Rumours doing the rounds tonight that Newcastle United will tomorrow unveil the new name of our stadium as The Sports Direct Arena. Is this the start of Ashley p!ssing the fans off again ? well, let's face it, things have been running a bit too smoothly of late. Anyway, needless to say, it will always be St James' Park.
Aye. He's already got the signs emblazed on the roof of the Gallowgate and signs everywhere you look.
It's free advertising for his company I guess, which in turn might make him some more money that he could reinvest in the club.
I thought it was already called Sportsdirect@StJamesPark in 2009? http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/nov/04/newcastle-united-naming-stadium-rights
It's the same thing as in 2009. It's to showcase the benefits of sponsoring the stadium for potential suitors. With any luck it will never happen, but the fact that he's gone for it a second time suggests that he won't give up even if this one fails. Eventually it will be called the Thomas Cook Stadium or something, to the tune of a sum that can keep an average player on the books for a year.
I know it's essentially harmless but this sort of thing should be outlawed as it only serves to highlight the commercialisation of football. Before long every stadium will have a sponsor's name infront of it, sad times indeed.
Trouble when you have owners who run the clubs like businesses and treat fans as customers.. Doesn't feel right to the true supporter who will keep calling St James' Park as it is but when its about money making to the big-wigs.
The man is a tit. FFS how many Geordies are suddenly going to stop calling it SJP for this load of bollocks. Not many i bet. If Newcastle moved to a new stadium like Arsenal did then the name would not sound to bad but to replace the name they have used since they have been there is just daft.
Ahem, get back in the queue and wait your turn If you have a problem with the way clubs are run, ring their call centre in India on..................................
I just don't understand it. As far as I'm aware the fans have just about settled down and left him alone and he pulls this out the bag again. Jeez.
That, ultimately, is how it will always be known. At Brentford two of the stands are sponsored by supporters groups. Despite playing a small role in one of them, I know the stand will always be called what it has been called for decades by the fans (probably by me as well despite this)
That's what will p!ss most of us off. We've accepted he won't listen to the fans. We've got behind the team and the manager who no one wanted and have had a great start to the season. Then he does this. Must of been bored in his London office and decided to have a bit fun. From Llambias - www.nufc.com "I would hope it would generate between £8 million and £10 million a year. That would give us another player. The club needs to be self-sufficient, and this will help us be self-sufficient. "Yes, we do need to go that one step further to compete. Yes, we do. We have had an exceptional year, and long may it continue, but the fans want us to buy more players. "We need to bring in a striker in January, we will need replacements in the summer and we need to give ourselves as much as possible. "There is no guarantee we will find a sponsor between now and then, but we have to give ourselves the opportunity and this is one. "We have to keep going at it. We can't just say 'Oh, it hasn't worked out, let's go back to what we were'. We have to give ourselves the maximum opportunity to sell it. "I totally respect the tradition and history of the club. That is always going to be there, but we need to move with the times and this is progression. "We need to move on. We are not disrespecting our fans at all. Far from it. We are trying to make it affordable and put players on the pitch. "We have exhausted all our other revenue streams, retail is not good - that produces next to nothing, quite honestly - so we need to bring in more, quite honestly. "We have been out there a long time looking. We lose Northern Rock as a sponsor this year, so it gives me a very small window to get a new shirt sponsor and hopefully a stadium sponsor at the same time. "We understand that side of it (fan resistance to referring to the ground by any other name), but it is the sponsor's responsibility, as well as ours, to move forward. Time will dissolve that. "The history will always be there, we just become part of the history or they become part of the history. We just need to make sure we give ourselves the opportunity. "You know Chelsea has come out to basically say they are going to re-name their present stadium. Now, they have a long history as well, but they have an owner who actually has more money than God. "We can't compare ourselves to Abramovich, we have not got that sort of money, so if we want to compete with the big boys, we have to bring more money in." --------------------------------------- Doesn't wash with me I'm afraid. This comes 2 month after he announced we're set to break even without the money brought in from the sales of Carroll, Nolan and Enrique. Surely that money is enough to bring replacements in both January and the summer. It's purely just a case of a bit free advertising for himself and then some money for his back pockets when someone buy's the stadium rights. They same people will probably buy the shirt sponsor at the same time as well.
The fat controller knows the club need a new shirt sponsor because the deal with Northern Rock runs out at the end of this season, therefore he's hoping to lure a company into a joint stadium/shirt sponsor deal. Once again he has just proven how out of touch with the fans he is, the sooner he sells the club and f**ks off the better after this disgrace.
I cant find the quote right now, but im pretty sure Dick Llambias said something along the lines of "St James Park will always be included in any naming of the ground" Back in 2009 when the whole SportsDirect@StJamesPark was knocking around. I dont know why hes coming out and trying to reason with the fans, surely the fans should have been consulted before making such a HUGE decision..... ZERO TRUST IN THOSE ABOVE !