Feathering The NUST

(Published in Percy Main v Carlisle City programme; 18th September 2010)

Well, did you enjoy the Blyth Town game? Personally I’ve not seen a game quite as dull as that for many a long year now. That said, I’m glad I was at Purvis Park to see the Main’s sponsored snooze in preference to seeing plucky Newcastle humbled by the might of Blackpool in the Premier League, a fixture which saw me turn down my second potential freebie at SJP of the season of the two home games played thus far. Having spent the Villa game failing to shift a single copy of “Village Voice” (still available, price £10 from any club official; go on, you know you need another copy!) at the North Tyneside Health & Horticulture Show at The Parks, I did feel a twinge of regret at not seeing a 6-0 stuffing of the classless clowns from the second city, but none were evident during the visit of the Tangerines, as this one clashed with a Percy Main game and I know where my loyalties and responsibilities lie, never mind the fact I’d been predicting a 2-0 away win to all and sundry for the week leading up to the game.

However, I did get myself a sort of souvenir of the day, in the shape of issue 250 of “The Mag,” a publication I wrote for between 1989 and 2004. Flicking through it, I felt like Pastor Terry Jones in an Islamic petrol station and bookstore; I wanted to burn it to a crisp. Normally, I’ve a lot of time for “The Mag, but this issue of what I’d always viewed as the Newcastle united fanzine of record, reeked of rank, indefensible cant and hypocrisy, which I’ll explore in a minute.

Also available around SJP and, uniquely for a Newcastle fanzine it can be obtained from The Back Page, was issue #1 of Steve Wraith’s new fanzine, “Toon Talk,” which I’ve the privilege of scribbling articles for. I have to say that I’m in favour of any fan publication that is within the realms of decency, taste and moral probity, which is why I support both of the reputable Newcastle fanzines, by buying “The Mag” each issue. Indeed, I also take in the broader spectrum of independent Newcastle fan opinion by being a regular browser of www.nufc.com and a member of NUST.

You may remember NUST, who proudly rose from the ashes of the discredited, unrepresentative pressure group NU$C. Despite appearances, or rather lacking of appearances, to the contrary, NUST have not gone away; they’ve just taken a leaf from New Labour’s 1997 yearbook, by having an election, promising the earth and then doing the thick end of bugger all. Now as you know I unsuccessfully stood for election to the NUST board, but I hope you don’t regard this article as an example of sour grapes, as when the results were announced I immediately pledged my support for those who had been chosen by members. Mark Jensen, the editor of “The Mag,” who now combines that role with being the Chair of NUST, topped the poll. Now, theoretically I’ve no problem with him having two hats. Certainly since he stopped working in a shop, he’s probably had a fair bit of spare time he could do with using up, though there is the potential for a conflict of interest as time goes by.

Of course such a delicate state of affairs palpably wasn’t the case for 5 months following the NUST election result declaration on March 29^th as nothing whatsoever happened, despite promotion, the close season and the World Cup taking place. While it would have been nice to have an AGM, EGM or Public Meeting where members could meet the new board and discuss various issues in relation to NUST’s future direction, no such thing happened. They explained this state of affairs away by stating; “Despite the Elections being held in March - by the time the result was independently adjudicated, meetings were held to appoint positions, a secretary was found and Chi Onwurah MP was co-opted this took us to the end of May. Since then a lot of time has been, for example, spent writing and setting up policies required by the rules for an elected board, researching into new email systems and producing a Junior Trust plan. This also coincided with the close season and the holiday season.”

It still took until late August before a shallow, anodyne series of insincere blandishments appeared on the NUST website under the headline “the Trust moving forwards.” However many footling excuses NUST sought to make about General elections, close seasons or holidays, the fact there has not been an opportunity to take feedback from either members only or members and other interested parties is frankly inexcusable. To take 5 months to come up with such bland, platitudinous tommyrot as the statement on the website was simply pathetic. It suggests inertia, incompetence or complacency, perhaps not by all elected members, but certainly by some.

Equally dismal was the suggestion that NUST members could, in the absence of public meetings, email a query to the NUST board which they would look at and possibly get round to replying to. Their logic behind this was similarly idiotic; “NUST accept that our communication has been poor, but we are working at putting that right and accept that progress may seem slow - but it is as frustrating for Board members as members. We are currently redesigning the newsletter to be a 2 monthly issue and the first one will be out in September. A lot of meetings / contacts have been made behind the scenes and we are currently working on our business plan. Remember we are all volunteers and all Board members put in huge amounts of their personal time.” Well no one is forcing NUST Board Members to do this job; if they can’t handle it, resign with dignity!!

The whole situation was becoming even more of a joke, as simultaneous to this non-statement, “Toon Talk” was informed that NUST would not be co-operating with this new fanzine, despite the publicity “Toon Talk” editor Steve Wraith has given NUST on his radio show by having NUST Board members Steve Hastie and Neil Mitchell (two sound men who, along with Bill Corcoran and Colin Whittle, maintain NUST’s integrity) as weekly guests. The decision was made public by NUST Media Officer Tony Stephenson, on account of “Toon Talk” using photos of glamour models in Newcastle shirts as part of the pre publication adverts. These glamour models were fully clothed and whilst it was cheesy, it wasn’t pornographic, unlike the adverts for the strip tease at the City Vaults or the lap-dancing club For Your Eyes Only that “The Mag” carried.

When NUST failed to have an article in the first issue of “The Mag” this season, it seemed as if they were pursuing an even-handed policy in relation to both fanzines. Sadly, this was not the case as was demonstrated in issue #250, which came out for the Blackpool game. While For Your Eyes Only had been ditched, the advert for the City Vaults, boasting “Newcastle’s Finest Topless Totty” took pride of place on the inside back cover. Quite how this sits with the statement to Steve Wraith that NUST “are actively seeking sponsorship for the Junior Trust and for this reason felt unanimously that we could not actively promote “Toon Talk” magazine because of the imagery associated with it” is beyond me.

It seems clear to me that NUST’s Board have compromised both their integrity and their independence by effectively helping to feather the nest of an elected member. Frankly, I’d suggest a vote of No Confidence at the earliest possible moment, if there were any danger of an AGM of course. NUST; RIP? It looks like they’ve blown it, unless a radical change of policy and behaviour is in the post.