The Roar
The Roar

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The battle for the Toon has just begun

Newcastle United face a relegation fight in the second half of the Premier League season.
Expert
19th April, 2015
18

As Harry Kane broke away and slotted home his 30th goal of the season it was as if a fire alarm had sounded. St James’ Park emptied faster than pre-game pints at The Strawberry.

Outside the iconic stadium, home to the passionately supported Newcastle United Football Club, there was a boycott going on, one which had been threatening to happen for too long. Better late than never, I guess.

For those fans that were inside the stadium it was a wonder why they had even bothered. Throughout the 90 minutes they sat in silence just as they have done for about the past five years. Suffering in silence and turning up because they do not know any better.

#BoycottSpurs was the call from AshleyOut.com leading up to the match, and a large crowd gathered to carry out the pre-game and post-game protests. Newcastle fans fed up with Mike Ashley’s ownership of the club have finally had enough and are fighting back with their feet.

The official figure on Sunday afternoon for Newcastle’s 3-1 loss at the hands of Tottenham – the club’s sixth successive league defeat – was about 47,000. Down from the usual 52,000, that was a fair chunk taken away from Ashley’s pockets. It was, however, still the highest attendance in the Premier League for the weekend.

From viewing the Sky Sports footage the figure was clearly skewed. Premier League crowd figures always include season tickets no matter if the holders attend or not, and it is likely quite a few of the protesters were club members.

The lowest crowd St James’ has seen since upgrading to more than 50,000 seats was 41,053 in 2010 during a midweek game. The Spurs match on Sunday would have gone close.

Yet it should have been more. Unfortunately, in the city of Newcastle, Toon fans are too stuck in their ways. They support the club through poor results, relegations and bad management no matter how dire the circumstances.

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At one time there was a sense of romanticism about such loyalty. Now, however, it is tinged with sadness. When these fans attend St James’ Park they think of their families, their friends, their childhood. They hold good memories within its confines, both sad and joyful. It is always hard to break-up and say goodbye, even if it is for a good cause.

Getting rid of Ashley is indeed a good cause, although one-off boycotts are likely nothing more than a symbolic gesture.

The first time I attended St James’ Park was in 2004. The Toon played out a 0-0 draw with Arsenal and despite the lack of goals it still remains one of the most electrifying atmospheres I have witnessed, competing alongside some of Europe’s most famous arenas and the Socceroos qualifying for the 2006 World Cup.

In April last year I returned for the first time since 2011 and was shocked by what I experienced. Newcastle lost their fifth consecutive match against Swansea, which came amid a spell between December 2013 and October 2014 where the club managed just three victories.

Yet it was not the performance on the pitch that stood out – though it was extremely woeful. It was the resignation among the fans. They just did not seem to care. Even the full-time boos were tired and disinterested. The heart has been ripped from the club, the soul long gone.

Family and friends have stopped attending. Paying £40 for a ticket where the football is drab and the stands are full of zombies is not a good time. The once rocking Gallowgate end is now a debilitating sight when compared to past years.

Newcastle fans do not ask for much, despite the common theme that they are overly expectant when it comes to success. A trophy would be nice, but really all that is pined for is attacking, attractive football, a few local lads coming through the youth teams, defeating Sunderland and a decent cup run here and there. A few wins against the bigger clubs is also welcome.

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None of the above is even an option anymore.

The club runs at a profit but is still heavily in debt to its owner, Ashley. He has turned Newcastle United into a business, it is no longer a football club.

The only ambition is to finish in the top ten of the Premier League and a cup run is seen as a distraction. Three wins in the FA Cup in 14 attempts over the last eight years, including losses to the likes of Stevenage, Brighton and Leicester, is a good representation of the club’s attitude to bringing any kind of joy to its long suffering supporters.

Local and national media organisations, such as The Chronicle, The Journal and The Telegraph, being banned from the stadium shows the dictatorial nature of the current regime. The departure of Kevin Keegan still riles, as does the replacement of Chris Hughton with Alan Pardew, and the renaming of St James’ Park to S***** D***** Arena will never be forgotten.

The stadium’s traditional title is now back, yet the hoardings of advertising for Ashley’s retailing business, which he does not pay for, is just as suffocating as the dribble on the field.

Towards the backend of 2014 the Newcastle fans began voicing their discontent. Yet it was misdirected at Pardew as fans called for his head. The real culprit has always been Ashley, as I wrote in January.

Now the club is managerless, winless in six games and frighteningly close to a second relegation in seven years. The Tyne-Wear Derby has not been won since 2011 and the last five meetings have resulted in defeat.

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Life as a Newcastle supporter has never been easy but it has somehow still been enjoyable.

Whether that was watching Alan Shearer raise that right arm in a match between two sides battling within mid-table ignominy, seeing Sir Bobby Robson make a triple substitution to turn around a 2-0 deficit, or watching Laurent Robert do this, excitement has never been too far away.

Now, however, that excitement is nowhere to be seen and showing no signs of a return.

The Spurs away fans were almost mocking Toon supporters on Sunday while celebrating Kane’s strike as Newcastle shirts filed out of St James’ Park all around them. Not that they would have instantly realised it.

“He’s one of our own, he’s one of our own, Harry Kane, he’s one of our own,” they sang.

Newcastle fans no longer have anything that is their own. This is not their club anymore. It is a skeleton of a way of life that died a while ago. Unfortunately, it is common theme running through modern day football, but at least the support is starting to unite in discontent.

It may be an ultimately losing battle, but it is one worth fighting.

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