Newcastle United Supporters Trust (NUST)

[Ben]

Its awful to say but I think a good humping off Norwich today might wake a few fans and the club out of their slumber and actually do something positive for the new season that starts in 6 days.

[Happinesstan]

3 minutes ago, AyeDubbleYoo said:

This isn’t really a debate for the trust thread, but I think we’ve possibly written off protest too quickly. You don’t need those superfans on side, you just need a couple of thousand people willing to create disruption. 
 

I’m not convinced it would ‘work’ because ordinary people really can’t force billionaires to do business deals. But at the same time, trying to play the traditional role of a supporters trust is just nonsensical when Ashley is owner. And if anything it gives the superfans a licence to continue as if everything is fine. 
 

PS I admire people taking leadership in the trust and I don’t know what I would do. It’s an almost impossible situation for the organisation to be in.  

I agree. Get a few thousand in Leazes park on matchdays, enjoying an alternative matchday experience. Singing protest songs and having a kick about.

Protestors could even walk to the stadium with their match going friends, before separating.

[Heron]

On 22/07/2021 at 15:16, Disco said:

They're pretty much all egotistical bellends with an agenda that is self serving before anything to do with the club. Be it Wraith, the TF lot, or any number ofthe other knackers associated with varying causes. 

 

It's no surprise that the only things that have come close to uniting the fanbase were AO/SP because they wisely withdrew that element of it but then suffered at said individuals attacking them because of it as they themselves weren't able to benefit from it. 

 

It's yet another thing that makes it even easier to switch off from the club. 

Been having a read through the recebt elements of this thread after an invite to the yearly footy prompted me to take a look.

 

Not quite upto speed on this thread yet, but this middle bit about AO and SP is spot on. Anonymity was laughed at literally in person by two individuals associated with a certain fanzine, in my presence.

 

I loved those groups because it was pure. It wasn't about making a name for themselves, it was just about doing something for the club as fans. 

[Heron]

So first and foremost, thanks to all those who voted in the elections irrespective of whether that was for me. I'm of the view that it's best for the Trust that the more members it has, and the more members that actively engage with it, the better.

 

There are many interesting points made in the several last pages and many I struggle to disagree with but perhaps the most pertinent one is that NUST cannot win whatever they do, they'll always have 'haters' for love of a better term.

 

My personal view is that Newcastle United fans should continue to protest down many channels and it should be multi-pronged. There needs to be an uncomfortable noise around NUFC for the ownership and the Premier League. So protest needs to happen to generate that noise. On the other hand, I think the pledge is a fantastic long term solution for football and not just NUFC. However, it's a long term project that ultimately may not outlast the monopoly that is top-tier European football. If that is the case, then at least the pledge is either there for a rainy day or for locals in our community.

 

My concern is that NUFC is on a knife edge with Bruce at the helm. If we go down, we won't bounce straight back next time and it's quite conceivable that Ashley will suck the last bits of us dry and fuck off, cutting his losses. Therefore, fans should make it clear how unacceptable his management of the club is, regularly. Likewise, with Bruce, the squad and his PR. What if we do nowt and put all oir eggs in one long term basket, but end up with fuck all by the time, that time, comes? We need to win some battles on the short term to win the war, again for me. 

 

Where peaceful protest is arranged and plans are shared with the trust, I'd personally like the trust to back it, at arms length. I believe there are means and ways to do that. Those with legal backgrounds on the board may tell me otherwise...

 

Again that wouldn't be enough for some, but perhaps, a move in that direction might pull some of the membership back on board and have them interacting. I'm keen to push for this and have already made suggestions as to how we could improve things, as have others. 

 

Obviously, I have to consider what I write in public domain these days, but the board are planning to meet and strategize in the coming days so hopefully, we can share some plans in the coming weeks.

 

For me though, it's imperative we represent the fans, and not just our 'active' members.

[Joey Linton]

https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/inspiring-movement-should-give-newcastle-21554195

 

 

[Fantail Breeze]

13 minutes ago, Joey Linton said:

https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/inspiring-movement-should-give-newcastle-21554195

 

 

 

Why was I not surprised to see Alex providing the quotes. 

 

From 6,000 initial backers down to 2,500 already.

 

Would take over 10 years to get 1% (assuming £300m-£340m valuation), not even factoring in the declining ‘pledgers’ or the fact the club’s valuation could rise during that period of time taking into account inflation etc.

