Relief for Newcastle fan whose dog ate Carabao Cup final tickets as club confirms replacement

A Newcastle fan has spoken of his relief after tickets torn to pieces by his dog were verified by the club's ticket office.

Alan Carling was returning home downtrodden from his team's home defeat against Liverpool on Saturday 18 February when his day went from bad to worse.

He and his wife's freshly delivered tickets to the Carabao Cup Final had been eaten by the family dog, Rudy the 11-month-old golden retriever.

"My jaw just dropped and I was in sheer amazement," he told ITV News Tyne Tees.

Mr Carling remembers making the discovery

"I think I told the dog to just leave the room. I was gobsmacked. Wor tickets were here. But the dog’s eaten them."

Mr Carling thankfully had the foresight to gather up the tattered tickets in the hope of Newcastle United issuing new ones.

He has since taken his ID and what remained of his tickets to St James' Park, where they were verified.

New ones await him at the Wembley ticket office on Sunday.

"“It was a sense of relief really," he said.

"The people in the box office had seen the story and kind of knew about it. They were very happy to do it.

"I’ve still got a slight bit of butterflies as I’m going down there without tickets but I’m trusting the process."

Mr Carling is now allowing himself to look forward to Sunday, which he describes as the biggest day of his life as. Newcastle fan:

“It’s a mixture of emotions, a bit of excitement a bit of apprehension.

“It should be amazing. I think everyone’s going down with a sense of hope.

" As a fan, this is going to be the pinnacle, the highest moment if we manage to win this game and win it well. It will be written into history."

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