The Shite Shirts

At the time of writing, Newcastle United are one of only 3 teams in England to remain unbeaten as we head in to October; the only other Premier League side to have avoided defeat thus far are Manchester United. I’m not suggesting for one moment that Newcastle are in the same stratosphere as Ferguson’s side, but it is interesting to note this comparison, however tenuous it may be. Of course, as the third and final unbeaten English team is Charlton Athletic, we can only marvel at the inadequacy of League 1 strikers, considering Rob Elliott was between the sticks for the Addicks in their first half dozen games.

Of the 8 games played so far, I’ve managed to catch the Fulham one in the flesh and saw the Scunthorpe game on the telly in the pub; I chose to take in Team Northumbria v Northallerton Town on the night of the televised QPR fixture, which I’m reliably led to believe is the only time the Magpies have undeservedly claimed a share of the spoils this campaign to date. The next game at Villa ought to have been a win, the crazy 4-3 League Cup win at Forest saw sublime attacking and surreal defending (including 2 desperate ricks by debutant Elliott) and the recent defeat of Blackburn included, as I have been reliably informed, some of the best passing and movement seen at SJP since Sir Bobby’s 2002/2003 side finished in third spot.

With the next half dozen fixtures being Wolves (A), Spurs (H), Wigan (H), Blackburn (A) in the League Cup, Stoke (A) and Everton (H), there is a possibility that this encouraging run could continue, notwithstanding the depressing thought of a Monday night trip to the anti-football hell that is the Britannia Stadium. Of course, McCarthy’s side could banjo Newcastle all over Molineux on Saturday and make me look even more of a deluded berk than usual. Even if that happens, it would be churlish in the extreme not to applaud Pardew for his tactics, the team for their performances and Graham Carr for scouting such quality players. The central midfield pairing of Tiote and Cabaye looks as good as anything we’ve seen in the last decade; Kevin who? We’ll even applaud Llambias and Ashley for dodging the bullet by declining to lash out £12m on Bryan Ruiz, who has every sign of being the Central American Andreas Andersson if his early performances for Fulham are any indication of things to come.

Sadly, we are talking Newcastle United, so the course of this true love is constitutionally disbarred from running smooth. Firstly we’ve got the new Sports Direct adverts up on the Gallowgate and East Stands (I like to refer to them as the Derek Llambias and Mike Ashley Stands, just to upset people because I’m a scamp like that), which has resulted in certain sections of the support reacting to this in the way Macduff does when Ross brings him news of his family in IViii of the Scottish Play. While such camp amateur dramatics can generally be ignored, as oftentimes the biggest complainants will be attired in the latest replica strip (no doubt with CONFORM - CONSUME - OBEY printed on the back), it is more than a little galling to note in the latest set of accounts that Newcastle United paid over £40k for the privilege of hosting Sports Direct ground advertising in the previous season; let’s hope Puma have dug a little deeper in to their pockets for their logo’s prominent position. As far as I’m concerned any sponsorship the club makes is a good thing; I don’t care if the ground name is available for hire. It will always be St James’ Park to the fans, regardless of any corporate rebranding.  The absurd position that I’ve heard some try to delineate that it is acceptable for new grounds (Arsenal, Bolton, citeh) to have sponsored names, but not for traditional ones (is that all of them built before the Bescot Stadium & Glanford Park in 1990 or Vale Park in 1950?), is just too spurious to even entertain.

Elsewhere, there are cracks appearing in the NUFC Fans United edifice; hopefully these can be patched up. At the last meeting when it was proposed and accepted that the vouchers from the abandoned Fiorentina friendly were to be donated to provide free tickets for serving members of the Military, I adopted the Pastor Niemoller approach and said nothing. I immediately regretted this; while I had no voucher to donate, I wondered whether my silence would be interpreted as tacit approval of the conduct of imperialist invaders that had subjugated the nationalist population of the Six Counties for so long, not to mention their conduct in Iraq and Afghanistan. However, I decided that my silence was not consent and as I wished to remain within the corpus of NUFC Fans United, I should hold my counsel for the greater good of the organisation. Anyway, as I’ll probably only be at the Spurs game before Christmas, the chance of being stood amidst 45,000 people clapping a collection of squaddies was a minimal one, thankfully. Incidentally, I wasn’t the only one to object to this decision; others felt that as soldiers are well remunerated, any spare tickets would be better distributed to socially disadvantaged areas of the city; this to me is a completely sensible and utterly compelling argument.

