Wallsendmag

What a run of fixtures they've had. Fleetwood Town (H), Burton Albion (A), Rochdale (H)

Rochdale fan in peace has has just turned up https://www.readytogo.net/smb/threads/rochdale-home-attendance.1446007/page-7

https://www.sunderlandecho.com/news/sunderland-afc-bosses-and-fans-condemn-racism-after-arrest-at-burton-albion-game-1-9357043/amp?__twitter_impression=true

I would.

Peacefully or not - see section 4 of Football (Offences) Act 1991 4 Going onto the playing area. It is an offence for a person at a designated football match to go onto the playing area, or any area adjacent to the playing area to which spectators are not generally admitted, without lawful authority or lawful excuse (which shall be for him to prove). They won't prosecute thousands of people. The logistics and cost of it all just isn't worth the hassle. You see it every season, when a team gets to the play off finals, a small team beats a big team in the cup etc, mass pitch invsasions with no consequences.

Rafa has been a cult on here for some time. It’s a combination of our situation and his ability which in light of the situation is incredible he’s still here (so all situation really) He’d be under far more scrutiny if we had a proper owner I’m sure, but it seems you can’t say anything negative as all you’ll get is that it’s the situation and Ashley is to blame...which is hard to argue with as he has created it, but sometimes you can do more with the hand you’ve been dealt rather than just keep blaming the dealer. To be fair to Rafa he's been here just over 2 years and has made a £27m profit in the transfer market whilst the teams we're up against have literally spent 100s of millions improving their squads so he isn't exactly competing on a level playing field here which most supporters understand. If we had a proper owner and money was being invested in the team and we were doing poorly I'm sure he'd be under some scrutiny.

Tbh I'm all for an all out pitch invasion now. We've tried boycotts, we've tried walk outs, we've demonstrated outside his shop and it's now time to ramp things up further. A few thousand fans on the pitch (peacefully ie not the West Ham way) halting a match is what's needed. A nice fine for the club and Ashleys police bill rocketing for the remainder of the season is a nice bonus and there's not a chance they're attempting to prosecute 1000s of people for a peaceful pitch incursion. Also I've never been on the pitch since after the Hull City match at the end of the 1990/91 season and I want to relive my youth a bit.

Tyne Bridge looks like it could do with a lick of paint as well.

He certainly has. Keegan was just beginning to get the best out of him as well I recall until Ashley sold him to pave the way for Sebastian Schweinsteigers arrival. I remember Keegan playing him in central midfield in that pre season too. You're right he did and he looked pretty good there as well.

He certainly has. Keegan was just beginning to get the best out of him as well I recall until Ashley sold him to pave the way for Sebastian Schweinsteigers arrival.

Not to forget that Burton Albion beat them as usual too. Yep, they don't seem to be enjoying Burton what with them relegating them and beating them all the time :lol: One point from successive fixtures against Fleetwood and Burton Albion I'm sure they'll have more luck in their next fixture against Rochdale.

Not to forget that Burton Albion beat them as usual too.

Two of those stayed up last year. We've not shown we're any better than them. And both spent decent money improving their squads in the summer.

I've been offered free tickets for the last 2 home games and knocked them both back. Surprised how easy it's been to lose the bug after not renewing my season ticket in the summer.

Said he was shite and wouldn't make it as a Premier League player 2 years ago. He hasn't done anything to change my opinion of him in the meantime.

This 100%. Now that promotion is compulsory from the NL to the Evo Stik league more teams from this area are going to be playing higher up the ladder in the seasons ahead. It's difficult for the likes of Morpeth and Marske at the moment regarding travel and even worse for South Shields who have a ridiculous amount of travelling (more than Blyth in the league above) but the more NE clubs working their way up the pyramid the more local games there will be higher up.

Some big clubs in the Conference these days, the vast majority professional, but Blyth could easily attract 1k+ in that league. It's a decent sized town and they also draw plenty of support from Cramlington, Ashington and Bedlington. They don't suffer when NUFC play at home as much as Gateshead do either. As you say though Geography does play a massive part and they still lose players to NL clubs because of the travelling.

