AshleyOut.com

[Shays Given Tim Flowers]

I don't understand why the club would need to lend money for the training ground.

 

Likely to just be a simple cashflow thing. The club may be making a lot of money but it may take time to get it. If you want serious cash quickly Banks are the places to go.

 

It's more an issue of why he's doing it than the Practice of doing it.

 

can you explain that more?  we seem to 'know' that he's cooked the books to hide the profit from last year so why wouldn't he just be using that 'profit' to pay for what he's loaning?

 

Because the profit might not be readily available. It's difficult to comment too much on why anything like this is done unless we are told explicitly. He isn't necessarily loaning anything he is just getting access to money quicker.

 

So say the PL is going to give him £60m in £20m annual installments for the TV money. During that time he can only use that money once it's been paid to him. If he goes to the bank and says lend us £60m the bank will have the funds in place to do that. They know they are getting £60m back because it's secured against the TV deal. The bank gets it's money back and Ashley gets the cash tomorrow.

 

That's a very crude example but it's the sort of thing that's common place in business as you need a cash injection to finance something and banks generally are the only places that have cash available quickly. Why Ashley wants money up front is anyone's guess but he will feel it can be put to better use now than waiting for it to come in installments.

[brummie]

I've got an idea on how we can sort out this fickle bullshit: Why don't we f***ing ask the posters on here who supports other clubs whether they think the SackPardew.com made us look fickle or not. I'm pretty sure Neil (an Everton fan) has already said he thought it was a good campaign. Can we have the opinions of brummie (Aston Villa), LEFE (Spurs), Village Idiot (Barcelona), Stray Mackem, hithere (Sunderland), 1878(Everton), George Constanza and wacko (both Liverpool) please?

 

Sorry, late to the party.

 

I don't think it made you look fickle at all. And that's coming from a supporter of a club whose under-pressure manager once called their fans fickle.  This after a cup defeat against Doncaster Rovers. What fickleness, expecting not to get limply dumped from cups like that, eh?

 

Which says it all about the f-word for me.

 

Whenever I hear it, I tend to turn off, because 99 times out of 100 it is being used as a way of waving a shitty stick at a group of people (in this case fans), who are accused of not matching with the opinions of another group of people (usually journalists), who have absolutely zero idea of being what a fan is.

 

Journalists will look at your club and use the same well-worn yardstick that other journalists use, they'll fish out the same bunch of cliches, because they're playing to an audience, and that is what they usually tell that audience.

 

In my mind, the biggest change in the dynamics of football since the Premier League inception has been between clubs and their fans. It used to be "club" and "fan" (who, rather charmingly, often use to think of it as "his" club in a sense beyond just turning up to matches).

 

Now, it is far more about "product" and "consumers". The product is a massive, global industry and the locals who were buying it for years count less and less.

 

The thing journalists and clubs don't seem to get is that, it wasn't the fans who made it this way, it was the clubs. They now treat us like "customers" to be "marketed" at, like some Ford trying to flog you a Fiesta or something.

 

The dynamic between them and us has changed, and they - and the press who support them - have no right whatsoever to moan about it. If they think that ultimately they can treat fans as "customers", part of the relationship being that they can continue to up prices as high as they like, then they also have to accept the flip side of it, which is that supporters are going to demand in return better quality, better football, competitiveness.

 

What the likes of Ashley, Lerner and every other half-arsed unambitious chairman in the top flight want is to have it both ways. They want to continue to stick the prices up, to continue to rake in more and more money from far eastern television rights, to have matches moved to stupid times and dates without thinking about supporters in the ground, they want all of this, but at the same time, they want you to just shut the fuck up and suck it up.

 

That's the bit that makes me angry.

[brummie]

Incidentally, it's not just you.

 

Slight tangent, this, but it says a lot about football.

 

A couple of months ago, the Villa Supporters Trust organised a roundtable thing, at which members could come and talk to Tom Fox, our (recently appointed) CEO. Fox is the bloke who was chief commercial officer at Arsenal previously, American bloke who got them their mega shirt deal and what not.

 

I was looking through the minutes of the meeting, and at the end, someone asked him if Villa could commit to paying *all* their staff the living wage, rather than the minimum wage.

 

There was much umming and aahing, which ultimately came down to "we aren't planning to do that, and don't think we would".

