NUST have accepted an invitation from the Glasgow Rangers Supporters Trust (GRST) to join them in a members football kickabout of our own at the Ibrox Training Complex prior to the friendly match on August 7th followed by hospitality at their own watering hole, the Wee Rangers Club.

The Training complex is situated adjacent to the main stand at Ibrox and the Wee Rangers Club can be located just next to the stadium at the end given over to away supporters and in the words of GRST "is a fantastic venue for pre and post match drinks , they serve food and kids are welcome and downstairs they have a Rangers /party dj on entertaining the crowds".

So if anyone fancies an early start and pre big game kickabout, then get in touch via the thread on the members forum and record your interest in taking part.

 

Thank you, Louis Wigston, NUST member.

Last Saturday Newcastle United travelled to Cumbria for a low profile friendly against Carlisle, only to make the headlines for all the wrong reasons in certain parts of the media. After canvassing a number of fans who were at the match, it is clear that there were a number of Newcastle fans who took part in bad taste chants relating to Raoul Moat. This was reported with glee by certain sections of the media but what was almost universally omitted was that this involved only a very small minority of supporters who were instantly shouted down by the majority.

We believe that there is no group of fans who take greater pride in being ambassadors for both their Club and City than those of Newcastle United. NUST condemns the actions of the few but also believes that under the banner of fair reporting the real story should have been how the vast majority shouted down the actions of that very small minority.

Experience tells us that we’ll be waiting a long time for this kind of biased reporting to be retracted but it needs to be put on record the truth of what actually happened.

NUST hope that our Football Club will spring to the defence of its loyal travelling supporters and help uphold the good name of Newcastle United.

Of the 11 players who started out on the field for Spain’s winning World Cup team, 10 of them play for a co-operative. Co-operatives UK with Supporters Direct have just launched a report alongside a first UK version in English of the Barcelona statutes – with the support and encouragement of Barca’s outgoing President Joan LaPorta. Barcelona has 170,000 members and is a remarkable case of democratic innovation – drawing members jury-style by lot for its Delegate Assemblies. If you want to change the Board in Barcelona, you vote for it, as 53,000 did in the elections last month. Not all Spanish clubs are organised on anything like this model and there is if anything more of a common tradition of ownership by fans in Germany where the fans understand that clubs have an inherent community value that should be protected. In England, the fact that they are owned privately means that the people who run them are unaccountable to the community for their actions. The NUST is intent on exploring alternative models of club ownership where fans would own a significant stake giving them a right to say but in the short-term will continue to encourage Newcastle United to take proper account of the interests of its supporters and the community it serves.

Co-operatives UK: Spanish formula launched for UK football clubs

Link to the Report: Barça - Fan ownership and the future of football

Link to the FC Barcelona Statutes in English

VeneziaUNITED, the newly formed supporters' trust of FC Unione Venezia was officially launched on 30 June; with the evening being declared an overwhelming success. Over 200 fans from a variety of backgrounds made effective use of their democratic rights by approving the trusts manifesto, its constitution, and voting in the members of the first board of directors.

The trust aims to set up Italy's first community club, FC Unione Venezia, with its community playing the key role in long-term planning and development of the club.

Franco Vianello Moro, President of the trust, said: "Experience shows that modern football is heading towards a dangerous direction away from the local community. We believe that the active participation of supporters in the capital of their club is a guarantee for a sustainable future for our club. This is what Venice needs. Its social fabric is at risk of disintegration and needs a flag that knows how to represent the history, charm, cultural heritage, social complexity and the uniqueness of its territory. There is no alternative."