This was the portfolio handed in to the club when we met up with Mr Cushing. Obviously, the picutres and stuff are misisng like, and it was slightly rough, it got slight editing before we printed it. It's a long read but i hope you enjoy it....
The Letter
Dear Sir/Madam,
I am writing to you on behalf of a fairly recent fan group called 'Toon Ultras'. You may have seen the 'Bring Back the Noise' banner at many of the Newcastle United home games both last season and pre-season.
At league games the majority of members within our fan group sit in the Sir John Hall stand in Level 7, and on cup game fixtures we try to situate ourselves in the South East corner by purchasing tickets as early as possible.
'Bring Back the Noise' also known as the 'Toon Ultras' are not a hooligan group, and do not condone any act of violence or hooliganism both in and out of the ground. We promote singing for the full 90minutes and getting behind our team both vocally and visually via the use of flags, banners and scarves.
I am sure you are fully aware of how big a success the free scarves were at Alan Shearer’s testimonial match just over a year ago. That night played host to some of Newcastle Uniteds most famous figures, was a great success and the atmosphere created on that special night inspired us in our cause. The waving of the scarves symbolised not just the magnitude of our support for the club, but our unity and pride for who we are.
The main reasoning behind this letter however is to ask you for some assistance and guidance regarding our banners, flags and other issues involved in supporting our club. If one of the senior club officials would be willing to arrange to meet up with 2 or 3 of us then it would be much appreciated. Then we can discuss how to once again make St James' the fortress it was once was world renowned for.
What Are Toon Ultras?
So what exactly is Toon Ultras? Toon Ultras is an organisation with the aim to bring back the noise to St. James’ Park. Over the past few years the atmosphere inside the stadium has diminished and people no longer seem as eager or as willing to join in with chants. Toon Ultras plan to change this by turning St. James’ back into a fortress, with an atmosphere to be proud of.
How do we plan to meet our aims? Previously Toon Ultras sit together at cup games, in Level 7 of the Sir John Hall stand, where tickets tend to be easy to obtain in this area for cup games and so it appeared to be an ideal location for Toon Ultras to get together and sing songs. However, after a recent cup game, we noticed that Level 7 had become a popular haunt for the kind of people who only go to a game to try and infuriate the opposition’s fans. So, it was decided that we would make the move to the South East corner. After a successful outing for the Zulte Waregem UEFA cup game, we’ve decided to make ‘the corner’ our permanent home for cup games.
We believe in standing and supporting your club, singing your heart out for the full 90 minutes. We try to bring variation to our song repertoire by thinking up new chants and bringing back old chants which have been forgotten over the years. It’s not all about vocal support however. As Toon Ultras we are constantly discussing ideas to put on visual displays of sorts as well as promoting the idea of flags and scarves at Newcastle match. These ideas were put into motion with the purchase of the ‘Toon Ultras’ banner, which can be seen at most home games (Level 7 for league games, the corner for cup games). We are currently making a big push for people to create or donate money for new flags and banners.
One of our more recent banners cost just over £400 and says -"BRING BACK THE NOISE" , this has now travelled to St.James Park on several occassions. We hope to keep it there until the decibel levels are back to an appropriate standard, similar to the atmospheres we saw in the mid 90's under Kevin Keegan.
Another banner of ours has been shown on SkySports, Match Of The Day and even on your official site. I am sure you are aware that it is the “Big Sams Black And White Army” banner, which went to all of the home pre-season friendlies and the season opener away to Bolton.
However, as Toon Ultras, we do not only congregate at home games, we travel to away games also and often organise alternative events. Many of the Ultras take part in playing various sports with one another and even attend lower league games together. This is where we can discuss current ideas as well as give local teams, such as Gateshead, our financial backing.
Toon Ultras even held a charity event not long ago, for a young child who was diagnosed with cancer. A sum of around £150 was raised in one afternoon at Westgate Sports Centre for little Jack, and the Toon Ultras were glad to have helped to make a young boys dreams come true.
Unfortunately, there is an unwanted connotation of hooliganism and violence surrounding the word ‘Ultra’. We are aware of this and would like to emphasise strongly that we are not hooligans, and do not condone violence at football both inside and outside the ground, as is the case with most Ultra groups across Europe.
