Sports Direct: Only using ‘unused’ advertising space.Inspired by members of the NUFC board saying Sports Direct only takes up unused advertising space at SJP, as well as Newcastle United’s lousy commercial revenue figures, I decided to do a little number crunching and research.
Referring to figures from other clubs using Deloitte’s “Annual Review of Football Finance” and all the other sources I could find, as well as looking at other revenue streams for the club using the club’s last published accounts. I estimate that as per Newcastle United’s last published accounts (for the 2011-12 season), the club is only getting just over half the commercial revenue it should be.
According to my research, if Newcastle United were an average Premier League club with around 27% of the club’s revenue coming from commercial sources such as shirt sales and sponsorship, we should be getting around £25 million per season in total when we are actually only getting only a paltry £13.8 million. Having written that, with the third highest average attendances in the Premier League, some might say that these figures could be skewed somewhat as Newcastle United might be expected to get a higher percentage than normal from matchday revenue. However, they were exactly the same as the average for the whole Premier League, around £21.5 million of £93.3 million, or 23% of total turnover. (more…)
Basically, it is my thoughts on the following exchange between two Newcastle United fans’ representatives (Phil Patterson and Chris Forster) with unnamed representatives of the club at the recent ‘Fans’ Forum’ meeting at St James’ Park.
Cisse – Back in the goals against Leeds.My latest blog at metro.co.uk is now up!
Now entitled “Left-field selection Sammy Ameobi helps Papiss Cisse break his Newcastle scoring duck,” it orignally had the same title as this piece until a sub-editor got his or her hands on it. Thankfully though, they seem to have left the story intact this time, apart from taking my correct spelling of ‘Yoan Gouffran’ and changing it to ‘Yoann Gouffran’ like another French player, Yoann Gourcuff.
Enough of my petty griping though, the piece itself takes a look at the return of Papiss Cisse to the score sheet in Wednesday evening’s League Cup game against Leeds United. It also takes a look at the role of two of the best players in that particular game, Sammy Ameobi and Yoan Gouffran. In particular I look at how, for a change, Alan Pardew actually had a left footed player, Ameobi the younger, playing on the left hand side rather than a right footer who would constantly cut in. This resulted in a superb left footed cross by the big lad for Cisse’s goal, with Ameobi also playing a role in Gouffran’s spectacular second goal in what was an excellent performance overall on the wing from the youngster. (more…)
The fans are revolting, but Will they be effective this time?Newcastle United fans are revolting!
However, writing as someone who used to be an protester and fundraiser myself in the past, not over Newcastle United but over causes such as civil liberties, racism and the like, from what I have read and seen of Newcastle United fans’ planned protests so far, the chances of success don’t seem to be that great at all. This isn’t because the protestors don’t have a case, more that the protagonists don’t seem to be protesters, quite simply, they don’t know how to do it properly. They’re more like brickies and plumbers who are blundering around in a field they don’t understand, a bit like Mike Ashley trying to run a large Premier League football club really!
Please don’t misunderstand, this is not to be unecessarily disparaging at all, it’s just an appeal to realism, a plea for the protestors to consult with people who know what they are doing this time before they go blundering in once again with their size 10s and misspelled bedsheets. In a David and Goliath struggle, you don’t just need all the help you can get, you need the right help to avoid falling at the first few hurdles. (more…)
Pardew: Persisting with phony Cabaye narrative.In the latest chapter in the Yohan Cabaye saga, Alan Pardew has been speaking further on what he calls “the situation” with the French midfielder.
Despite a constant campaign of innuendo against the French midfielder, and ably assisted by his friends in the local media, he still steadfastly refuses to mention whether the player actually went on strike for the first two games of the season, instead preferring to hide behind vague terms like “the situation.”
Whether Cabaye went on strike or not, the idea, as stated by Pardew himself that he has been “protecting” the player from the savagery of we fans if he reveals the real facts is obviously ludicrous, not to mention an insult to we fans. He knew perfectly well when he said that he was protecting Cabaye from being savaged by primitive fans that most of us would only assume one thing, that Cabaye was refusing to play. If he really wanted to protect him, he would have kept his mouth firmly shut (If that is possible for Pardew?). It was either very stupid or very devious, and I’m pretty sure it wasn’t the former. We are being played again, just as we have been so many times in the past. Meanwhile, being almost certainly bound by a gagging clause in his contract, Cabaye probably can’t speak for himself. (more…)
