Newcastle fans feel targeted by alcohol ban on trains as Man United fans allowed to drink

Eddie Howe's side face the Red Devils at Wembley Stadium on Sunday, aiming to get their hands on their first piece of major silverware since 1955.

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On Tuesday night, though, London North Eastern Railway [LNER] announced three trains heading back to Newcastle would be alcohol free.

Such ban does not affect Man United supporters, though, with Avanti West Coast trains not taking up the same decision.

The tweet read: "LNER services between Newcastle and London King's Cross on 25 and 26 February will be very busy.

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"Trains from London King's Cross to Newcastle after 19:00 on 26 February will be dry trains, meaning no alcohol is permitted on these services."

Fans have since taken to social media to express their outrage.

One said: "Used to be a total joke those services home from London away games - football fans not allowed drink but p****** up hen dos are allowed to get on at York etc and cause even more bother for other passengers than football fans would."

Another simply wrote: "And it'll never work."

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Whilst a further supporter added: "Rather than have a few beers, loads will now take spirits on board as they are easy to disguise. Eurostar to Euro 16 were all 'dry' services. Rather than have a few beers on board, I ended up doing a bottle of vodka. There are no words for the people who make these decisions."

A fourth also had his say: "Like many I feel this is poor judgement, in spite of the explanation. Dry trains aren't enforced in many other scenarios, e.g. race day attenders in York etc. Picking an #NUFC cup final day to enforce draconian measures is a shame, and wrong in my opinion."

A tweet from the The Football Supporters' Association (FSA) criticised the decision, saying: "We've long been opposed to dry trains that target football fans for just being football fans on a day out.

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"This move from LNER for the League Cup final won't achieve much and has completely misread the mood amongst #NUFC fans, which will be celebratory regardless."

LNER then responded to the tweet themselves, stating: "The decision has been taken in co-operation with the British Transport Police to prevent any unnecessary antisocial behaviour, fuelled by alcohol. We want fans to enjoy themselves, but not at the risk of injury to other customers or our colleagues."

"We will have additional security and Transport Police in place at London King's Cross to assist our colleagues and manage the capacity levels on services to ensure everyone travelling with us, for football or not, gets to their destination safely and enjoys their journey."

The FSA remained displeased, replying: "Thanks for the reply - we remain completely unconvinced by the explanation, however. If you could feed that back to the senior management at LNER, they've got this one wrong."

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