Good evening troops
On the way home this evening there was sound emitting from the airwaves from the Geordie Nation that was so horrific I thought Jimmy Nail had released another line dancing album.
The cause of their ire was that the Sid James had been renamed the “Sports Direct Arena” in tribute to where 92.9% of Newcastle’s disposable income is spent. Off course I am being flippant. That’s Primark.
While Mike Ashley can’t be called a trailblazer in stadium naming rights I’m sure this is the first major club that has renamed their original home and I really can’t see what the problem is.
Football is made of memories and football fans are creatures of habit. Celtic Park is no longer the place of the jungle but we still reminisce about the sight, sounds and smells. A change of name won’t change what we have witnessed on the pitch.
Fans will still call the ground what they always have. Parkhead, Celtic Park or Paradise even though the ground is unrecognizable probably from the first time they went there the tag hasn’t changed.
The modern game is now so detached from what it was when Pathe covered it and our own club is no longer the club we romanticise or were taught about. It’s all about branding and our tops are currently branded by chemical p*sh in a joint sponsorship that no-one wanted.
This is the next step no matter the protests.
I fully expect those naysayers to be the same that shout for our absent major shareholder to plough in millions for no return or without alerting the bods in Nyon who are looking closely at any clubs finances who are being bloated by illegal steriods. So, I have the solution.
£8m a year Mr D?
Obnoxious and I’ll informed rant at the Geordies and underwhelming argument in favour of our renaming. Considering everytime your club frequents our fair city you fans proceed to vandalize shops and pi@@ in unoccupied doorways, You’ll understand why I and other Geordies will refrain from taking what you say as any kind of relevant opinion.
Lighten up. It’s banter. I have said a lot worse about my own kind. Anyway, did you read some of the shit youse lot spouted about us in the summer? Thank fuck youse built that wall and we can’t work out how to climb it.
I don’t care about your stadium I used your example and reaction (which I feel would be similar to a lot of our fans inbetween them shoplifting from Pri-mark and peeing in doorways) to try and stimulate debate on something we will face in the future.
Plus I have been on a night out in Newcastle and have the Geordie Shore Box Set. Glass houses mate.
So tell us? Apart from Ashley pulling a fast one if say another company came in and gave you £10m for the name would you still be complaining?
If there was a 2nd team in Newcastle, you’d be lucky to get 20k fans to a game… You’re not a big club, very far from it… Come back when you win something you oaf.
They are a big club in the Tyne and Wear district. 🙂
geordie steve,
i think you are confusing our fans with those of glasgow rangers mate.
as for us dominating in a small league where we are guaranteed europe every year…we would gladly give it up and move south to compete with those teams you mentioned. the only thing is all the english teams fear us being allowed to compete there as they are all pretty much aware that if it was to happen, within 5 or 6 seasons we would be dominating there too. 😉
sorry steve,
meant those teams geordie al mentioned.
Must admit Arnie Bhoy I have seen our support indulge in some unsavoury acts on our travels. It’s a society thing….
Sorry. You talking the pish. If we had bigotry, total domination of a small league allowing.Europe every year, and a slightly larger city plus loads of Irish popping over for the big games, wonder why. (Sectarian) we might be as great as you. But we as a club have to battle every year with man united arsenal Liverpool chelsea spurs man city (now) even the stoke wolves and sunderlands would stitch your lot up. Good.article.by.the way. Just some of your fans are ain’t living in the real.world.
True, all the clubs you mention would stitch us up but I disagree with the sectarian bit. That’s not rocking in the real world.
Nice use of the English language geordie al, you really have shown yourself to be a credit to your family and the school where you were taught. Your punctuation was exemplary and in particular your use of the full stop had me wishing you had written a longer post.
You were correct in saying ‘We might be as great as you’, because you, in fact, will never be as great as us. Your city is only famous for its slags/Jimmy Nail and a big bit of junk metal at the side of the road.
Enjoy your above par start to the season and relish in the knowledge that you can always stick on your dvd box set of auf wiedersehen pet, when your current form starts to slip.
I look forward to your next post geordie al, you cunning linguist indeed.
Newcastle are a standing joke… Your fans go on about the most passionate support in england, but you shout down Allardyce and scream for an untried manager that made a dick of himself and especially the support with both the results and the money he stole from you to get those results… Relegated by a rookie.
The majority of your fans are clearly fools that know nothing about football… By the way, the teams you mentioned would certainly push for the league up here, but that’s to be expected since they have 10 – 20 times the income of the biggest teams…. But the same English teams you seem to be looking down your nose at, weren’t in the championship recently because they were shite… Just another example of the Geordie arrogance when it comes to placing themselves in the scheme of thing…
Alan Shearer… Really?!
I think folk need to came down with slagging here. Newcastle is without a doubt the most passionate city for football in England. And like Glasgow they are obsessed with one club, only ours being different as despite others supporting another club they spend more time talking about the other (Celtic).
Like someone said earlier I doubt if it had been another company that had nothing to do with Ashley then there would be less fuss. The main gripe I would say for supporters is that they were told by a member of the board not long after the reshuffle that the stadium would not be renamed and hey presto they went back on their word.
This protest by them I feel isnt as much to do with the actual renaming but more to be making sure to make a stand now for any future changes,as they must be wondering whats next and if any other promises or traditions will be done away with.
Back to Celtic and to be honest as much as hate this whole modern sponsorship anything and evcerything crap our ground name doesnt really have to much meaning to I feel and its called about hald a dozen different names by fans anyway. I wouldnt have much gripe about leasing the name out on a 10 year contract or whatever.