Blyth lost £150k last year which was filled by the chairman. The gates are just not high enough to go up- in fact they are towards the bottom of the NLN. There is certainly more the club could do to boost gates, but I always get riled up when the guys who have footed the bill with their own cash are accused of not spending because they are unambitious. Until a lot more people start turning up every week (not just after a couple of good wins or on sunny days) then NLN is as far as the club can go. They're averaging 700 as a struggling team which isn't too bad and makes them 14th best supported out of the 22 teams in the league. Obviously if they were doing better or were even promoted crowds would increase but even as things are they are only getting around 150 less than Gateshead who have been competitive in the Conference National for a good few years and is more than Gateshead were getting when they were playing at that level.

This isn't an office job, his main requirement is to be fit and physical and ready for his club to pick him. Many many footballers and athletes report back from off season not in the correct shape, I very much doubt they can sack him for not being in the desired level of physical shape without him being put through some sort of program first It's well past pre season though isn't it it's the middle of September. If he came back on time and fit, the mackems wouldn't have a leg to stand on and that is what Rodwell did during his time there. They'll have data from when he first joined the club etc and will know what his level of fitness is now and whether he's done anything to improve it since coming back from pre-season. As much as I hate the mackems, with Madras here and hope they win whatever case will happen. Footballers need protection from clubs sacking them for any small offence but if you act unprofessional over a period then clubs really should be able to sack players imo. Didn't even sack Johnson when they knew he was going to plead guilty of noncing yet sack another player for being too fat. Wierd little club.

Just reading the "on this day" section on NUFC.com and 22 years ago today he picked a starting team with a forward line of Shearer, Ferdinand, Beardsley, Asprilla and Ginola! Dropped Robbie Elliott for Tino The United boss commented afterwards: "We had three, and sometimes two at the back and five up front. The only thing that was missing was a goalkeeper with a woolly jersey and a flat cap!" Football was great back then.

Fucking hell he's not holding back here!

Playing Fleetwood Town, in a league game, later on today.

The Keegan years first time round were unreal. I can remember dreading the day he would leave, when it happened I was in Manchester and it was like a punch in the gut. Even the Mancunians were too shocked to take the piss. They were unbelievable times. I remember the 1992/93 season and my dad would always park at the Dental hospital and as soon as we opened the car doors we could hear all the crowd inside SJP singing their hearts out and this was an hour and a quarter before kick off! The buzz was just unbelievable back then. Sadly those days will never be back. Football has changed too much.

They absolutely hate the fact that our support is far more pro active than theirs is. They just sat back and watched their club disappear into obscurity whearas we are fighting for ours and it really sticks in their throats. We’ve done the square root of fuck all for the best part of ten years ... we are no better than the Mackems in that regard . Most football fans are passive schmucks who willingly let owners walk all over them We've done certain things but I'll agree not enough. The demonstrations before and after the Hull game after Keegan was sacked. The boycott v Spurs The walkout and general hostility v Cardiff Ashley out Pardew Out Demonstrations outside SD Demonstrations outside SJP Maybe not enough but plenty more than them down the road capable of, which annoys them.

They absolutely hate the fact that our support is far more pro active than theirs is. They just sat back and watched their club disappear into obscurity whearas we are fighting for ours and it really sticks in their throats. Yep. Seen a few of them on RTG seemingly happy that it took League One football for their owner to walk. They were happy scrambling around with their derby wins. Had they acted sooner then they mightn’t have had to set their club back about 5 years to get rid of Short. TBF ending up in the lower leagues long term is the most viable way of getting rid of Ashley. Not a chance he's going anywhere while we rake in £100's millions I the premiership. A few years in the Championship I could stomach. Scratching around the 3rd Division, having to enter the Checkatrade Trophy I couldn't. We have a proud record of being one of only eight clubs who have never played their football outside the top two divisions and it's a record I never want us to lose. A few years in the Championship without the Sky money would cost him enough to want rid.