 

So basically, it’s never going to happen.

 

Mad that the current state of the club and they can only muster out a chat to the Chronicle about Alex’s impossible dream. Have they given airtime to the protests for the Leeds game yet?

 

 

Edited September 13, 2021 by Fantail Breeze

[Guest reefatoon]

The plus side is that’s going to be an amazing help to some local charities.

[Joey Linton]

42 minutes ago, reefatoon said:

The plus side is that’s going to be an amazing help to some local charities.

It'll be years and years before that happens I would imagine. 

[Guest neesy111]

Broken record this thread.

[Fantail Breeze]

1 minute ago, neesy111 said:

Broken record this thread.

 

And that is probably fairly indicative of the use and contribution of NUST in itself…  

 

 

Edited September 13, 2021 by Fantail Breeze

[Joey Linton]

3 minutes ago, neesy111 said:

Broken record this thread.

Other than the pledge (which featured in the news today, hence the post) what else is there to talk about in relation to them?

 

What else are they actively and publicly involved in at the moment that you would like to discuss?

[Rafalove]

Stop calling it an impossible dream. It’s only impossible because Newcastle fans aren’t backing it.

[Joey Linton]

4 minutes ago, Rafalove said:

Stop calling it an impossible dream. It’s only impossible because Newcastle fans aren’t backing it.

Eh? The Trust said just today that it had been backed way better than they expected, so I'm not sure how you've come to that conclusion? 

[Fantail Breeze]

7 minutes ago, Rafalove said:

Stop calling it an impossible dream. It’s only impossible because Newcastle fans aren’t backing it.

 

Even if they have £10m in the pot, can you see Ashley selling a % to the fans?

 

No point planning to buy anything from anyone else, as Ashley isn’t going anywhere.

 

Their membership have already been clear that they don’t want to engage with Ashley, so I’m unsure why they’d go against that as the voice of the fans and want to fund him with this further money.

Even in the unlikely event of a sale and the new owners unexpectedly allowing the sale of 1%. What will NUST achieve with that 1%? They’ll have as much say and input as they do now. None.

 

The only way it’d work is if the club were worth fuck all and they could buy the club with the fund. Which isn’t going to happen. Or, somehow the fund is backed way beyond the realms of possibility and ended up with £300m+. Which also isn’t going to happen.

 

It’s made even more unlikely by the fact they published this grand idea with such little detail (like what they’d do with the 1%), that people are not going to get behind it.

 

We’re also talking about launching a project of getting people to part with their hard earned money during one of the biggest social and economical challenges the world has ever seen.

 

That’s even before we get onto the fact the club is currently burning to the ground and they’re more bothered about planning for this than taking appropriate action now.

 

”Give us your money each month so we may or may not buy 1% of the club to do something we’ve not yet worked out in 10 years.”

 

So aye, in a nutshell, it is Alex’s impossible dream.

[Rafalove]

20 minutes ago, Joey Linton said:

Eh? The Trust said just today that it had been backed way better than they expected, so I'm not sure how you've come to that conclusion? 

 

of they’ve said that that’s disappointing and would explain why they haven’t done nearly as much as they could/should to promote the scheme. Still didn’t make it impossible though.

[Joey Linton]

1 minute ago, Rafalove said:

 

of they’ve said that that’s disappointing and would explain why they haven’t done nearly as much as they could/should to promote the scheme. Still didn’t make it impossible though.

https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/inspiring-movement-should-give-newcastle-21554195

 

Here's the article again. 

[Fantail Breeze]

1 minute ago, Joey Linton said:

https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/inspiring-movement-should-give-newcastle-21554195

 

Here's the article again. 

Broken record.

[Rafalove]

 

Even if they have £10m in the pot, can you see Ashley selling a % to the fans?

 

 

maybe, though the pledge would

most likely  just be one party within a consortium

 

No point planning to buy anything from anyone else, as Ashley isn’t going anywhere.

 

If Ashley got the offer he wanted I think he would sell.the fact he accepted an offer from Staveley and the Saudi’s prove this.

Their membership have already been clear that they don’t want to engage with Ashley, so I’m unsure why they’d go against that as the voice of the fans and want to fund him with this further money.

 

Not sure what you mean? Any attempt to buy the club will be funding Ashley. He’s not giving the club away for free, unless the club is in serious financial shit, in which case that’s even more reason to support the pledge.

