Have Newcastle United been good for the Championship?

Posted on March 1st, 2010 | 97 Comments |

Roll up, roll up...
Roll up, roll up...
One thing that has struck me about being relegated to the Championship is just how different the attendances are. I’m not talking about our home attendances, I don’t need to, as the average of nearly 43,000 speaks for itself and should improve as we get closer to the end of the season. Here, I’m more looking at away games and the effect Newcastle United could be having on the Championship.

We’ve seen the Toon Army takeover entire stands and more at away grounds this season. Cast your memories back to Barnsley where we had 7,000 away fans at Oakwell that day. You could say it is great business sense from the opposing teams chairmen, if they have spare seats then why not make sure they are sold and increase revenue for the club?

Of course we haven’t had it our own way at away grounds at all times. Sometimes we only get the bog standard away allocation which, of course, is the home clubs right. If they are able to sell these empty seats to their own fans then that has to be the priority but there are also a few teams that have a strong following themselves and so are unable to give us any more tickets such as Derby and Sheffield United.

We also hear the ‘Newcastle are a big club for this league’ statement on quite a regular basis, Watford’s Danny Graham being the latest to trot out that particular line, but this also resonates with the fans as they come to see if their team can topple the league leaders which, to their credit, has been done on several occasions this season.

If you have read down this far you’ll probably be thinking that this is a load of unsubstantiated nonsense and that I’m being very biased and have my black & white tinted glasses on, and that is true to a point. I obviously wouldn’t be writing this for a West Brom or Nottingham Forest or any other club for that matter. The fact is I have been crunching the numbers and in a ‘toonsy first’ it appears that the figures back me up.

Below are details of all the away league games we have played so far including the attendance against us, the clubs average attendance and the percentage change.

Room for improvement?
Room for improvement?...
As I said, the numbers actually stack up this time and you can see that quite a lot of teams have had over a 20% increase in attendance when the Toon come to town, more in some cases. Which leads me onto my point nicely.

Have Newcastle United been good for the Championship?

You have to say the answer is yes. From the away games I have gone to this season I’d put an average price on a ticket being £25 and we’ll use our most recent game against Watford as an example. You can see the attendance was boosted by near enough 3,000 for yesterday’s match which works out at around £75,000. Then on top that you have increased revenue inside the stadium, programs etc which all mounts up and means Watford are potentially £100,000 richer for yesterday’s game.

Now I’ll agree £100,000 is hardly a fortune, but it will pay for a loan player for a few weeks or cover some wages or just pay a healthy bonus for someone. In this economic climate that is having such a dramatic effect on football finances, and with situations at teams like Portsmouth, Chester City, Crystal Palace among many others sitting fresh in the memory, surely any extra cash for any club is a godsend and is greatly appreciated.

In summary, I’m happy other teams are raking it in off the back of us as long as they oblige by not beating us!

NUFCBlog Author: toonsy toonsy has written 643 articles on this blog.

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Comment on this post

97 Responses

  1. i think it a great post i enjoyed reading it and easy to read i have often thought about it, nice to see it in black&white no pun intended

  3. It will be interesting to see the same table next season with the affect that the mackems have on opposition attendances and whether they can beat our percentages :-)

  4. The championship will miss us not coming to there grounds next season thank god.

  6. Still Derby’s biggest ‘midweek’ home attendance so probably slightly misleading. And the Swansea game was a ridiculous time for kick-off and on Sky. Probably put some Mags off because it was either leave at stupid ‘o’ clock or fork out for digs.

    Excuses, excuses maybe but relevant ones?…

  7. We’ve help raise the profile of the CCC this season but it’s time to leave these minnows to it and concentrate on regaining our place in the the top 4 and winning the champions league.