Toon Ultras has now been around for a few years and the growth of Toon Ultras has been a long, gradual but rewarding process and we are now more committed to bringing back an atmosphere than ever before. During its existence Toon Ultras has been through many phases, including the changing of names and the changing of the group leaders. We are now ran by 8 well respected and loyal members , which are known as councillors to help progress the ultras even further in their request to BRING BACK THE NOISE.
Why Have We Come To You?
Toon Ultras is a growing organisation, however for us to be successful and fulfil our ambitions of bringing the noise back to St James’, we will need your help.
Currently at home games we seem to encounter a number of problems regarding where we congregate and what flags and banners we can use. We have came to you to try and build a relationship, so that we can work together to once again make St James’ a fortress.
With your help we can be identified by not only the club, but also our own fans, as people who have nothing but good intentions. We have come to you because we would like to discuss a number of issues that have been outlined in this portfolio. By coming to you we may be able to find possible solutions to making the supporters match day experience more enjoyable.
If you are willing to help us you will not only be pleasing our individual supporters group, but the whole of Tyneside.
Safe Standing
Safe standing is one of the main things on the Toon Ultras agenda. We understand that the governing bodies, and police have the majority of control over this issue, however we think you can do something to help us promote the idea.
Just last year in the World Cup we saw Germany play host to a number of nations form every corner of the planet, and what a huge success it was. In the years building up to the World Cup various stadiums from all over Germany went through alterations to prepare, and ‘Safe Standing’ areas were introduced.
The ‘safe standing’ areas were areas where people were given an allocated area to stand, exactly the same as you would when you’re seated. There are no perimeter fences within these areas, and as a result of places being allocated via ticket, overpopulation of the area is no longer a problem.
The Football Association, and the Police will often combat any idea of standing within British football stadiums after horrific events of the past. Hillsborough is world renowned for the deaths of 96 supporters, and it has often been speculated said that it was the terracing that was at fault. However, after recent organisations have came to together to promote safe standing, family members of those who lost their lives have came forward to voice their opinions. One example of this is that of Anne Williams, when she stated;
"My lovely son Kevin did not die because of standing on terraces, he died because of the lack of control and care by South Yorkshire Police. I believe terraces are safe without perimeter fences. Standing never killed anybody, cages and treating people like animals did."
Obviously, amongst various families the feelings will differ, but what cannot go unrecognised is the fact that the majority of football fans would actually prefer safe standing to be introduced. A survey done on www.footballfanscensus.com by the Football Fans Union (FFU) made the supporters views more evident. It was done twice, the first time receiving 1,720 respondents, the second time receiving 2,185. On the following pages, the results of the 2 surveys are displayed.
(The 2 surveys are here, but couldn't be posted in.....)
As you can see the results from these surveys are rather clear, and in favour of ‘safe standing’. We would like to emphasise that the respondents of the survey are not only people who wish to stand at football games, and some choose to sit. But those who sit don’t want someone in front of them stood up and blocking their view.
Another organisation that promotes safe standing is that of ‘Stand Up Sit Down’. ‘Stand Up Sit Down’ has members who support or work for over 130 clubs and has been around for 3 years now. Similar to that of the Football Fans Union, not all of its members like to stand but they support the idea of fans having freedom to choose.
Therefore with perimeter fencing free stadiums, and safe standing areas where seats/areas are allocated, standing and singing can once again be re-united with British football.
If the Football Association and Policing are preventing you from creating these areas we would be extremely grateful if you could follow it through by promoting the idea to the FA, Police and other clubs alike.
If ‘safe standing’ is overly ambitious on our part, we would at least like you to consider our next suggestion regarding St James’ Park.
Singing Section
A singing section of St James’ Park is our alternative option to a ‘safe standing’ area. In the late 1970’s and early 1980’s most grounds across Britain had singing areas, mainly behind the goals at either end. Newcastle United had the Leazes End and the Gallowgate End, which would often compete against one another to generate an electric atmosphere. This atmosphere which once made St James’ Park a feared ground was lost when the old fashioned terraces got knocked down as part of the move for all-seater stadiums took place.
However, in the mid 1990’s when Kevin Keegan was manager, and Newcastle Untied played some great, attractive attacking football the atmosphere came back, and St James’ became a fortress. Unfortunately, this was only to last a few years as the team increasingly got worse again and the football became frustrating.
Yet again, the atmosphere had slipped away, and it did for several years until Sir Bobby Robson came in as Manager, and Newcastle made the champions league. Once again the atmosphere rose like a Phoenix from the flame and teams came to our beloved home expecting nothing but a point at the most.