 

I believe the PL have since said all clubs are going to have to do it, but the fact was that we had a football club happy to throw 50k a week at utterly mediocre footballers pleading costs when it came to paying non-football employees that extra quid or so an hour.

 

That just says it all about football, and the people who run it.

[mrmojorisin75]

I don't understand why the club would need to lend money for the training ground.

 

Likely to just be a simple cashflow thing. The club may be making a lot of money but it may take time to get it. If you want serious cash quickly Banks are the places to go.

 

It's more an issue of why he's doing it than the Practice of doing it.

 

can you explain that more?  we seem to 'know' that he's cooked the books to hide the profit from last year so why wouldn't he just be using that 'profit' to pay for what he's loaning?

 

Because the profit might not be readily available. It's difficult to comment too much on why anything like this is done unless we are told explicitly. He isn't necessarily loaning anything he is just getting access to money quicker.

 

So say the PL is going to give him £60m in £20m annual installments for the TV money. During that time he can only use that money once it's been paid to him. If he goes to the bank and says lend us £60m the bank will have the funds in place to do that. They know they are getting £60m back because it's secured against the TV deal. The bank gets it's money back and Ashley gets the cash tomorrow.

 

That's a very crude example but it's the sort of thing that's common place in business as you need a cash injection to finance something and banks generally are the only places that have cash available quickly. Why Ashley wants money up front is anyone's guess but he will feel it can be put to better use now than waiting for it to come in installments.

Cheers

[Guest neesy111]

Incidentally, it's not just you.

 

Slight tangent, this, but it says a lot about football.

 

A couple of months ago, the Villa Supporters Trust organised a roundtable thing, at which members could come and talk to Tom Fox, our (recently appointed) CEO. Fox is the bloke who was chief commercial officer at Arsenal previously, American bloke who got them their mega shirt deal and what not.

 

I was looking through the minutes of the meeting, and at the end, someone asked him if Villa could commit to paying *all* their staff the living wage, rather than the minimum wage.

 

There was much umming and aahing, which ultimately came down to "we aren't planning to do that, and don't think we would".

 

I believe the PL have since said all clubs are going to have to do it, but the fact was that we had a football club happy to throw 50k a week at utterly mediocre footballers pleading costs when it came to paying non-football employees that extra quid or so an hour.

 

That just says it all about football, and the people who run it.

 

I'd say it shows football needs some serious regulation in terms of ownership etc as it can't be trusted to regulate itself.

[NG32]

Incidentally, it's not just you.

 

Slight tangent, this, but it says a lot about football.

 

A couple of months ago, the Villa Supporters Trust organised a roundtable thing, at which members could come and talk to Tom Fox, our (recently appointed) CEO. Fox is the bloke who was chief commercial officer at Arsenal previously, American bloke who got them their mega shirt deal and what not.

 

I was looking through the minutes of the meeting, and at the end, someone asked him if Villa could commit to paying *all* their staff the living wage, rather than the minimum wage.

 

There was much umming and aahing, which ultimately came down to "we aren't planning to do that, and don't think we would".

 

I believe the PL have since said all clubs are going to have to do it, but the fact was that we had a football club happy to throw 50k a week at utterly mediocre footballers pleading costs when it came to paying non-football employees that extra quid or so an hour.

 

That just says it all about football, and the people who run it.

 

Its disgusting.

[Greg]

Incidentally, it's not just you.

 

Slight tangent, this, but it says a lot about football.

 

A couple of months ago, the Villa Supporters Trust organised a roundtable thing, at which members could come and talk to Tom Fox, our (recently appointed) CEO. Fox is the bloke who was chief commercial officer at Arsenal previously, American bloke who got them their mega shirt deal and what not.

 

I was looking through the minutes of the meeting, and at the end, someone asked him if Villa could commit to paying *all* their staff the living wage, rather than the minimum wage.

 

There was much umming and aahing, which ultimately came down to "we aren't planning to do that, and don't think we would".

 

I believe the PL have since said all clubs are going to have to do it, but the fact was that we had a football club happy to throw 50k a week at utterly mediocre footballers pleading costs when it came to paying non-football employees that extra quid or so an hour.

 

That just says it all about football, and the people who run it.

 

Same questions came up in the NUFC fans forum, NUFC said no intention.

 

However, I understandthe Premier League are to force all PL clubs to pay the living wage to all employees.