  9. I know this have nothing to do wid this topic but remember glen roder ya have u notice all his transfer targets are now world class players eg bafatimi gomis Lyon musa sissoco tolouse hangland fulham berbatov united Diego Capel sivilia

  10. I have to say Henock I always like Roeder , thiught he done a very good job , Hughton reminds me of him expect Roeder seemed more happy to use the youngsters tho our injuries around the time didnt help

  11. Johno Toon it was the injuries that cost Roeder his job , we have had a masssive injury count for years now but that season under Roeder it just hit new hights . I agree with you though , Hughton seems to have the same style of managment as Roeder . Just wish he would either play the likes of Kadar more or loan them out to get the games they need . That said maybe Kadar will get a couple of games now Van Aanholt has gone back to Chelsea . Rather that than rushing the Bull back too soon

  12. nice to see young lualua getting rave reports,hope they dont sell him,only saw him twice like,and was a bit raw,but is just a kid,this loan should hopefully bring him on

  13. What is it the mancs say? “You’ve only come to see United!” Seems apt here. :D

  14. Why don’t the press do articles like this? Oh, yes – because they get paid more to make up utter garbage than to do any research and present anything resembling truth.

    Thank gawd for sites like this, eh.

    I love the idea of putting a financial figure against this impact. By my reckoning, based on Toonsy’s figures, we’re bringing something like two million quid to these other teams this season, and more to the businesses around them. Well, the pubs anyway.

    There, you see? We’re a charitable lot, us.

  15. Agree on Kaz – one to keep. Watched him a couple of times and the raw talent just needs a more mature head to make an exceptional player.

  16. yes WHUMPIE,reminds me a bit of wright phillips but a bit quicker,even he lets you down sometimes with final ball seems like capello is a bit iffy with him

  17. Yes I hope we have Toonsy, all the fans I have spoken to have been looking forward to their visit to SJP and Newcastle; however, I think it has been good for us too. There is a refreshing honesty in the Fizzy Pop which I have enjoyed and will miss if we get promotion. Hopefully as fans we have also learned to appreciate what we had lost.

    Another plus factor is that in the main we are no longer ‘front page’ news for all the wrong reasons.

  18. All these people complimenting Lua Lua must be getting him mixed up with his brother ! from what i have seen of him playing he’s yet another headless chicken with plenty pace but he doesn’t have a clue when he has the ball.
    There is one young player on the books that has a good chance to get to the very top of his profession and that’s Tamas Kadar.

  19. Wayne: go watch the reserves; you won’t have a clue from reading press. You can’t judge a kid until you’ve seen him play his peers; unless you have a Rooney on your hands all you’ll see of a teenager in 1st team games is a kid out of his depth; no real indication of potential, just his limitations.

    Kadar is the muttsicles, though – quite right. Brilliant against Plymouth.

    Mags09 – spot on. I will miss the CCC if we go up. No overpaid, diving primadonnas to get in the way of football. (Ok, one or two in black and white, but they’re playing well between dives…)

  20. w.c people are saying he is RAW,some kids muture quicker than others,everyone on here says that kader is a fine young player you must not read this blog much or you would know that give the kid a chance

  21. I agree with a lot of comments, it’s been nice spending time with fan, real fans who don’t have a bee in their collective bonnets and actually enkoy some proper banter.

    Apart from Forest fns, they can suck my shiny disco balls :lol:

  22. wayne carr keep taking the pills, and you need to stop playing with it or you will go blind

  23. icedog i have to put up with a lot of shit and dont get much time to use the bog so i will take your word for that.

  24. Toonsy I think we have been good for the CCC, and I think in many ways it has been good for us. I will miss it as most of the times it is what real football is supposed to be ;)

  25. w.c.sorry you have a lot of shit to put up with,ime sure its not on this blog,most are good lads like to debate,maybe a forceful at times but thats ok,try it m8,we have a good laugh,and its nice to hear others point of view we all have!

  26. Quids in for the others, reboot for us.

    Difficult to argue that it hasn’t been good for all concerned.
    Let’s just keep going, onwards & upwards.

    Howay the lads.

  27. Very good article, well done.
    I think we certainly have breathed new life into the Coca Cola Championship but then again, that’s just the biased Magpie coming out in me :D

  36. They’re probably full of fear that a Geordie is ganna tak ’em down. Ooops!
    No win in 14 is it?
    Relagation form that is.

  38. glad to see warnock has took over at Q.P.R.they were in freefall and play one of our rivals on sat,might just gee them up a bit

  39. Has he?
    Could be the making of qpr then.
    He does get the job done like.
    They need some serious stability down there.
    Palace are in the shit then,now.

