Newcastle Fans Should Boycott St. James’ Park
When I was younger and online shopping wasn’t around, I used to buy my electronics in Dixons. I hated it. The customer service there was horrible, stifling to the point where you felt like they wanted nothing more than for you to stop eyeing up their shiny electronic goods and leave them alone.
I can’t really pinpoint exactly why I felt that way, I just did. The environment was cold and unwelcoming. The staff were unfriendly and suspicious. The moment you picked something up to take a closer look you’d feel the icy glare of a member of staff boring into the back of your head. That or someone would shuffle ever so slightly closer towards your vicinity, conveniently pretending to rearrange a shelf right next to you that was already perfectly neat anyway. The consumer experience was awful and every time I bought something I left the shop feeling like I’d swapped a small part of my dignity in exchange for Mario Kart on the SNES and a ten pack of TDK blank tapes.
Then, one day, when I could no longer be bothered with the cold, cynical atmosphere, I did something about it. I stopped shopping there. I wouldn’t say it was out of principal. I just thought “I don’t need this anymore” and decided to look elsewhere. I’m sure Dixons couldn’t really care less and are probably quite pleased I no longer darken their doors with my indecisive browsing, but that’s fine. They have lost me as a revenue stream and, if you apply the retail theory that each person who has a negative experience will then go and tell five others, they may have lost other revenue streams too.
How to re-brand an identity?
How does any of this relate to football, you might ask. Well, I find myself thinking of my distaste for Dixons when considering the situation at Newcastle United right now. Mike Ashley’s recent decision to sell the naming rights of St James’ Park, in the meantime renaming the stadium “Sports Direct.com@St James’ Park” has been taken as an affront to Newcastle fans everywhere and was met with shock, anger and derision in equal measures.
“The idea of turning the history of St James’ Park into something that resembles an email address absolutely beggars belief,” said Mark Jensen, editor of The Mag fanzine, reacting in horror at the announcement, and his sentiments capture pretty well the part bemused, part livid emotions prevalent on Tyneside.
The financially-motivated move to rename the stadium defies 117 years of tradition, a tradition Ashley is supposed to be well in tune with given his position as a lifelong Newcastle United fan. He cannot claim ignorance as per the significance of the stadium name to the wider community either; well aware of it’s relevance, Ashley specifically chose to name the holding company with which he eventually bought the club ‘St James’ Holdings.’
To rub salt in the wounds, renaming St James’ Park also offers no short-term financial benefits to help Newcastle get back into the Premier League. The Times reports that Newcastle “will use Sports Direct to “showcase” the commercial potential of St James’ Park before seeking a new sponsor next summer.”
The move prompted the Newcastle United Supporters’ Trust (NUST) to launch a petition against the renaming of St James’ Park, and within days it reached 16,000 signatures.
Newcastle fans have had to put up with a lot under the increasingly unpopular Mike Ashley regime, from the bad treatment dished out to local heroes like Alan Shearer and Kevin Keegan to the bungled attempts to sell the club to relegation. But as the club stumbles from one mess to another the sense has always been that, as owner, Ashley is the man in charge of the football club and thus Ashley can do whatever he pleases.
This is not true.
Time for a Geoffrey (Boycott)
The lifeblood of any football club is it’s supporters. They bring spirit, energy and devotion to what is otherwise just bricks, metal, plastic seats and a patch of grass. And, importantly, they pay the money that keeps owners like Ashley hanging around.
If Newcastle supporters really wish to get rid of Mike Ashley then serious consideration should be given to a boycott of St James’ – sorry, sportsdirect.com@St. James’ Park.
Imagine if the 16,000 fans who signed the petition simply did not turn up to Saturday’s game against Peterbrough. In terms of reclaiming control in the battle against wayward ownership, such a bold move would have a huge impact. If a boycott were to continue, it would also burn a hole into Ashley’s pocket so deep no amount of renaming sponsorship could help reverse the damage, even if the stadium were called McDonaldsStarbucksPepsiDome@St.James’KFC.co.uk. As Leeds United found out when they were relegated in 2004 and Nike dumped them, lower attendances and less profile does little to attract sponsors.
This brings me back to the point about Dixons. As a consumer, it felt strangely empowering for me to finally realise that I did not need their business as much as they needed me, or us – the customer. We pay our money, and when we do the mantra ‘the customer is king’ should always be kept in mind, even in football
.
Of course, the umbilical cord between football supporter and club is far stronger than the bond between shopper and electronics chain. The problem is owners like Mike Ashley know this, hence why they feel they can run roughshod over a club’s long-held customs and traditions in pursuit of pound signs.
But ultimately it is supporters who have the final say, and if enough Newcastle supporters can be mobilised to vote with their feet by simply not showing up, the financial implications will soon make the owners to sit up and take notice. If the end result of that is the preserving of tradition and the restoring of a name that has echoed around Newcastle for 117 years it will be worth it.
Supporters standing up
A recent example of a successful fan boycott occurred in Croatia where fans of Hajduk Split, unhappy at the team’s poor performances, chose to boycott the club’s big derby match against Dinamo Zagreb. 4,000 Split fans instead decided to watch the game on a big screen elsewhere, reducing the attendance for one of the biggest events in the Croatian football calendar to a mere 3,500.
Lessons can and surely must be learnt from such principled thinking. Of course boycotting the stadium and not watching your football team may be difficult. But effecting profound change is never going to be easy, and a half-hearted moan followed by a resigned stumping up of matchday cash achieves very little.
A popular quote from Sir Bobby Robson, one of Newcastle’s most famous sons is reprinted on the NUST website as though a rallying cry to supporters. It reads:
“What is a club in any case? Not the buildings or the directors or the people who are paid to represent it. It’s not the television contracts, get out clauses or the marketing departments or executive boxes. It’s the noise, the passion, the feeling of belonging, the pride in your city.”
