Articles 
Following the absurd decision to rearrange the Plymouth game to a Monday night resulting in inconveniencing many fans and leaving them out of pocket, the follwing letter has been sent to Sky and The Football League (and NUFC to show that we are standing with them). We will post any reply that is received.
Dear Sir,
Re; Rearrangement of Plymouth vs. Newcastle United fixture 19/04/10
I have been contacted by a number of the travelling supporters of Newcastle United and members of the Newcastle United Supporters Trust who wish to express their disappointment and dismay at the decision to move the forthcoming Plymouth vs. Newcastle United Coca Cola Championship fixture from Saturday 17/04/10 to Monday 19/04/10.
It would seem that, yet again, the decision has been made to move a fixture purely for television without the due consideration for the travelling supporters who wish to attend the game. The relatively late change has inconvenienced a significant number of supporters of Newcastle United who have already made transport and/or accommodation arrangements, many on a non-refundable basis.
This fixture involves one of the longest journeys between clubs and to move it to a Monday night shows utter and total disregard to those who wish to travel to support their team. Not only has there already been loss incurred in cancelling or moving arrangements, to attend this fixture many fans will require unplanned time off work or face a much more difficult, long and tiring journey home through the night.
Whilst we appreciate the need to provide televised fixtures as part of contractual obligations, we as supporters increasingly feel taken for granted and generally ran roughshod over when it comes to insensitive decisions like this. To date Newcastle United have had a total of 18 fixtures rearranged for television this season. How many fans that make the journey to St James’s Park, make the journey to opposition venues or simply have to plan their work and home life to attend matches have been inconvenienced or left out of pocket by these changes? The rearrangement of the Plymouth fixture feels like a final slap in the face for our supporters, just as asking Sunderland fans to travel to Portsmouth on a Tuesday night must have felt for them, for example
Newcastle United is known for taking a strong following wherever they go; the Supporters Trust itself boasts over 30,000 members. However, to take this support for granted and generally assume that fans everywhere will just continue to put up with this is short sighted in the extreme. More than ever supporter representation is in the spotlight. Not just from clubs themselves but within the game as a whole and I would urge all who are involved in the decision making processes that are taken in selecting which games should be moved to fulfil television contracts to genuinely listen to and take into consideration the fans who have to make journeys such as this before acting to simply satisfy the needs of television.
Yours in football
Neil Mitchell
Interim Chair, Newcastle United Supporters Trust