  41. He’s been there before hasn’t he?
    Maybe he’ll take Shearer with him as coach?
    :)

  44. What’s the odds on that?

    Think i’ll put 1p on it.
    I’ll be minted if it comes up.
    :)

  45. yes dowie was there before fell out with jordan and left cannot understand how anybody could fall out with jordan:)

  49. Off the subject but KEITH HARRIS is a bit of a scumbag!!!
    Here is a quote from Sky Sports from yesterdays news.

    However, Keith Harris, who has been involved with the group considering a potential takeover, recently called on supporters to start boycotting matches in an attempt to force the Glazers’ hand.

    Big ask
    Harris said last week: “Turning up to games 10 minutes late and things like that just doesn’t do the job.

    “The green and gold protest is fabulous, a symbolic and significant message to the owners. It is like the white handkerchiefs in Spain. But that won’t force the Glazers to sell to us.

    “However, if enough people – and I am talking about thousands – stop turning up to matches and do not renew their tickets, then that does it. The supporters have to hurt the Glazers in their pockets.

    “They have to be prepared to take the pain of not watching their club in order to achieve a long-term gain. Supporters have to be galvanised to say, ‘We will not come. We will not buy programmes and merchandise’.

    “It’s a big ask, it’s a risk, but that is what must happen. The Glazers are thick-skinned and seem impervious to protest. They will not be impervious to enormous drops in their revenue.

    “I would not talk about this if I didn’t have full confidence in our ability to raise the money to do this. I never talk publicly unless I have confidence. Getting the money together is the easy bit.

    “But we can’t make an offer until the Glazers are placed in a position where they are forced to consider it.”

    Can he not be taken to court for this?He is telling people publicly to keep away from a business and to stop spending money there.
    What do you think of him?

  50. Is this the same Keith Harris who tried to flog us?

    Someone should tell him that these things don’t work. And tell the Manure fans – better the devil you know.

  51. Is Smith banned for 2 games now after 10 yellow cards ?

    I was reading on the BBC stats page that he is now on 10 bookings.

  52. The plastic man-ure fans will just support someone else when the sh1t hits the fan, not many of them are loyal supporters or have connections with Manchester. I work with a bloke from that well known Manchester estate called Russia, and he asked the arsenal fans I work with (from Pakistan, Zimbabwe and Albania respectively) how they can support a club that hasn’t won anything for 5 years! Without success most of them would switch to another club, I hope the glazers run them into the ground!

  53. Interesting article this morning, we are 20th in the list due to revenues, crowds and attraction to to tv audiences.

    The 20 richest football clubs as listed by accountancy firm Deloitte:

    1 Real Madrid, Spain
    2 Barcelona, Spain
    3 Manchester United, England
    4 Bayern Munich, Germany
    5 Arsenal, England
    6 Chelsea, England
    7 Liverpool, England
    8 Juventus, Italy
    9t Inter Milan, Italy
    9t AC Milan, Italy
    11 Hamburg, Germany
    12 AS Roma, Italy
    13 Lyon, France
    14 Marseille, France
    15 Tottenham, England
    16 Schalke, Germany
    17 Werder Bremen, Germany
    18 Borussia Dortmund, Germany
    19 Manchester City, England
    20 Newcastle, England

  54. It would be interesting to see who the richest clubs in europe are if you took into account, debts and automatically remove those with huge overdrafts.

  55. Aye Bigbadbob, I was just about to post the table and you’re up and about before me.

    Here’s the Guardian article on clubs’ turnover and it just shows the potential we’ve got.

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/mar/02/manchester-united-barcelona-deloitte-rich-list

    Lying 20th richest, just below Citeh and we’re in the Championship! In fairness though, the figure’s probably reflect last [Prem] season but even thne, revenues were limited by lack of Euro action!

    All we need is to get up, stabalise the finances and move forward – one step at a time though. No more mortgaging up to the hilt for the likes of Owen, who I see’s lined up for the departure lounge at his current club!

  58. i was just watching ssn and they were talking about world cup goalkeepers and i find it strange how some keepers like robinson and kirkland were talked about and even scott carson but not a word on harper?

