Newcastle's match attendance drops

Recent attendance totals suggest that English Newcastle is losing a substantial amount of supporters. According to numbers issued earlier this week, the club's home games saw a decrease of close to 5,000 fans since last season, leaving the total number for this year sitting at 46,489, as reported by The Telegraph.

Speculation suggests that the abandoning supporters can be directly linked to Kevin Keegan’s recent resignation from the club, with many fans pointing a finger at owner Mike Ashley for the loss of Keegan. However, the attendance totals started to slow down before the turn of events involving Ashley and Keegan, indicating another problem yet to be uncovered.

Newcastle is feeling the effects of the decrease as its St. James Park executive seats sit unoccupied. The seats cost up to GBP 35,000 per season, a hefty source of income for the club. It is also expected that the latest changes will have an adverse effect on Ashley’s pursuit for a new owner, and it certainly doesn’t help that stadium expansion plans have been placed on hold.

Overall, St. James Park is still operating at about 92 percent of its capacity, as stated by a Premier League spokesperson.