Perhaps injudiciously, I voiced my distaste with the decision on Twitter, which has caused some immediate friction between I and other left-leaning NUFC supporters on there and the less cerebral elements of our support. It is unavoidable that NUFC Fans United will be the cause of fierce debate as the umbrella nature of the group means that all manner of political views and styles of support will be brought to the table; it is how the constituent parts deal with dissent and debate that will show the quality of those involved. Currently it appears as if one particular blog, styled like Loaded on Tyne, has decided that they will not be part of NUFC Fans United, if I stay part of the group. I could say their departure will have a minimal effect on the validity of NUFC Fans United, but that would be unfair. One of their contributors has worked hard on the Tickets for Troops initiative, which probably tells you all you need to know. Depending on your political stance, you’ll interpret that statement in your own way. I do rather hope he finds it within himself to rejoin NUFC Fans United as his opinions are as valid as mine, and probably hold more sway among our fanbase at the present time. 

There continues to be a complete clash of personality between the displaced L7 lot and those in the Gallowgate corner. At Blackburn stewards were handing out warning letters to those identified as standing too often, with rumours of one game banning orders enforced on some. I’d wager with so many cash sales on the day, anyone prevented from accessing the ground on their season ticket could easily buy a replacement. Perhaps that is Ashley’s new strategy to maximise match day income? In all seriousness, this is a situation entirely of the club’s making; the L7 lot should have been left up there, out of the way of those who want to watch the game in peace, filming themselves on their phones for YouTube, abusing the away fans and waving their shoes to their hearts’ content. Dispersing them around the ground is like asking the residents of a student hall of residence to move in to a nursing home and expecting everyone to get along. It won’t happen and it didn’t need to happen. The club need to back down now!

Rather more seriously, I heard of appalling behaviour by a small section of Newcastle fans at Villa; racist chants aimed at the general populace, sectarian abuse thrown at Shay Given (the finest gentleman to play for Newcastle United since Peter Beardsley hung up his boots) and general boorishness. In ordinary circumstances this sort of conduct could be put down to morons too full of drink, but my informant tells me this clan (and I use the word advisedly) were all attired in EDL and NEI (North East Infidels) polo shirts. These lads probably love the army and will no doubt think the Tickets for Troops initiative is a brilliant one, but do we want them in our club? No, must be the resounding answer.

My friend didn’t confront this lot at the time, choosing to move away to find a separate vantage point (easily done these days as Newcastle don’t always sell out the away allocation; at £43 for Villa, who can blame people?). I must admit I would have done the same; in the past I’ve stood up to them and had mouthfuls of abuse, but never a slapping. At home games it’s easy to finger the culprits; record the seat and row, then report it to a steward and subsequently the stadium manager via an email. I did that years ago, after one clown in the Gallowgate racially abused Andy Cole in October 1994 1-1 v Blackburn. He got a warning next time out and never opened his stupid gob again; did you, Jason Hailes? It may seem like being a grass, but it is the only way I can see as a 47 year old bloke to deal with this. I’m too old and too soft to get in to a toe to toe argument and I want the law and moral high ground on my behalf. At the Fulham game I saw one pitiful specimen in an EDL polo shirt; I called him a clown and he didn’t seem to register. He may have been attired like a fascist, but I suppose he wasn’t sounding like one. If he thinks he’s an example of some EDL master race, then I seriously pity him. However the fact remains, if racism, Islamophobia (don’t go there again please) or sectarianism is rearing its head among our support, then NUFC Fans United need Show Racism The Red Card alongside us now!