 

Edit: I was wrong, its full time staff only which makes a bit of a mockery of this announcement given most lower paid staff at football clubs wont be full time.

[Dave]

Incidentally, it's not just you.

 

Slight tangent, this, but it says a lot about football.

 

A couple of months ago, the Villa Supporters Trust organised a roundtable thing, at which members could come and talk to Tom Fox, our (recently appointed) CEO. Fox is the bloke who was chief commercial officer at Arsenal previously, American bloke who got them their mega shirt deal and what not.

 

I was looking through the minutes of the meeting, and at the end, someone asked him if Villa could commit to paying *all* their staff the living wage, rather than the minimum wage.

 

There was much umming and aahing, which ultimately came down to "we aren't planning to do that, and don't think we would".

 

I believe the PL have since said all clubs are going to have to do it, but the fact was that we had a football club happy to throw 50k a week at utterly mediocre footballers pleading costs when it came to paying non-football employees that extra quid or so an hour.

 

That just says it all about football, and the people who run it.

 

http://www.nufc.co.uk/page/Fans/FansForum/0,,10278~4540283,00.html

4. "Does Newcastle United pay all its employees at least the Living Wage?"

The board said that it does not pay the living wage but it does abide by employment law as per legislation set by the government and pay the minimum wage. The club advised supporters to speak to their local MPs with a view to the government changing the law and raising the national minimum wage if they believed it beneficial for the UK.

 

Utter cunts man.

[brummie]

Incidentally, it's not just you.

 

Slight tangent, this, but it says a lot about football.

 

A couple of months ago, the Villa Supporters Trust organised a roundtable thing, at which members could come and talk to Tom Fox, our (recently appointed) CEO. Fox is the bloke who was chief commercial officer at Arsenal previously, American bloke who got them their mega shirt deal and what not.

 

I was looking through the minutes of the meeting, and at the end, someone asked him if Villa could commit to paying *all* their staff the living wage, rather than the minimum wage.

 

There was much umming and aahing, which ultimately came down to "we aren't planning to do that, and don't think we would".

 

I believe the PL have since said all clubs are going to have to do it, but the fact was that we had a football club happy to throw 50k a week at utterly mediocre footballers pleading costs when it came to paying non-football employees that extra quid or so an hour.

 

That just says it all about football, and the people who run it.

 

http://www.nufc.co.uk/page/Fans/FansForum/0,,10278~4540283,00.html

4. "Does Newcastle United pay all its employees at least the Living Wage?"

The board said that it does not pay the living wage but it does abide by employment law as per legislation set by the government and pay the minimum wage. The club advised supporters to speak to their local MPs with a view to the government changing the law and raising the national minimum wage if they believed it beneficial for the UK.

 

Utter cunts man.

 

That is exactly the approach our weasel took "we comply with all legislation", which is to be expected, I guess, but not what he was asked.

[Thomson Mouse]

http://s28.postimg.org/v1wlv8ual/image.png

 

Anyone see this on AshleyOut.com comments bit?

 

Maybe a load of rubbish, but just curious to what it was getting at?

 

That's greek to me, what does it mean? That he has borrowed money from...?

 

He has borrowed money from Barclays and used the Premier League Money as Security (a guarantee of the money existing). Could have been done for a number of reasons. I.e. he wants money to spend now but it will be paid in installments over the course of a 3 year period under the premier league contract.

 

 

Seem to remember Shepherd being slaughtered for doing that.

 

To be fair Dave Shepherd din't just do that he ha already spent money that was owed to us for the next few years from sponsorship. This has just been done on a short term basis.

[Dave]

'Take it up with the government if you think it would be beneficial to the UK' though. How odious.

[Skeletor]

'Take it up with the government if you think it would be beneficial to the UK' though. How odious.

 

Like a board room full of Tories.

[Dave]

http://s28.postimg.org/v1wlv8ual/image.png

 

Anyone see this on AshleyOut.com comments bit?

 

Maybe a load of rubbish, but just curious to what it was getting at?

 

That's greek to me, what does it mean? That he has borrowed money from...?

 

He has borrowed money from Barclays and used the Premier League Money as Security (a guarantee of the money existing). Could have been done for a number of reasons. I.e. he wants money to spend now but it will be paid in installments over the course of a 3 year period under the premier league contract.

