New St. James' Park stadium plan reveals updated seating category locations

There's been a fair bit of confusion around ticketing at Newcastle United this summer, with supporters left in the dark about numerous issues related to both home and away tickets.

One of the main problems that has come to light since the announcement of a new "members' ballot" for home tickets has been just where in the ground you could be seated depending on the category you select.

Fans have been using an outdated map from the 2017/18 season to try and pinpoint which parts of the ground fit into each category, but the club has finally updated its stadium plan this week to put an end to the uncertainty. Here's the new one:

A jumbo-size version of the plan is now available on the official website and shows that "Seating Category 1" remains all of the East Stand (aside from its corners) and paddocks L1B to L1H in the Milburn Stand opposite.

"Seating Category 2" contains the most notable updates, as it no longer houses Level 4 of Milburn/Leazes corner, but does include the Level 7 block of that corner which used to be the "Young Person's Area".

Additionally, the new "Safe Standing Area" is apparently no longer part of Category 2, while it can be assumed that if an away team does not take its full ticket allocation then blocks L7F, L7H, L7J, and perhaps even L7K would be included in it.

"Seating Category 3" has assumed Level 4 of the Milburn/Leazes corner, in addition to the front rows of the Leazes Stand, which have always been a part of it.

A small positive step, then! Though we can understand why fans might question paying the same price for a ticket that's in Level 7 of the Leazes as someone in the middle of the Gallowgate. And we still can't get our head around why there are three categories when 2 and 3 are the same price!

For reference, here's what the pricing has been in the members' ballot for our opening two home games of the season:

Opponent	Category 1	Category 2	Category 3
Aston Villa	£74	£44	£44
Liverpool	£77	£47	£47

Anecdotally, we've heard of more people having success when opting for Category 2 than the others, and this would seem to make sense when you look at the sheer number of seats included there. We're not sure that will persist for the entire season, though, but it currently seems like the sweet spot.

Best of luck to everyone who has to enter a ballot this season, especially to those who have been unsuccessful on both occasions so far. We feel your pain!