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The club has revoked more than 100 annual passes and apologised to fans for an “unfortunate mistake” after passes assigned to external groups in the past were “unnoticed until now”

NUFC implemented measures after a detailed investigation into the unauthorised secondary selling of tickets for matches at the stadium.

This follows in the wake of a school nearly 200 miles away managing to purchase passes for the extremely popular UCL home game against the Spanish giants on Thursday night.

Newcastle United explained that when the new owners assumed control previously, they terminated deals with external groups that allowed them to sell tickets.

That included the deal set up in the past with a handful of tour organisers “supporting school groups” - but the club were unaware they were continuing to trade tickets as there was no official agreement with the organisers.

“Now when we are striving to protect authorised access for supporters, we want to be completely open and apologise for this error,” officials said.

45 tickets for the Barcelona match were purchased by the Dundee-based school in the coinciding time that a huge number of fans had been in an virtual waiting list for the remaining seats for the eagerly awaited fixture.

A representative for the school said they purchased them believing they were legitimate, after being “reached out to” by a agent, but the tickets were subsequently cancelled by the club.

NUFC have now cancelled a total of 103 annual passes in lately for breaking terms and conditions.

The club clarifies the recent situation does not relate to fans reselling their tickets for the stadium in “this situation”.

External groups acquired the memberships in the 2015-16 campaign.

Newcastle stressed that the ongoing usage and improper trading of passes at a “higher package price” was remained undetected because there was “no written deal in place for the tour groups”.

“Once notified of this issue, the club took swift measures,” a statement read.

“The club have not collected any money above the face value of these season tickets and have immediately made available the seats for purchase to followers who have joined the random draw for future fixtures.”

The Newcastle United Supporters' Trust previously “approved” the club “implementing clear measures to prevent and sanction those who may be profiteering from fellow supporters”.

“Besides the rise in ticket prices, according to our annual survey, one of the major issues for supporters is limited matchday access as a result of, not only popularity, but the selling of tickets through unauthorised platforms or further improper methods,” it noted previously.