Unfortunately, the fantastic football was to only last a few years again, and the lack of silverware saw fans become increasingly annoyed and frustrated at not only the players and managers, but the board as well. Freddy Shepherd didn’t have much time left, as fans began to point the finger at him. Souness was appointed, and failed, Roeder was appointed and filled the gap, until we had a poor season last season, and now, the ‘revolution’ has began. With reinstalled enthusiasm, and a new club from top to bottom, Newcastle fans all over the world are becoming excited once again, and if you needed an example, Bolton was the perfect one.
Just over 3,000 fans made the journey to the North West and made ‘The Reebok’ their own. Chants of “Big Sam’s Black and White Army” echoed around and this encouraged our team on to victory.
It is a well-known fact how beneficial an atmosphere can be to a football club. The players even say it themselves. On the following page are a few perfect examples of quotes made by players in both past and recent times:
Alan Shearer:
“When I got up and warmed up for the first time it sent a shiver down my spine, and when I came on the reception was sensational. It makes all the hard times at the training ground alone worthwhile"
Danny Blanchflower (Tottenham Hotspur Captain):
“The noise of the crowd - the singing, the chanting - Is the oxygen we players breathe."
Nicky Butt:
"It's great when you walk out and see so many away fans," said the midfield ace. They came out in their numbers and were very vocal. I think we gave them something to sing about which is nice for the fans.”
Peter Beardsley:
“When you have got them singing your name, as they do you know what I mean, their isn’t a noisier ground in the country, and I mean that. I’ve said that even when I was at Liverpool. Liverpool fans would realise I’m saying that, that’s not a problem. That is a fact, they are the noisiest, and you know they they make so much noise. They try so hard to lift us, because you know there are times when you’re down, and you wonder why you’re down, you know your footballs not going as smoothly as it could and your passings not going as good, but they make some noise, you know. The 2 minutes before kick off, the noise as you can see the team getting into position basically, that’s a special noise and that makes you feel special”
“You know, they are special fans, and it would be nice just for once, to give them something they deserve”
We also feel like we could be given something we deserve, and although silverware would be what we wished to gain, that is not something the board can solely control. Therefore, for now we would like to propose that a singing section was made available. A poll has been made on the leading site for Newcastle United fans, www.newcastle-online.com, and when asked whether they wanted a singing section or not, a total of 165 voters made their feelings known and the results were as follows;
Yes: 106 (64.2%)
No: 36 (21.8%)
Not Sure: 23 (13.9%)
This is just a random sample of Newcastle United fans, however we (the Toon Ultras) feel that it is representative of Newcastle supporters throughout Tyneside, and the world.
On the following page is a diagram displaying where we think singing sections could be applied. It is similar to the days of old, when the Gallowgate and Leazes Ends once sung against/with one another.
The singing section will stop growing conflict amongst those fans that choose to shout and sing, and those who are happy just to sit and watch. Not only that but it will benefit the atmosphere of the whole stadium, making the match day experience more enjoyable.
A problem you may encounter with this is the pricing of tickets allocated in the singing areas. Obviously the singing areas would be more appealing if they were cheaper, but I’m sure they wouldn’t have to be. A solution to this that you could run a trial period offering ‘singing section’ seats for a slightly reduced price, until those who sing became familiar with it. Then you could revert back to a normal ticket price.
A singing section is vital not only at St James’ Park, but in grounds all over the country, and we hope you will very seriously consider this as an option to repay the loyal supporters of this football club.
Visual Displays
With the Toon Ultras growing every day, and new members registering with us every day, we have attracted some fine artists.
These artists are the people behind our designs for flags, banners, and posters. We currently have over 10 home made flags or banners, as well as several professionally complete flags or banners.
Firstly is the Toon Ultras banner, which has been seen at all home games and several away games within the last two seasons has played a major part in attracting new fans in our mission to once again, make St James' Park a fortress.
Secondly, we have our best quality banner, which states "BRING BACK THE NOISE". This was bought by the Toon Ultras themselves, costing just over £400. The money was collected at events within football, and outside of football, over 2 weeks which was a great achievement considering the majority of our members are currently studying for various qualifications such as GCSE's, A-Levels, and degrees.
This banner seems to have been our greatest success within the 4 years of our campaign. It has brought real quality and class into the stands with a rather blunt message, which tells people what we're about.
