Newcastle Supporters Trust: A lot to swallow
I’m generally in favour of the aims of the Newcastle United Supporters Trust (NUST). I’m a Newcastle fan, and I think it would be great for fans of the club to own a stake in the club (or even to fully own the club, if possible); I think it would be brilliant for there to be an elected fans’ representative on the board, and I’m well behind the idea of the club being more open and more accountable to the fans.
In fact, I think this would be a good thing for every football club. Putting rivalries aside for a moment, in general fans have a lot more in common with each other than they do with the directors of their respective clubs. Basically, fans are treated as a cash cow for the club to milk by whatever revenue stream necessary (TV, gate money, merchandise) in order to ensure that the club makes a profit to pay large sums of money to players, directors and shareholders.
Okay, it doesn’t always work that way, but who wouldn’t prefer to see their club run by the fans, for the fans?
And that’s why, despite being a little sceptical that they would be able to raise the amounts of money required, I’ve been firmly behind NUST up to now. Until what I can only see as misinformation coming out of their mouths at the expense of Mike Ashley.
I’m not a fan of Mike Ashley: I don’t see that he has the best interests of the club at heart, and I’m sure he’ll sell up as soon as he finds someone who will meet his asking price. But that’s precisely why this information coming from NUST looks completely bonkers. If I give them the benefit of the doubt and say that it’s not deliberate misinformation, then it looks like stupidity… and frankly neither of them look particularly good for someone who thinks that they would be able to run the club better and more openly.
What they said was this:
sources have told us that Mr Ashley is making up to £7m profit out of our club every monthNUST: Supporter Survey
Note that they’ve chosen to include the quote (they could easily have skipped it if they felt it was nonsense) — so either they attach credence to the sources or at very least they want the reader to — and they’ve associated it with a survey suggesting that the fans should buy the club from him.
If Mike Ashley was making £84 million pounds per year out of the club, do you really think he’d have tried to sell it only six months ago for around £100 million? There may be better businessmen out there, but I can’t imagine he’d want to sell an asset for only a tiny smidge more than it makes in profit per year.
In the Premiership (when we were making considerably more in TV money), the club had a turnover of £100 million, with £73 million on wages. That year, the club made a loss of £34 million (source: The Guardian, Jan 2009). This means that the other outgoings of the club were around £60 million.
Now, even if you were to assume that all club outgoings were down by two-thirds (a frankly ridiculous scenario), and that income was exactly the same (again, nonsense), then Newcastle would still not be making £7 million per month.
By allowing this sort of information to be associated with their cause without any justification (fine, if they’ve got figures to back up this level of profit, but it seems extraordinary so I’m not going to accept it on their say-so), NUST have made exactly the same false assumption about the credulity of Newcastle supporters that many others have made in the past — and they’ve pretty much destroyed their credibility in the process.
Of course, if they can back up this claim, then I’ll apologise…
But I’m more inclined to believe what I read from the independent NUFC Finances site, which looked into published finances:
A year ago the comment on this site was “In summary what Shepherd left was a club that was losing over £30m a year, had debts of £70m, had no assets they could borrow more money against, and had a set of players on long, lucrative contracts. Ashley can get rid of the debt but the £30m annual losses with over paid players will take longer to sort out.”NUFC Finances
NUST have a lot of explaining to do if they want to regain any credibility. And may I suggest that one of the first things they do — unless, as I said, they can back up that quote — is to apologise to Mike Ashley. He might have done many things wrong, but without him the club would be in a much bigger financial hole.
Jack's Mam says:
January 17th, 2010 at 9:30 pm
It is with a heavy heart that I must tell you that sadly Jack passed away suddenly and unexpectedly last night. His family are devastated and unable to comprehend the loss of such a loved,caring,and sincere person. The blog world will miss him too.
cheap ed hardy outlet says:
May 26th, 2010 at 5:08 am
I think your blog is very good, very poetic, also very talented, hope you can pay attention to my blog, thank you for coming.
1234test.com says:
August 30th, 2011 at 11:07 pm
How To Change Your Business…
With many skills you can be good at at many more jobs and make less mistakes while doing it….
garment sales worldwide says:
September 10th, 2011 at 4:19 am
Great website…
[...]we like to honor many other internet sites on the web, even if they aren’t linked to us, by linking to them. Under are some webpages worth checking out[...]……
penny auction news says:
September 20th, 2011 at 12:14 pm
What’s Mandatory When Choosing A Deal…
[...]If you are conscious when working at your projects you will do more than if you have no ideas..[...]…
Symptoms Of Low Vitamin D says:
September 22nd, 2011 at 4:33 pm
Symptoms Of Low Vitamin D…
check below, are some totally unrelated websites to ours, however, they are most trustworthy sources that we use…
oil photos says:
October 2nd, 2011 at 8:06 pm
Started Discussion on Reviews…
…We all know that skills come pretty handy when doing something new and even more it if is important to us.[...]…
Photos oil painting says:
October 4th, 2011 at 11:05 am
How ToLive Happily Blog…
[...]When you are aware when working at your projects you can do a lot more than if you are completely without ideas….