  59. always been the same CHARLIE,north-east players never get a fair crack of the whip,ime used to it,to be honest i dont give a shit,i its there loss

  60. Charlie – odd isn’t it? Same on 5 Live last night – not a peep about him. Leagueist, the lot of ’em. Hart is a great talent, but so young – I really want a mature head like Harper between the sticks when we’ve got people like Ronaldo coming at us.

    Some people can’t get their heads past where we’re playing right now. The fact that Harper has proved his worth against CL sides for over a decade doesn’t seem to enter into it.

  62. Icedog, Whumpie I think it’s about leaguism… if there is such a thing.

    Have you noticed that Saturday’s Guardian and the Indie appear to be so focused on the Prem that I wonder whether anything else exists? Unless it’s negative news, they never preview CCL games – what’s going on?

    Newcastle United sitting nicely on top of the pile and what do we see? Nowt!

  63. i would of thought harper would be perfect for the england squad because he is mature doesnt make many mistakes and capello could start with green or hart etc but if they mess up harper could easily fill the void

  64. Lesh,
    they’re papers that ‘don’t believe in football’ mate.
    So they just pay lip service to it, so as not to alienate their football supporter readers. By ‘doing’ the prem league & england.
    So yea, the CCC ‘doesn’t’ exist to them.
    It’s prem, not ‘football’.

  65. well lads ime pleased the press dont write about the toon (unless its crap)even local rags just copy the main papers or repeat the same storeys over and over in dif formats,not just footy but north-east in general,owt north of watford is taboo,guess we will just have to get on with it BUT ONE DAY i hope

  66. GREAT HEADING on this one on the BBC :-)

    WAYNE BRIDGE’S WORLD CUP DREAM RUINED BY JOHN TERRY’S PENIS
    25-02-10
    MANCHESTER City defender Wayne Bridge today admitted his World Cup dream had been destroyed by the penis of John Terry.

    Messi dream ruined by small, hyperactive penisBridge issued a statement through his lawyers, ruling himself out of England selection, insisting his place in the squad had been made untenable by his former Chelsea team-mate’s desire to ejaculate every five minutes.

    He said: “If you’d asked me three years ago if I thought I would have to retire from international football and see my dream of playing in the World Cup torn from my grasp because of the pudgy little dick of some hair-gel wearing ponce then I would probably have said ‘no’.”

    The statement continued: “Today I think back on all those times we stood next to each other in the showers at Stamford Bridge and I would inadvertently catch sight of John obsessively playing with himself like some grubby, demented pervert.

    “Not once did it occur to me that such a scrawny, wrinkled inch and a half of flesh would one day prevent me from swapping jerseys with Lionel Messi.”

    He added: “As a professional footballer you always worry that your dreams could be ruined by a cruciate ligament injury or possibly even a nasty groin strain.

    “But if a groin is going to have a negative impact on your career then it should, at least, be your own.”

    The full-back said he wished the squad the best of luck in South Africa except for Terry who he hopes is eaten alive by a dirty great crocodile, starting with his tiny cock.

  68. bigbadbob says:
    March 2, 2010 at 8:06 am

    “Interesting article this morning, we are 20th in the list due to revenues, crowds and attraction to to tv audiences.”

    Aye Bob. We almost certainly would have been higher still if it wasn’t for the strength of the euro against the pound too.

  69. LESH…..
    Very good man.
    It is so true that it`s hard not to feel sick in your mouth when you see Man Utd lifting a cup trophy :-)

    Would love to see us beat em in a final in the future.
    That would be fine payback for many years of heart break.

  70. Worky, wonder when the clubs accounts are published and then we will see the truth on the financial situation instead of relying on the drip feed of pro Ashley snippets to the press?
    Good editorial yesterday on Truefaith.com where they assert quite rightly that instead of us fans being told to be grateful, the club should thank their lucky stars that they have the most loyal fanbase in the country subsidising all their balls ups.
    Man U fans are up in arms after it was revealed that the Glaziers are taking a fortune out of the club despite massive debts, whos to say our bastard in chief isnt doing the same?

  71. “club should thank their lucky stars that they have the most loyal fanbase in the country subsidising all their balls ups”

    how about…..
    we should be grateful we have a rich owner who can pump money into a leaking ship that spunks away 80% of its profits on wages?

