Toon owners make first major error as fans fume at Tuesday's ticket announcement

Earlier today, Newcastle United revealed that a ticket ballot will open this week for next Saturday's clash with Aston Villa, giving members a chance to secure a seat for the game.

There's no guarantee that those paying £37 for a membership land a ticket. However, it's now emerged that the winners will be allocated random seats and charged immediately, with adult prices set between £44 to £74.

The latter is a huge amount to pay, while details of the selection process were not made clear when the club sold memberships for £37 last month. Naturally, this has lead to fan unrest on social media, making supporters question the new system and extortionate prices set by the club.

No seat selection is poor and the £30 range on prices (£44-£74) feels far too big. Our new owners have got almost everything bang on since they took over from Mike Ashley, but this feels like a big mistake and has been met with major criticism on social media.

The NUST are due to release a statement soon responding to the announcement. Given the backlash it has faced, it would be no surprise if this flawed system is revised very soon.

It's impossible to suit everyone and tough to oversee when the demand for tickets outweighs the supply, but this feels misleading, excessive and poorly thought out.