penny auctions watch says:
October 31st, 2011 at 8:14 pm
Recommended websites…
Amazing blog! Thanks for the great contribution with this post….
sisal casino download says:
November 3rd, 2011 at 9:38 am
This article gives the light in which we can observe the reality. this is very nice one and gives in-depth information. thanks for this nice article
gioco digitale casino venezia says:
November 3rd, 2011 at 9:38 am
Thanks for taking the time to discuss this, I feel strongly about it and love learning more on this topic. If possible, as you gain expertise, would you mind updating your blog with more information? It is extremely helpful for me.
dining solutions direct says:
November 8th, 2011 at 10:33 pm
Where To Find Dining Solutions Direct…
…If you have skills and experience, these are are very important to make you happy at all things in life….
Sunset Cove Koh Phangan says:
December 12th, 2011 at 9:33 pm
How To Find Sunset Cove…
[...]I see you recognize a lot about what you are writing about. Interesting study. I got some intriguing concepts from this[...]…
Latin Women says:
December 18th, 2011 at 8:22 pm
How To Find Good Places to Meet Ladies…
[...]Thank you for posting this interesting details. It’s excellent to understand a number of people still care about this[...]…
http://gheadshot.net says:
December 28th, 2011 at 12:44 pm
Find More Advice From Expert Affilaites…
[...]Writing about a subject like this is pretty difficult. You can find out much more about this topic[...]…
challenge coins says:
January 2nd, 2012 at 6:38 pm
There Are Many Hobbies You Can Enjoy…
[...]It’s wonderful that people nevertheless know a lot about thing like that. I’ve just had yet another strategy pop into my mind[...]…
Atlanta Roofing says:
January 11th, 2012 at 12:17 am
Get More Info About Atlanta Roofing…
[...]Awesome data that I’ve been seeking for some time! It really is great to know many people still care about this[...]…
Lakeview fitness says:
January 14th, 2012 at 8:22 am
I’ve already bookmarked this article and will definitely refer this article
to all my close friends and colleagues. Thanks for posting!
new perfumes says:
February 4th, 2012 at 1:00 am
Make Yourself More Attractive…
…When you have knowledge, skills and experience these are are crucial to make you successful in any area of life.[...]…
Tour Packages India says:
February 8th, 2012 at 12:24 am
India Tour Packages…
[...]Awesome data that I’ve been looking for for some time! I’ll check your website inside the long term.[...]…
India Tour says:
February 17th, 2012 at 5:49 pm
India Travel Online Reservations…
[...]Are you certainly positive this can be the right data. I head anything else. I’ve just had one more concept pop into my mind[...]…
ghost hunt says:
March 30th, 2012 at 11:15 pm
Real Ghost Busters…
[...]I see you understand a great deal about what you’re writing about. Interesting read. I’ve just had a different concept pop into my mind[...]…
Shop shoes says:
April 11th, 2012 at 11:07 pm
Shoes That Will Make You Look Great In spring…
[...]I see you understand a great deal about what you’re writing about. Interesting read. I’ve just had a different concept pop into my mind[...]…
Stock Market says:
June 10th, 2012 at 12:14 pm
A nice little read here.
I’m a supporter of Newcastle myself so I can definitely relate.
Thanks!
smslan says:
June 15th, 2012 at 3:00 am
Mike Ashley is doing £84 million pounds per year out of the club i really think he’d have tried to sell it only six months ago for around £100 million? There may be better businessmen, but I can’t imagine he’d want to sell an asset for only a tiny smidge more than it makes in profit per year.
Affordable Health Insurance In Missouri says:
June 25th, 2012 at 1:13 pm
Car Insurance – Is It Worth It…
[...]I’m not specific which you are completely proper, but I can agree with almost all of it. This undoubtedly contains a sizable quantity of persons agreeing with.[...]…
Alexander Mcqueen Boots says:
September 1st, 2012 at 5:57 pm
Don’t know where they are? They sit in the South Pacific, where the U.S. seeks to strengthen its presence in the face of China’s growing power in the region. WASHINGTON — Officials on one of Earth’s most isolated archipelagoes are borrowing four-wheel-drive vehicles from private owners for the motorcade. The impending visit, according to one website, will be the biggest thing since a New Zealand
Alex says:
September 3rd, 2012 at 12:03 am
Whvoeer wrote this, you know how to make a good article.
21 news says:
September 4th, 2012 at 8:39 am
Sliding palm oil prices forced earnings to slide at Anglo-Eastern Plantations (AEP) – even though the Indonesian producer sold more palm oil in the period than during last year’s first half.
Aphrodisiaque says:
December 24th, 2012 at 4:46 pm
Hi, just stopped here to say: Merry Christmas!
Mick says:
January 10th, 2013 at 10:28 am
Newcastle are a great bunch of fans!
Always shouting with there tops off lol.
Mick
Web developer says:
February 19th, 2013 at 4:03 am
I see, you know, a lot of what you write. Interesting reading. I just had a different concept pop into my head.
http://www.hitechito.com