 

 

Seem to remember Shepherd being slaughtered for doing that.

 

To be fair Dave Shepherd din't just do that he ha already spent money that was owed to us for the next few years from sponsorship. This has just been done on a short term basis.

 

I'm not defending Shepherd for a minute. It was a thinly-veiled dig.

[Thomson Mouse]

http://s28.postimg.org/v1wlv8ual/image.png

 

Anyone see this on AshleyOut.com comments bit?

 

Maybe a load of rubbish, but just curious to what it was getting at?

 

That's greek to me, what does it mean? That he has borrowed money from...?

 

He has borrowed money from Barclays and used the Premier League Money as Security (a guarantee of the money existing). Could have been done for a number of reasons. I.e. he wants money to spend now but it will be paid in installments over the course of a 3 year period under the premier league contract.

 

 

Seem to remember Shepherd being slaughtered for doing that.

 

To be fair Dave Shepherd din't just do that he ha already spent money that was owed to us for the next few years from sponsorship. This has just been done on a short term basis.

 

I'm not defending Shepherd for a minute. It was a thinly-veiled dig.

 

strange that because I felt like I was defending Ashley. I feel dirty now

[Guest neesy111]

Incidentally, it's not just you.

 

Slight tangent, this, but it says a lot about football.

 

A couple of months ago, the Villa Supporters Trust organised a roundtable thing, at which members could come and talk to Tom Fox, our (recently appointed) CEO. Fox is the bloke who was chief commercial officer at Arsenal previously, American bloke who got them their mega shirt deal and what not.

 

I was looking through the minutes of the meeting, and at the end, someone asked him if Villa could commit to paying *all* their staff the living wage, rather than the minimum wage.

 

There was much umming and aahing, which ultimately came down to "we aren't planning to do that, and don't think we would".

 

I believe the PL have since said all clubs are going to have to do it, but the fact was that we had a football club happy to throw 50k a week at utterly mediocre footballers pleading costs when it came to paying non-football employees that extra quid or so an hour.

 

That just says it all about football, and the people who run it.

 

http://www.nufc.co.uk/page/Fans/FansForum/0,,10278~4540283,00.html

4. "Does Newcastle United pay all its employees at least the Living Wage?"

The board said that it does not pay the living wage but it does abide by employment law as per legislation set by the government and pay the minimum wage. The club advised supporters to speak to their local MPs with a view to the government changing the law and raising the national minimum wage if they believed it beneficial for the UK.

 

Utter cunts man.

 

I can see many employees being on zero hour contracts.

[Wandy]

Realistically, we can now afford to lose all of our remaining games and we still will not be relegated.

 

If our lot cannot bring themselves to boycott a game now then it will simply never happen.

[Pixelphish]

'Take it up with the government if you think it would be beneficial to the UK' though. How odious.

 

Really is despicable :lol:. He's like a cartoon villan.

 

 

[Big Geordie]

Money and greed encourage more greed and the inevitable corruption.

[Yorkie]

'Take it up with the government if you think it would be beneficial to the UK' though. How odious.

 

Hadn't noticed that before. Odious is the word. They're objectively rancid people, like. That's not even an emotionally-charged statement - they're genuinely just a load of greedy, selfish, ignorant pieces of shit.

[Wullie]

http://www.true-faith.co.uk/true-faith-brother-where-art-thou/

 

The emergence of AshleyOut.com is a breath of fresh air to those who have struggled to Daddybreak the atmosphere of hopelessness and defeat which has not only polluted our team on the pitch but has seeped into even the most ardent and hopeful of what is left of the NUFC hardcore.

 

Talking to a few friends and colleagues who attended the SOS on Easter Sunday to get their take on things proved extremely difficult for me; I think an expert psychologist would have been more appropriate, to gradually work their way through the complex layers of hurt and trauma which have multiplied over 8 years of abuse from Mike Ashley.

 

In the maelstrom of emotions that immediately followed our Wearside surrender, it seemed that anger – what Johnny Rotten (my current bathroom read) recognises as a positive energy and catalyst for change – was not at the forefront. The looks on people’s faces who attended and those drowning their sorrows in my local drinking establishment were those of victims whose eyes tell of much more than they could ever express verbally. I went to bed that Sunday night, thinking NUFC was finally finished – ended by 90 minutes of on field cowardice.