Even in the unlikely event of a sale and the new owners unexpectedly allowing the sale of 1%. What will NUST achieve with that 1%? They’ll have as much say and input as they do now. None.

 

They’ll have a voice in the boardroom, can put there opinions forward, and increase communication and transparency between club and fans. Treating clubblegends with the disrespect they have would have been far more difficult.

 

 

The only way it’d work is if the club were worth fuck all and they could buy the club with the fund. Which isn’t going to happen. Or, somehow the fund is backed way beyond the realms of possibility and ended up with £300m+. Which also isn’t going to happen.

 

 

 

It’s made even more unlikely by the fact they published this grand idea with such little detail (like what they’d do with the 1%), that people are not going to get behind it.

 

 

I do think they could promote this idea better.

 

 

We’re also talking about launching a project of getting people to part with their hard earned money during one of the biggest social and economical challenges the world has ever seen.

 

Its still completely feasible to raise a large amount of money Hearts have priven this. Perhaps not in a pandemic but equally Hearts don’t have a fanbase as large as us.

 

That’s even before we get onto the fact the club is currently burning to the ground and they’re more bothered about planning for this than taking appropriate action now.

he fans in general don’t want to take action. This has been tried multiple times.

 

”Give us your money each month so we may or may not buy 1% of the club to do something we’ve not yet worked out in 10 years.”

 

So aye, in a nutshell, it is Alex’s impossible dream.

 

 

Nah. It’s difficult but not impossible by a long stretch And anything worth doing is going to be difficult. 

[GWN]

Utter waste of time , in truth.

[Ben]

Are the trust doing anything about the current situation at Newcastle 

[Ben]

Below is the statement from the trust as to what they are doing, I'm thinking of dropping out because I don't think it's working, we need protest.

 

Our commitment to you

 

A club that will work with supporters on fan issues and will recognise their value as the long term custodians of the club;

 

A club that will work with our MPs, the City Council and local businesses to play its part in regenerating our area rather than simply billboarding a national sports retailer;

 

A club that will work with local football clubs and schools to develop local talent and keep that talent in the North East;

 

A club that says we can compete, we will compete, we don’t reward mediocrity, we strive for excellence and to be the best we can be in everything we do.

[Guest HTT II]

Well done the trust on reaching over 150k pledged thus far and all those supporters, keep it up 

[InspectorCoarse]

1 hour ago, Ben said:

Below is the statement from the trust as to what they are doing, I'm thinking of dropping out because I don't think it's working, we need protest.

 

Our commitment to you

 

A club that will work with supporters on fan issues and will recognise their value as the long term custodians of the club;

 

A club that will work with our MPs, the City Council and local businesses to play its part in regenerating our area rather than simply billboarding a national sports retailer;

 

A club that will work with local football clubs and schools to develop local talent and keep that talent in the North East;

 

A club that says we can compete, we will compete, we don’t reward mediocrity, we strive for excellence and to be the best we can be in everything we do.

Pointless and meaningless blather . Club is dead . Start from there ...

NUST is a waste of peoples time and money 

[Guest reefatoon]

As a fanbase, I wouldn't want us within a million miles of having a stake in the club. We have proved over the last 15 years how much of a disjointed bunch of useless bastards we are, who couldn't organise a piss up in a brewery. Or just sit there and feed the flames of failure without a murmur, nevermind club together to make any kind of decisions of note (not that 1% would give us any say anyway). Hopefully we get taken over somewhere down the line by people who want to make the club and area the best it can be, and the money saved from this scheme can be put to much better use and help out the local charities immensely.  I'm sure if a takeover does appear, then the majority of fans won't care about some percentage anyway. If the club was run properly that's all we need/want as fans, we don't need a token, pointless seat at the table for that. I am just struggling to find the point of it all really, apart from a pipe dream by some people to be on the board.

 

I have read @Rafalove answers above and commend you for your passion about it, but apart from the part where you say "can put there opinions forward, and increase communication and transparency between club and fans" which I think we definitely need, but we don't need a seat at the table for that, we just need owners who are willing to communicate (not like the twat in charge at the moment), which will be the first thing new owners will want to do anyway (without having any added pressure of giving a percentage of the club away). I can't see or read any kind of special benefit this will bring if I'm honest.

[Darth Crooks]

What makes you so sure PIF or whoever are interested in that? To my mind their agenda will come first same as Ashley’s. Difference being they are arsed about quality of product...which we then assume.