Archive for tag: Mark Jensen.

NUST set to benefit from new Labour rule?

April 2nd, 2010 | 96 Comments |

Labour giving the NUST a helping hand?
Labour giving the NUST a helping hand?
We haven’t been hearing much about the Newcastle United Supporters Trust (NUST) recently, maybe because at this moment in time they don’t have an angle to attack the current ownership of Newcastle United from.

With things going well on the pitch and remaining quiet off it, any negative comments could possibly backfire on them as they would then be viewed as the ones who are unsettling things. Despite that though, it appears that their desire to have at least a fan representation at board room level could move a step closer under new proposals by the Labour party. The proposed Labour manifesto would force clubs into handing 25% of the shares over to the fans based on the German model, although the current German model requires 51% of any club to be fan owned. This comes amidst a financial deck of cards that faces the very real risk of falling over as clubs run up unsustainable debts under the cover of a lack of regulation within the Premier League. (more…)


In NUST, we must Trust?

November 27th, 2009 | 57 Comments |

Heroes or villains?
Heroes or villains?
Gathering my thoughts, my notes and my open mind, I ordered a pint of Deuchars last night and settled myself against the bar of The Strawberry at approximately 7.25pm, ready to listen to what the committee representatives of the Newcastle United Supporter’s Trust (NUST), had to say for themselves.

I was under no illusions that with a number of pressing questions sitting snugly in my pocket, that despite my ambivalence (bordering on enthusiasm), I would be seen to be playing Devil’s Advocate nonetheless. However, clearly they had been asked the same questions on a few occasions and have consider the same issues themselves. They answered my questions fairly candidly, although they could not digress on certain key aspects which will no doubt frustrate some people. Unfortunately, these same details are the ones which have led people to distrust the motives of the individuals within the Trust.

Having stood and listened to the commitee members, namely Colin Whittle of True Faith and a solicitor by profession, Mark Jensen of The Mag, Bill (unfortunately not sure of his full name or background) acting as compere. And I spoke at length to Tony Stephenson, who does a lot of the online stuff for NUST (I missed out on Ando doing his ex-player turn, and hope I didn’t put him off with my incessant chat to Ton).

This is what I gathered from the roadshow: (more…)


Are you the next Mike Ashley?

November 11th, 2009 | 121 Comments |

Fan ownership campaign starts
Fan ownership campaign starts
The Newcastle United Supporters Trust (NUST) has launched its ‘Yes We Can’ campaign, which aims to raise enough funds to finance a fan buy out of the club.

The NUST’s plan, which has been dubbed ‘Barcelona on the Tyne’ by the financial community, aims to democratise the club and ensure that the ‘current situation at Newcastle United does not repeat itself’ (NUST’s words).

Fans will be able to invest in the club via a number of ‘financial opportunities’ and the money will be held in Escrow by local solicitors to provide proof of funds to Mike Ashley.

Fan ownership is of course popular on the continent, perhaps most notably at places like Barcelona and Real Madrid. At Barcelona fans pay £139/year to acquire ‘socio status’ and for that you get the right to buy the best season tickets and take part in the club’s decision-making process. There are about 172,000 ‘socios’ whose fees raise approximately £24m/year before selling any season tickets, television rights, merchandise etc. (more…)