 

Easter Monday brought the resurrection of hope but I was more than a little slow on picking up on this – the scars of the past never fade. As someone who has been involved in previous fan demos as part of the MAOC, I can appreciate more than most what a herculean task is at hand. As a long term boycotter, I can also understand some of the cynicism from those who also walked away some time ago and now say “it is too late.” But it is not too far gone. It is never too late. So long as there is hope.

 

My self-imposed exile started with choosing to watch NUFC games in pubs and clubs, but watching sporting crime through the bottom of a pint glass is bad for your health. Eventually I stumbled into the Northern league and my hometown club of North Shields; amazingly, I managed to fall in love with the game all over again and have witnessed first-hand how ambition can grow something from the ashes of disaster. I know others who have gone to Gateshead and the other clubs of our region who are so grateful for your support and would never treat you with the contempt that NUFC have. I know mates who wander round B&Q of a Saturday now, sniffing wood glue, trying to forget their former lives. I have acquaintances that have taken up allotments and claim they would rather watch leeks growing than witness Gabriel Obertan masquerade as a footballer (you can exchange Whoppa Nut’s name for almost any squad member you care to recall).

 

But I’ll let you into a secret… for me it is impossible to switch off totally from events at NE1. I suspect this may also be the case for the glue sniffers, the leek growers and the basket weavers of Tyneside? I know it is the case for many of the Shields Ultras on the Curva Nord who watched a dull game against Durham City on Saturday – I heard them whooping their delight at every goal during the Sunderland capitulation against Patsy’s Palace.  I also heard several times the refrain “it just shows how shite WE are”.  That tells me those lads still care, no matter how many times they clench their jaw and try to deny it.

 

There is a pride that unites all Geordies. We are traditionally, a proud people. We are rich in history and our heritage is one of hard work against the odds. We have often been betrayed by those in whom we placed our trust. In terms of football, Mike Ashley’s crimes against the people are well documented (but if you really need to refresh your memory, check out the excellent AshleyOut.com website). The question is, what can we do?

 

Next Sunday’s proposed boycott has got to be only the start. Ashley won’t be leaving the next morning, so the do nothing gobshites and trolls on twitter and facebook will have to come up with something a little less predictable to throw at the brave souls who decide to stand up (and stand out) to be counted. There are no guarantees of success in this. I hope the numbers who choose not to take up their seats at Spurs are large. Large enough for the cameras not to skip over and ignore and large enough to prove to a worldwide tv audience that we care enough to make a sacrifice many thought we didn’t have the guts to make. If clubs ranging from Blackpool to Milan can do it, why can’t we? We have been educated and abused long enough to use the ‘boycott’ word openly now and realise it is not a dirty byword for betrayal.

 

The real betrayal is by those who should know better – those club legends who have served and worn the black and white and understand fully what the club means to the city  but have chosen to take the Ashley shilling and trot out tired clichés that are aimed at scaring the fans into inaction. Doing nothing is not a viable option. In my opinion, the ‘support the team not the regime’ boat sailed long ago, but the last stalwarts of that stance seem to have died on Easter Sunday in SR5. Let that not be an epitaph on our gravestones but a signal that from this adversity, we can unite and fight. In reality, there is nothing to lose and there is a clear field for an agenda for change.

 

Talk of factionalism amongst our support has been greatly exaggerated in the past and the word ‘agenda’ has definitely had negative connotations when used by those in and close to the local media. From what I have observed, from all quarters in the last week, there clearly is an agenda and it is very much ‘Ashley Out’. That has got be a positive! Nothing else matters now.

 

It may feel like we are armed with peashooters against nuclear weapons and a one match boycott and protest has to be just one tactic in an overall strategy that has to embrace, evolve and empower.

 

We have had flickers of togetherness before – the march, the walkout – and those who took part felt that camaraderie and the sense of hope. They certainly were not a waste of time; they undoubtedly had an effect on an owner who many thought was impervious and insensitive to protest. Lessons were learned too as opportunities to build were lost. This latest flare up of fan protest seems to be more prepared, wiser and its growth more organic. But it has to break out of that social media circle that can seem like the whole universe to those who use it, but in reality, probably accounts for nothing more than 10% of the fanbase.