    “Good editorial yesterday on Truefaith.com”
    Oxymoron

    “Man U fans are up in arms after it was revealed that the Glaziers are taking a fortune out of the club despite massive debts,whos to say our bastard in chief isnt doing the same?”
    the law

    When the clubs accounts are published they will show two things mainly, we are still in a massive amount of debt which is now however being managed properly and secondly, we are being kept afloat by a man who is called a fat cockney bastard at every match.
    Nothing sensational im afraid.

  73. Mick says:
    March 2, 2010 at 6:32 pm

    When the clubs accounts are published they will show two things mainly, we are still in a massive amount of debt which is now however being managed properly and secondly, we are being kept afloat by a man who is called a fat cockney bastard at every match.
    Nothing sensational im afraid…..

    – didn’t the right hand man of the man who is called the fat cockney bastard at every match say – we are debt free – ? i’m pretty sure he did & dont see any reason why he should tell yet another porky , best we just wait for those accounts incase it was just another little pork pie that slipped out unintentionally.

  76. toonsy – i haven’t just come up the tyne in a biscuit tin i know we’re in debt – £100 mil that fat boy want’s on top of the £100 mil he wants for the club.

    icedog – you seen owt of batty lately ? :)

  77. naw roy getting worried act,no way the daft sod would try to go over there,i hope?

  78. *NEWS FLASH* 15 cans of stella for £7.99 @ sainsburys….it’s cheaper than pop…..fill yer shopping baskets & enjoy….

    ….am off for a few more boxes.

  80. icedog over where ?

    – stell @ 1980 prices to watch 1980’s standard football.

    see you later icedog , i’m off to walk my mutt.

  81. roy c.he was worried about his youngin,his best mate was killed last week over there,hope both of them are alreet

  82. evening Lads did anyone see C Calderwood interview it was refreshing to read that he says

    “Actually it’s good in a way that Newcastle supporters have a history of being critical of their team on bad days because it keeps us all on our toes.”

    and there was me thinking that I wasn’t a good supporter as I was criticising some of the poor performances from some off our players, and there was some trying to say that I should just back the players and get behind the team. :lol:

  83. Roy – I know what you meant. What I mean is how does Lameass define debt? Does he define it as not owing the banks anything – hence debt free?

    Or does he define it as we owe absolutely zilch to anyone? I think I can guess which option it would be!

  84. trying to say thats a get out clause big dave :) naw yous pays your cash your allowed to winge if you think your right everyone has a opin

  87. Yeah Toonsy I have never agreed with booing or abusing the players while they are playing, I think that is the line you shouldn’t cross.
    Icedog did you go on to Eds blog before it closed a while back

  88. thanks toonsy love the site like some great lads on bit debate,bit joke,being on goverment gift gives me more time,go to toon game some away even,over to malta to see some mates play what more could a man want,done my time at working 24/7,mind the later it gets my spelling gets worse also played a bit like as well

    (j/dees like)

  89. Reet im off to get some munchies my stomach thinks my throat has been sliced, catch you’s lata lads. oh and Icedog never worry about the spelling most normal folks know what your saying mate and you get use to it anyway when you talk to Batty :lol:

  90. cheers big dave,when you had somebody spelling for you for 20odd yrs it gans out your heed,love the batty touch :)

  91. Anyone watching Brazil/Ireland? Best came on not long ago. They’re losing 2-0 like so he hasnt had a chance to do much. Looked like he might have got in on a half chance but he didnt quite make it to the ball quick enough.

  92. I ross ireland were unlucky 1st half should have scored,but brazil have stepped it up 2nd half making mugs of them now like

  93. Men against boys really. Brazil always looked like they had more in the tank so to speak, even though Ireland were unlucky in scoring the first goal for them.

  94. hope the lads dont stay layed back in first half like brazil did,we would come unstuck on sat,always wary of so called easy games,barnsley have a lad from malta coming into form bogdanovic,think ch will gee them up like

  95. icedog-gotta be honest mate, i’d be chuffed if the lads played 90 minutes that resembled anything near Brazil on satday, haha. I think last week will give them confidence though. Finally got an away win, nowt to say we cant keep it going. Hoping for the best obviously

  96. thats my point ross we are no brazil,so make sure we start well,think we will be ok
    devon mag good report cheers m8

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