Sir Bobby is right. It’s time for Newcastle United fans to reclaim their football club.
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About Jonathan F
The boss of this here... Creator and Editor of Just-Football.com, world football analyst, watcher, freelancer and all-round enthusiast. French football analyst for Football Radar. Write for FourFourTwo, have also written for ITV, When Saturday Comes and others.
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In my opinion a boycott of the club would be disastrous for our season and therefore jeopardise the very future of our club. We need to get back into the premier league this season otherwise I dread the consequences. On the bright side if we do get promoted I think Asley will sell up straight away so I think we just have to support the team at matches as much as possible so we get as many points as possible. If you want to have demonstrations this should be done outside of the actual matches to avoid distracting the team. Remember the crucial Hull City home game last season which probably cost us PL status – the team were visibly affected by the hostile atmosphere of the crowd and it cost us the game and the following games. Boycotting games will not have any impact on Asley, who will be gone anyway within a season or two whatever happens, but could send the club into oblivion.
What effect has any protest at St. James' Park ever had? it probably played a part in our relegation IMO.
I'm not against protesting but i am against doing it at St. James' Park.
Ashley isn't from Newcastle and probably won't be coming to the home games for a while. He has the sanctuary of his home to hide in when things start erupting-AND THIS IS MY WHOLE POINT-he's come up here and brought heartache to our city and our fans-he's brought heartache into our homes and into the lives of our families-give him a taste of his own medicine and see how he likes it-PROTEST OUTSIDE HIS HOME, INFORM THE MEDIA THAT IT'S GOING TO HAPPEN AND LET THE LADS GET ON WITH WINNING GAMES AT ST. JAMES'. Take the Sh** storm to him and his family for a change.
Believe me, that will do us more good than the odd protest outside the ground where everyone will say "Here we go again".
TAKE THE FIGHT TO HIM and away from Newcastle.
Absolutely spot on mate. Ashley is on a vendetta against the supporters of this club for turning against him after Keegan. Hell hath no fury like a fat man spurned.
The only way to drive this parasite out is to stop putting your money in his pocket. We are in this position in the league despite him, not because of him.
This man is out to destroy the dignity of an entire region. He will not rest until he has crushed this club and the whole city. Do not let him.
The only way to get rid of a parasite is to starve it – not to continue to feed it. A boycott for 2 or 3 games will show Ashley that he can't have everything his own way.
Stand up for your club and FFS grow a pair lads. Its now or never!
@ tony1 – if the 'odd protest outside the ground' involves not actually entering the ground then, with enough people involved, the effect would be huge.
If a mere 3,000 of the 16,000 that have signed the NUST petition stopped going, at £30 a ticket that would be £90,000 matchday revenue lost per game – more if you include incurred costs on programmes, food, drink etc.
If all 16,000 who signed the petition came out and said 'until the name is changed back we will not attend home games', at £30 a ticket that is almost half a million pounds of revenue lost per game. Huge amounts that would have Ashley seriously sweating.
It might be hard to put into effect, but there would be no greater way to affirm once and for all who really owns the football club.
As Anonymous #2 states, a boycott for 2 or 3 games will show who is boss.
I think you need to look at the example of italy when they are upset with their clubs. Lazio and Roma fans tend to protest by not cheering any goals their team score or sit in their stadium with their back turned from the pitch for 20 minutes or even delay coming into the ground by 20 minutes/show up for the 2nd half.
Im aware that Lazio and Roma are not classic examples that English clubs follow but you cannot deny their fan power and how much it affects their respected clubs!
Ultimately the fans need to be organized and more importantly brave.
Partizan Belgrade fans popular"Grobari" as 5.5. 2007 empty south, this is the text that stick throughout the city . Grobari invite all fans do not come to the "Eternal Derby" which plays on Saturday 5/5/2007. Consequently the South locked, urge all Partizan fans not to get any on the east or the west panel. This will show our determination to Nenad Bjekovic Zarko Zecevic and must go from Partizan. This image is from the eternal derby 5/5/2007 showing an empty south.http://www.juznifront.net/izvestaji/pentagram_pfc_125_derbi_15_10_2005/125_derbi_BOJKOT_JUG.jpg
I was among fans in Split that went to watch a match on improvised screen on mythical old pitch instead of official stadium. There was between 7.000-10.000 of us, no less and somehow you wrote there was only 4.000. I'm a licenced cartographer, I should know dimensions and numbers
Cheers and good luck to Newcastle fans
There was 10,000 protestors in Split and not only 4,000. Torcida (Hajduk fans) was watching derby on Hajduk's old stadium.
First ever boycott happened because players weren't giving their best although they earn big money.
Boycott succeeded, there was only 4,000 people on the stadium (total capacity around 40,000) and Hajduk won 'cause players were awaken up!
Oh and by the way, here is one report on us:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJJgjCtSfa4
on peaceful demonstrations there was more then 10.000 people but not everyone went to mythical old stadium since most of the stands are torn down now and not everybody could fit inside.
IT IS NOT HADJUK ITS HAJDUK !!! HAJDUK SPLIT IN <3
THIS NUMBERS ARE WRONG CAPACITY OF "STARI PLAC" STAND IS 10000+PPL OUTSIDE OF STADIUM AND ON THE ROOFTOPS=14000
Ok thanks for clearing all that up guys, mickokaradzic and co.
The sort of pro-active fan action that Torcida took is in my opinion an example to all fans of the collective power they have in their own football clubs, provided they can co-operate as a unified front. Keep up the good work Hajduk supporters!
@Mo – Italy is also another good example, though you could in some cases they take it to the extreme with Ultras pretty much actually running some clubs!