 

As a sitting board member of the Newcastle United Supporters Trust, I can say I am both proud and relieved that they have backed so publicly the rights of others to take the lead on exacting the change that we all as fans, so desperately need.

 

When Ashley is gone, not only do I hope that we can say that we all played a part in his exit but we realise we have a duty of care to ensure we never see the likes of him again. I hope that we all have the mutual respect for each other to realise that whatever divides us is far outweighed by what unites us. I hope that we can seize what might be a unique opportunity to mould a club that is totally geared to realising its potential by engaging its audience and community; a club that far from being an ‘also ran’ can be beacon for other clubs to break out of a system that perpetuates self-defeat and demeans the sport.

 

In the meantime, I urge all of you who care enough to do something, to back this latest initiative – it may not be the idea you prefer, but there’ll be plenty of scope to get to those, in what I’m sure will be a long road ahead.

 

I hope to see plenty of people who have already walked away, turning up in Leazes Park and standing alongside those who are doing it for the first time. I know I will not hear anyone of those longtermers say, “I told you so” because not only are we better than that, we should know it was never going to be a good enough tactic on its own.

 

Images of empty seats in the stands and fans having a day out in the park instead, could have an impact and provide a catalyst for something far greater than any of us can understand at present. Come along and wear your strips, feed the ducks in Leazes Park and enjoy whatever the AO lads have in store for us. Please don’t leave it to others to fight for what we all care about: NUFC.

[NEEJ]

http://www.true-faith.co.uk/true-faith-brother-where-art-thou/

 

The emergence of AshleyOut.com is a breath of fresh air to those who have struggled to Daddybreak the atmosphere of hopelessness and defeat which has not only polluted our team on the pitch but has seeped into even the most ardent and hopeful of what is left of the NUFC hardcore.

 

Talking to a few friends and colleagues who attended the SOS on Easter Sunday to get their take on things proved extremely difficult for me; I think an expert psychologist would have been more appropriate, to gradually work their way through the complex layers of hurt and trauma which have multiplied over 8 years of abuse from Mike Ashley.

 

In the maelstrom of emotions that immediately followed our Wearside surrender, it seemed that anger – what Johnny Rotten (my current bathroom read) recognises as a positive energy and catalyst for change – was not at the forefront. The looks on people’s faces who attended and those drowning their sorrows in my local drinking establishment were those of victims whose eyes tell of much more than they could ever express verbally. I went to bed that Sunday night, thinking NUFC was finally finished – ended by 90 minutes of on field cowardice.

 

Easter Monday brought the resurrection of hope but I was more than a little slow on picking up on this – the scars of the past never fade. As someone who has been involved in previous fan demos as part of the MAOC, I can appreciate more than most what a herculean task is at hand. As a long term boycotter, I can also understand some of the cynicism from those who also walked away some time ago and now say “it is too late.” But it is not too far gone. It is never too late. So long as there is hope.

 

My self-imposed exile started with choosing to watch NUFC games in pubs and clubs, but watching sporting crime through the bottom of a pint glass is bad for your health. Eventually I stumbled into the Northern league and my hometown club of North Shields; amazingly, I managed to fall in love with the game all over again and have witnessed first-hand how ambition can grow something from the ashes of disaster. I know others who have gone to Gateshead and the other clubs of our region who are so grateful for your support and would never treat you with the contempt that NUFC have. I know mates who wander round B&Q of a Saturday now, sniffing wood glue, trying to forget their former lives. I have acquaintances that have taken up allotments and claim they would rather watch leeks growing than witness Gabriel Obertan masquerade as a footballer (you can exchange Whoppa Nut’s name for almost any squad member you care to recall).

 

But I’ll let you into a secret… for me it is impossible to switch off totally from events at NE1. I suspect this may also be the case for the glue sniffers, the leek growers and the basket weavers of Tyneside? I know it is the case for many of the Shields Ultras on the Curva Nord who watched a dull game against Durham City on Saturday – I heard them whooping their delight at every goal during the Sunderland capitulation against Patsy’s Palace.  I also heard several times the refrain “it just shows how s**** WE are”.  That tells me those lads still care, no matter how many times they clench their jaw and try to deny it.

 

There is a pride that unites all Geordies. We are traditionally, a proud people. We are rich in history and our heritage is one of hard work against the odds. We have often been betrayed by those in whom we placed our trust. In terms of football, Mike Ashley’s crimes against the people are well documented (but if you really need to refresh your memory, check out the excellent AshleyOut.com website). The question is, what can we do?

