Chelsea crack down on membership abuse and ticket touts – Lessons for Newcastle United to learn? | OneFootball

Chelsea have reported (see below) a major crackdown on ticket touts and abuse of their membership scheme.

Lessons for Newcastle United to learn?

BBC Sport report that at Chelsea; ‘More than 1,000 people are said to have been stopped entering the stadium, 1,500 membership accounts cancelled and four arrests made last season, the highest of any Premier League club…’

With Newcastle United fans, members are getting increasingly frustrated when they lose out on match by match tickets in ballots etc, only to then see so many tickets turning up on reselling sites at prices far beyond face value.

Very ironic though that the main man in the Chelsea ownership group, Todd Boehly, is also a director of Vivid Sports, one of the very worst and shameless reselling sites when it comes to facilitating the selling of Premier League and other tickets at prices many times face value…

BBC Sport report – 18 March 2025:

Chelsea have sent an email outlining their battle against ticket touts, including action against one who had “340 memberships”.

The club have sent an email to assure supporters that they take touting “seriously” and to “re-emphasise the robust action we are taking every day as a club to tackle this and stop those participating in this illegal activity”.

The scale of the problem has also been communicated to supporters, with one tout said to be using “340 membership accounts linked to the same ticket” for January’s match against West Ham.

More than 1,000 people are said to have been stopped entering the stadium, 1,500 membership accounts cancelled and four arrests made last season, the highest of any Premier League club, according to the email.

The email, seen by BBC Sport, also explains the club have:

“An investigative team who track ticket purchasing and membership accounts, including a team of uniformed and plain clothes staff to investigate ticket misuse, identify and apprehend touts.”

“In-person seat checks at home matches.”

“Set up a hotline where we use information to investigate potential touts.”

“Support the police in obtaining Football Banning Orders for convicted touts.”

The issue of touting is also having a major impact on the increasingly tepid atmosphere at Stamford Bridge, which has been highlighted by both the previous manager Mauricio Pochettino and current boss Enzo Maresca.

A small singing section of 120 season ticket holders in the Shed End has also been trialled at the recent home game against FC Copenhagen in the Conference League.