Another late one in London in midweek for the Magpies as Crystal Palace clash gets new date

Newcastle United's participation in the FA Cup quarter-final last weekend meant that the scheduled clash with Crystal Palace that weekend had to be changed to accommodate the new fixture.

That away day at Crystal Palace has now been rearranged for a Wednesday night at 8pm on 24th April.

It's another in a long line of lengthy night-time trips to the Capital which is causing Newcastle fans no end of problems when it comes to getting home after the games.

This one isn't at the mercy of the TV Overlords as so many of our fixture changes are, but once again it's the Newcastle fans who are getting shafted.

Newcastle fans are paying the price for the club's success

So now Newcastle's reward for doing well in the FA Cup is another ball-ache of a trip to London in midweek that's likely going to have to result in an overnight stay for those travelling fans.

A study before last season got underway found that Newcastle fans pay more than any other Premier League club's supporters each season to follow their team away - almost £3500 a year, which rose to over £4200 the following season. Just as well there's not a cost of living crisis putting the squeeze on people, eh?

We're willing to bet that with all of the travel chaos and overnight stays that have been necessary this season thanks to rearranged fixtures and late kick-offs, that figure is even higher this season, and that gap to the second-place fans' expenditure is even wider.

Is there more the club can do to help fans?

It's only going to get worse the more successful we get, too. The higher up the league we climb, the more cup games we're involved in the more TV companies are going to want to show us.

We've paid the price for being the most entertaining side to watch this season with the Magpies' games producing more goals than any other side the likes of Sky Sports and TNT Sports see us as ratings gold.

Success really does come at a price, but it's the fans who are paying it more than the club it seems. How much longer can this go on? Is this something that the Fan Advisory Board can bring up in the next meeting? A coach put on by the club to get fans to and from these late-night away games? It might be costly for the club, but they're the ones with the billions of pounds whereas our fans are forking out 13% of their annual salary on average to be there to cheer on the lads.