 

Next Sunday’s proposed boycott has got to be only the start. Ashley won’t be leaving the next morning, so the do nothing gobshites and trolls on twitter and facebook will have to come up with something a little less predictable to throw at the brave souls who decide to stand up (and stand out) to be counted. There are no guarantees of success in this. I hope the numbers who choose not to take up their seats at Spurs are large. Large enough for the cameras not to skip over and ignore and large enough to prove to a worldwide tv audience that we care enough to make a sacrifice many thought we didn’t have the guts to make. If clubs ranging from Blackpool to Milan can do it, why can’t we? We have been educated and abused long enough to use the ‘boycott’ word openly now and realise it is not a dirty byword for betrayal.

 

The real betrayal is by those who should know better – those club legends who have served and worn the black and white and understand fully what the club means to the city  but have chosen to take the Ashley shilling and trot out tired clichés that are aimed at scaring the fans into inaction. Doing nothing is not a viable option. In my opinion, the ‘support the team not the regime’ boat sailed long ago, but the last stalwarts of that stance seem to have died on Easter Sunday in SR5. Let that not be an epitaph on our gravestones but a signal that from this adversity, we can unite and fight. In reality, there is nothing to lose and there is a clear field for an agenda for change.

 

Talk of factionalism amongst our support has been greatly exaggerated in the past and the word ‘agenda’ has definitely had negative connotations when used by those in and close to the local media. From what I have observed, from all quarters in the last week, there clearly is an agenda and it is very much ‘Ashley Out’. That has got be a positive! Nothing else matters now.

 

It may feel like we are armed with peashooters against nuclear weapons and a one match boycott and protest has to be just one tactic in an overall strategy that has to embrace, evolve and empower.

 

We have had flickers of togetherness before – the march, the walkout – and those who took part felt that camaraderie and the sense of hope. They certainly were not a waste of time; they undoubtedly had an effect on an owner who many thought was impervious and insensitive to protest. Lessons were learned too as opportunities to build were lost. This latest flare up of fan protest seems to be more prepared, wiser and its growth more organic. But it has to break out of that social media circle that can seem like the whole universe to those who use it, but in reality, probably accounts for nothing more than 10% of the fanbase.

 

As a sitting board member of the Newcastle United Supporters Trust, I can say I am both proud and relieved that they have backed so publicly the rights of others to take the lead on exacting the change that we all as fans, so desperately need.

 

When Ashley is gone, not only do I hope that we can say that we all played a part in his exit but we realise we have a duty of care to ensure we never see the likes of him again. I hope that we all have the mutual respect for each other to realise that whatever divides us is far outweighed by what unites us. I hope that we can seize what might be a unique opportunity to mould a club that is totally geared to realising its potential by engaging its audience and community; a club that far from being an ‘also ran’ can be beacon for other clubs to break out of a system that perpetuates self-defeat and demeans the sport.

 

In the meantime, I urge all of you who care enough to do something, to back this latest initiative – it may not be the idea you prefer, but there’ll be plenty of scope to get to those, in what I’m sure will be a long road ahead.

 

I hope to see plenty of people who have already walked away, turning up in Leazes Park and standing alongside those who are doing it for the first time. I know I will not hear anyone of those longtermers say, “I told you so” because not only are we better than that, we should know it was never going to be a good enough tactic on its own.

 

Images of empty seats in the stands and fans having a day out in the park instead, could have an impact and provide a catalyst for something far greater than any of us can understand at present. Come along and wear your strips, feed the ducks in Leazes Park and enjoy whatever the AO lads have in store for us. Please don’t leave it to others to fight for what we all care about: NUFC.

Magnificent.

[Minhosa]

Great article.

[Mattoon]

Brilliant, we need more of this, really feels like something is gathering momentum at the moment. Just wish someone like Shearer would come out in support to spread it to the masses

[Greg]

Great article, noticed it was by Graeme Cansdale who was part of the Michael Ashley Out Campaign and is also a board member of NUST. It really is great to see this group has managed to unite all our fans groups which has never really happened before.

 

Credit to them, I hope they manage to keep it up.

[Klaus]

Has their been any former players/pundits etc gave any real support for this?