Malcolm Shiels, a committee member for the Newcastle United Supporters Trust , urged fans, the media and supporters ’ groups to unite in telling Mike Ashley that his bid to sell the ground’s naming rights was pointless. He insisted that the stadium had been known as St James’s Park for more than 100 years and always would be.
He said: “As a fan, as an individual and as a committee member I totally concur with the survey’s findings that the club should not be seeking sponsors for the ground.
“It’s linked with the city, you can use all the words you want: the tradition, history, it’s part of the fabric of the city.
“We’ve had people contacting us from around the world to tell us that.
“I think people are right to be sceptical about Ashley’s promises, too. Everyone has experienced what Ashley has done here.”
Following Ashley’s announcement to put the club on the market and put the naming rights up for sale, the NUST has launched a petition.
And last night Steve Wraith, editor of the Players Inc fanzine, said fans needed to be unified.
He said: “The situation we are in is a disgrace. I personally wondered whether the club was ever on the market in the first place, or whether it was just a clever announcement. I don’t think he ever had any intention of selling the club.
“But that has brought the supporters together. We will always call St James’ Park by the name it has had for the last 100 years.
“The support for the team will never disappear and we will always turn up at the ground. We won’t get on the back of the players because we all have a common goal.
“We all want to see them playing Premier League football but we face a challenge because I can’t see Ashley putting any of his cash into frontline transfers. We just need to hope that there are no suspensions or injuries and we might just be in with a shot.”
