SackPardew.com are now in a position to announce finalised plans for a large-scale protest at St. James’ Park this Saturday afternoon, during Newcastle United’s home match with Hull City.
The aim of this is to display a united front against Alan Pardew and the current malaise at the club, for which we believe he has not assumed an acceptable level of responsibility. As a result:
- We are protesting against his increasingly poor results over the past two years.
- We are protesting against his deceit and empty promises.
- We are protesting against his mismanagement of the club and the playing staff.
- We are protesting against his misrepresentation of our hopes and expectations.
- We are protesting against his decision to continue on in what is now an untenable position.
We have 30,000 A4 sheets with “SackPardew.com” in red and blue text on a white background, plus 100 larger banners adorned with our black and white logo, all of which come complete with fire certifications and can be collected for free in Newcastle city centre on the day of the game.
The materials have primarily been funded by member donations, but also by the generous contributions of fellow supporters since our website detailing Pardew’s abysmal quotes and statistics went live a week ago, including an enormous 20,000 sheet donation from the good people at Print North East. Hopefully this will go some way to showing what a group of like-minded fans can achieve when focusing on a common goal and putting issues ahead of personalities.
Thanks to the cooperation of various city centre establishments we are delighted to announce that we have secured indoor locations at Central Station, The Gate, Haymarket and St. James’ in order to facilitate distribution to as many fans as possible between 12pm and 2.30pm. We have also hired a professional promotional company for footpath distribution at key hotspots in the city between 1pm and 2pm and around the stadium between 2pm and 3pm. A full list of participating venues and locations, including further information on times, can be found below.
We must make it clear that these establishments do not necessarily support our stance but that they believe in freedom of speech and the right to protest peacefully in public, which are absolute cornerstones of our campaign. All they have asked for in return is that we cause no disruption to their businesses and allow their regular customers to enjoy their pre-match experience as they normally would, which makes it imperative that all demonstrations are peaceful and confined to the stadium.
Furthermore, we implore all like-minded supporters that wish to help us attain our objective to uphold these same principles, and to remember that we are representing not only our beloved club, but also our great city, and that the eyes of the footballing world will be upon us. There can be no repeat of what has gone before and this must be protesting done in a new way when it comes to NUFC, with no figurehead, no self-publication and no civil disorder of any kind.
Once in possession of banners and/or cards, we suggest that supporters proceed as normal into St. James’ Park for a unified display throughout the 5th minute, to highlight Pardew’s unacceptable record of just 5 wins in 2014. However, should individuals wish to unfurl their banners and/or hold up their cards pre-match and at other points during play we would fully support that as well (just watch out for John Carver).
Ultimately we must still support the team, just as we did for the 3-0 victory over Cardiff in the final home game of last season. The good work done by fellow fan groups that day proved that a balance could be struck between protest and support, highlighted by Vurnon Anita, who stated that “the atmosphere wasn’t difficult for us” in his post-match interview.
We possess written confirmation from the club that inoffensive banners aimed at managerial figures are permitted, although we fully understand if you wish to conceal them prior to entry. It is also important to state that club stewards have no power to seize inoffensive banners and no power to manhandle supporters in any way, unless said supporter is committing an offence. Once you are inside there is nothing they can do to stop you being a part of the protest. If you come under any distress due to the actions of a club employee, feel free to film them if you believe they are acting outside of their remit, before passing the footage on to the relevant authorities.
If you do not support the campaign, or feel that you cannot support the campaign, then we simply ask that you allow us to protest in peace. Conversely, we ask that all supporters who do not wish to protest are not goaded or harassed by those who do. Divisions and in-fighting will only tarnish all of us and play into the club’s hands. Whether you agree with our stance or not, the protest will happen and everyone must be allowed to express their opinions. Problems between fellow supporters inside the ground are likely to vindicate any club decision to block future demonstrations of this nature, and some of those may be intended for a cause that you do want to back. It is in all of our interests that this proceeds without incident.
While it is ultimately sad that we, as a collective of Newcastle supporters, yet again have to go down this road we feel we have no alternative as long as Alan Pardew is still employed as manager of Newcastle United Football Club. His startling ineptitude and constant deceit has been left unchallenged for too long, with performances once again tumbling to an embarrassing level on the evidence of our latest display at Southampton. It is our firm opinion that it is not a question of IF but a matter of WHEN change comes and our aim is for it to be sooner rather than later.
As fans we will all be here longer than anyone currently connected with the club.
We are willing to carry on our efforts far beyond this game if necessary.
Howay the lads!
Participating Venues (12pm-2.30pm)
Bar Loco
Beyond Bar
The Centurion
The Crows Nest
The Goose
The Hotspur
The Junction
The Percy Arms
Rosie’s Bar
The Trent House Soul Bar
City Centre Street Distribution Locations (1pm-2pm)
Central Station
The Gate
Haymarket
Monument
St. James’
St. James’ Park Street Distribution Locations (2pm-3pm)
East Stand (Terrace Place)
Gallowgate End (Shark Corner, St. James’ Metro & Strawberry Corner)
Leazes End (Leazes Terrace)
Milburn Stand (Barrack Road)
*A map detailing specific locations and collection times will be released in due course.
Massive.