If space could be made available for these banners to remain there all season and/or in the South East corner we would be extremely grateful. We often have the problem of advertising getting in the way of such areas, and it prevents us from displaying our support via the use of flags and banners. We are sure alternatives can be found for advertising, maybe even if the Toon Ultras paid a small fee each season to keep their banners on the balcony, that could be a solution.
Most recently we have our 'Big Sam’s Black and White Army' banner, which was hand painted by several of the Ultras. They met up in town to purchase paint together and headed off to one of their houses. This is where they drew out their design and began painting. The banner became a huge success, as it has gained coverage both home and away for the Toon Army. Against Bolton on the opening game of the 07/08 season, 'Match Of The Day' and the official Newcastle United website displayed pictures of this banner. Earlier, in pre-season, Sky Sports also gave coverage of the banner in one of our home friendlies.
Not only do we focus our artistic talents on banners, we make lots of 1 and 2 sticks flags also. However, not many of these are currently used due to restrictions regarding the size of the poles. In past fixtures we have been told that poles over 1 metre in length are not allowed in the ground, and our flags have often been removed.
For us this can be extremely infuriating, as we constantly see teams from all over Europe, not just the British Isles, waving flags larger than our own. We are hoping that something can be done about this, as we feel that it would help us provide higher quality visual displays which will ultimately intimidate away teams and encourage our own to success.
We understand that no one wants to see a flag all game, when they have paid hard earned money to see their team, so we would be more than willing to only wave these large flags both pre and post match, rather than during the game. If something can be done regarding the flagpoles then it would be much appreciated.
How Can You Help?
In order for the Toon Ultras to succeed in their mission to ‘Bring Back The Noise’, we will need your help, and guidance. If we can gain an understanding, and a relationship with you, the club, we are sure we can progress and become champions both on and off the pitch.
Below is a list of things we believe you could do to help. If you would be willing to consider all of these then it would be greatly appreciated.
· Written permission to bring in flags on poles longer than 1metre in length, providing they are not obstructing another supporters view during match time.
· A write up on the official website promoting our campaign to ‘Bring Back The Noise’.
· Permission to hang our banners over the level 7 balcony, where in the past there has been advertising. If this becomes a problem financially maybe a small fee could be agreed between the Toon Ultras and yourself.
· A safe place to store any items we may need to use for multiple visual displays. I.e. Banners, flags, etc.
· Written permission to enter the ground earlier than the turnstiles get opened. This would allow us plenty of time in order to get visual displays set up, and ready for pre-match.
Finally, there are two more suggestions of how you can help us ‘Bring Back The Noise’ or simply generate an atmosphere to be proud of. The first of these suggestions is reasonably simple, yet the second would prove highly beneficial but may seem rather cheeky on our behalf.
Firstly, it has been rumoured that the song ‘Local Hero’ will no longer be played as the players walk out onto the pitch. Well in not just the Toon Ultras opinion, but in the eyes of many Newcastle fans this would be a huge blow.
‘Local Hero’ is part of every Newcastle fans match day experience, and we the Toon Ultras feel it is a vital part of the pre-match build up. Just before they kick off, and the drums end the song, screams bellow out from every Newcastle fan in the ground, this is what we need. We need something which says, “I’m proud to be a Geordie”, and that is exactly what that song does, especially because it was played by one of the greatest Geordie musicians of all time-Mark Knopfler.
In addition to this, we also believe several songs would liven up the ground pre-match. If some of the following songs could be played, we the Toon Ultras feel it could make a huge impact on the atmosphere:
I’m Coming Home Newcastle
Fog On The Tyne
Don’t Let Go (You’ve Got The Music In You)
Hey Jude
Blaydon Races
Local Hero
Secondly, the Toon Ultras are only a young and fairly small organisation currently, despite beginning to grow rapidly recently due to articles written by Lee Ryder in the Chronicle and True Faith. A lot of our current members are fairly young and are still carrying out their studies at school, 6th form, college or university, and money can be hard to come by to produce the displays we aspire to. So any form of financial backing would be a huge help also. However, it is not a necessity and not a problem if this cannot be done.
Conclusion
With the new board, the new manager, and the new players at the club, the supporters have renewed enthusiasm, and it is time for the revolution to begin.
We would once more like to stress how much all of this means to us and even if we could negotiate possible solutions for the minor issues, then we would be extremely grateful.
Hopefully with the club having the backing of Toon Ultras, and vice versa, this can be the beginning of a long and successful era at Newcastle United.
Thank you for reading.
