exuberance throughout the match.

Thus speaks the man who hasn’t ventured inside St James’ Park since the day that internalised passion was released to roundly boo off Moussa Sissoko during a dire home defeat to Bournemouth! I would also like to point out, though, that any reservations regarding the home supporters as a body do NOT apply to the away fans who often show up the home supporters in their own grounds.

Anyway, my aim here wasn’t to focus so much on our supporters but to raise the issue in a wider context, using the example of another club who we played recently – Crystal Palace.

Being a self-professed expert on the state of places I don’t actually go to, I have for years regarded Selhurst Park as one of the last bastions (at Premier League level) of the “real” game. An old fashioned stadium in the heart of the local community with what seems to be an energetic and noisy working class fan base. It certainly comes over that way on the TV and I always enjoy the passion and volume of the Palace fans.

Despite their recent trophy successes – or maybe I should be saying BECAUSE of those successes – Palace are currently struggling in the Premier League. Midweek European games on top of season after season selling their best players has finally caught up with them, it would seem. Things have become so bad that they even contrived to lose at home …… to us!

When reading the Palace fans’ post-match comments on The Mag. I was struck by two references in particular regarding the atmosphere. One referred to our supporters completely out-singing theirs and offering up the ditty, “shall we sing a song for you?” I must say, it was noticeable on the TV that our guys were consistently louder than theirs – something I don’t normally expect at Selhurst Park. In contrast with Darren Henderson’s assertion, in what I thought was an excellent article, (‘Newcastle United on the road to nowhere via Putney Bridge’) published on The Mag on Bonfire Night, that our away support has become “stagnant”, my ears confirmed that it was very much vibrant and in full flow at Selhurst Park on this occasion at least.

Some other comments set me off on understanding why this was possible. These other comments referred to the absence of the “HF”. Visitors to Selhurst Park will know that the popular end of the ground is the Holmsdale Road end and that Palace have a tradition of their most committed supporters gathering there and being orchestrated by a core group of “ultras” known as the Holmsdale Fanatics.

Ultras are very much a European phenomenon – the hard core of the home support, inevitably dressed primarily in black and using a variety of aids, such as drums, megaphones, pyrotechnics and “choirmasters”, to increase noise levels and lead the support within the stadium. They are not generally associated with British teams. Indeed, new Palace manager Pierre Sage stated that a key reason he decided to take charge of the club is because it was one of the only clubs in the Premier League that had ultras. He didn’t mention salary ….

The group was founded in December 2005 by a small number of supporters who had attended matches together since childhood in the 1980s. They traditionally stood in Block B of the Holmsdale Road Stand since 1999 but have had a bit of a running battle with the club, especially following stadium regulations introduced as a result of the Taylor report, which they described as restrictive. They have since been relocated within that end of the ground in, I believe, Block E.

It is this group that has been responsible for the organised displays and coordinated support that has generated much of the energy and noise that I have always associated with the Selhurst Park home crowd. However, that has sadly now (for Palace fans at least) come to an end.

On 28 Aug 2026, they announced that they were disbanding. The Sun quoted their spokesman as stating:

“Increasingly driven out by the sky high ticket prices, needless restrictions that are designed to strip away the dignity of supporters and relentless harassment and legal action, many young people are choosing to opt out of a game which seems determined to push them away.

“There needs to be a drastic shift at Palace towards younger fans and a move away from a culture in which people attend the ground expecting to be entertained, towards a culture of supporters turning up to play an active role in influencing the result.”

Ticket price rises forcing traditional, working class supporters and youngsters away. Longstanding supporters having to give up season tickets as referenced by Greg’s Chelsea supporting pals. Youngsters being priced out of match day and being replaced by “tourists” prepared to pay the commercial rates for a one-off experience. These are familiar refrains – not just emanating from Monkseaton but increasingly from all other corners of Geordieland. Spectators rather than fans!

The quote continues, elaborating on the issue of mounting displays and using flags and banners during the match:

“From fighting for the most basic of rights just to take materials into Selhurst and stand up in Block B in the early days, to never ending problems with the club right up to the present day, we have been uncompromising in fighting for what we believe in and the rights of football supporters everywhere.”

At St James’ Park, Wor Flags suspended their activities due to Mike Ashley and his lack of support for Rafa Benitez in particular. Fortunately, they were not just welcomed back by the new owners but positively encouraged.

The Holmsdale Fanatics have clearly not enjoyed that kind of relationship with the Palace hierarchy. For whatever reason, I would argue that this has been to the detriment of the club because of the consequent deterioration, now, in the match day atmosphere.

Another key issue that crops up in relation to clubs throughout the country is an inevitable outcome of the aforementioned Taylor Report and that is the fact that, due to the requirement for grounds to be all seater, it is impossible for groups of like-minded supporters to simply gather together within the stadia and choose where they sit/stand (even in home areas of safe standing).

“But the current set up is unsustainable. We have repeatedly warned the club that like-minded fans cannot congregate at Palace in the numbers required to sustain a growing active supporter culture.”

My last visit to SJP, to the ill-fated Bournemouth match mentioned above, required an expedition to the heights of Level 7. Probably the “final frontier” of like-minded congregation, Kind Mike put a stop to it all by relocating the season tickets to other parts of the ground. That despite them serenading him with his own special song! It seems to me as an external observer since then that the atmosphere hasn’t been the same.

The BBC on 28 Aug 2026 carried the Holmesdale spokesman’s reference to the away day experience. It sounds quite bleak but I don’t think it mirrors the experience of our own fans judging by comments I read on The Mag and elsewhere.

“The story away from home is even more dire. In domestic away fixtures, supporters are banned from bringing materials into stadiums, coaches are regularly stopped, and fans are arrested. Away ends across the country are increasingly dominated by older fans, with the next generation failing to come through in significant numbers.”

As I mentioned earlier in the article, our away supporters seem to have a fair proportion of younger lads in their midst – something confrmed for me by my special correspondent, Mr Tony Malabar, who travels away to every game.

The Palace quotes end with a note of pride, however:

“Given these conditions, we have immense pride in all the group has achieved over the past 20 years. From being at the heart of the protests that rescued the club in 2010, to securing the away ticket price cap that has saved working class people millions and supporting the club through a record breaking period, the Holmesdale Fanatics has helped write a chapter in the club’s history that many did not believe was possible.”

They say that they will continue to attend matches but just as a group of mates rather than an organised “ultras” group.

So what? That’s Crystal Palace not us! Or is it?

I freely admit to being an armchair fan. I have never had a season ticket. In my younger days I couldn’t afford it and, anyway, preferred to play sport rather than watch it. Later, I had what I considered more pressing family commitments and moved away to work elsewhere in the country. I now live about 800 hundred miles South West of Newcastle.

My impressions are necessarily gained via Sky/TNT Sports, what my few season ticket-holding mates have to say and conversations on the likes of The Mag. They may well be accurate but could just as easily be wide of the mark. It would therefore be interesting to read your comments in response to the article.

Has the game gone? Have individual seats left aged, ex boot boys too exposed to express themselves? Are the Instagram day trippers taking over? Is the bubble set to burst?

What could/should the club do about it?

Should we all be singing an altered refrain from the Palace club anthem?

“You say that you love (Say you love me)
All of the time (All of the time)
You say that you need me (Say you need me)
You’ll always be mine (Always be mine)
I’m Feeling Sad All Over
Baby I’m Sad All Over ….”