The end of an era @ St James’ Park

toonsy

Before and after...
Interesting to see today that Mike Ashley has sent the heavies round to St James’ Park armed with crowbars to rip down any remaining signage that pointed towards well over 100 years of footballing and local history.

You really couldn’t get any more stereotypical if you tried. Perhaps they should have had capes and a swag bag, or be dressed like the Hamburgler for added effect. It fits, as they’ve effectively robbed the ground of everything it stood for.

Understandably many people are angry with this move. Seemingly not intent with “officially” changing the name, we now have signs to reflect the new name hanging on the outside of the Gallowgate and a great big empty space on the wall where St James’ Park was once emblazoned proud and true.

You have to ask why? To me it’s pretty simple. Once dubbed as a showcase to potential new sponsors I think it’s fair to say that these latest moves have gone well beyond that. There is a reason why naming rights have been toyed with for three years, and there is a reason why nobody has decided to touch them. Because it just isn’t worth the poor reception it will get!

Suffice to say I would imagine that the St James’ Park will be replaced by yet more Sports Direct signage and will probably be dressed up as some form of “showcase” in the event that interested companies can’t envisage their logo in the place of St James’ Park.

Unlike the majority, I’m not actually dead set against the renaming of St James’ Park. To me it will always be St James’ Park and I suspect that will be the case with many fans also. The occasional opposing fan may have a laugh about but so what?

I do think however it could have been done more, well, professionally. For a start there are the reasons behind it. Showcase my backside! I think it’s fairly apparent that it will stay emblazoned with the charver crest of his tat shop (which coincidentally I’ve still never set foot inside of) so why not man up and say it’s going to stay like that?

Also, and this is my main complaint, is the justification for selling naming rights was to bring in funds to the club. We don’t know if it is although I have a suspicion it isn’t. I might be wrong though. Maybe it’s some elaborate way of circumventing our debt and paying it off? Again I have a suspicion it isn’t, but it’s the not knowing that will add fuel to the fire.

So what is the answer? Roll with it? Ignore it? Get angry about it? Well Mike Ashley has shown that he won’t listen to the concerns of fans so it’s pointless protesting or doing anything like that, plus I’m not sure I’d like the team to feel any negative effect that such protests would create. They need our support, and they deserve it after this season.

That leaves rolling with it, which just won’t happen for a lot of people, or ignoring it, which just won’t happen for a lot of people.

How about a whip round instead?

About toonsy

A lifelong Newcastle fan and current webmaster of this very 'blog who has the sole aim of creating a place by Newcastle United fans, for Newcastle United fans.

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191 thoughts on “The end of an era @ St James’ Park”

  2. ICEDOG, I just don’t see the point of hating a man who has saved this club from the danger of dropping like a stone.
    I don’t see how fans can sit on a few lies and treat them as if it’s a real knife through their hearts.
    Each to their own though but I don;t share those views.
    As for growing up, I’ll never grow up in mind.
    You have told lies icedog, right or wrong?

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  3. @BD

    well I’m not going to get too excited by it all until next season, when I’m sure we’ll have some kind of info regarding the name change..

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  5. The fans *might* be a bit more understanding if Flabber the Hutt said that NUFC would receive, say, an extra £20m a year from SportsDirect to spend on the squad while the sponsorship is in place.
    In our heart of hearts we know that probably isn’t the case.

    He’s whoring us out to help him flog his cheap tat and we aren’t even likely to see any benefit.
    That’s what REALLY sticks in the throat.

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  7. @wolfie

    We all tell fibs from time to time. but in a position of trust a lie like this won’t do him any credit – so why bother.

    tbh I hate liars, always have. If you can’t speak the truth, don’t speak..

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  9. Mark @ 78 im not having a go at you lad, but thats all that ever happens it was all said when the SD.com@SJP aye we should have a sponsor by next yr, then the next yr was aye will wait till next, same as players we needed this season aye the right one wernt available will wait till next window, Everything is put off then put off again mate.

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  10. If he was giving us loads of money he would be telling us about it daily to buy our silence.

    Remember the promises after Carroll was sold?

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  11. nobodies mention this point yet– does the council not have a say in this matter?? what i mean is, surely he needs “planning permision” to erect large obsence signs on a building???? anyone know any different???

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  12. WOLFIE have told a lie in a court of law kna have i told a lie to fifty plus thou fans kna,have i changed the name of the history of my club to fill my pockets kna when i statated i would not,ime starting to think your a school-boy and will buy the first 19pound that comes your way

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  14. @Big Dave

    I know youre not m8 but I’d rather wait until some info is received. Granted, i might wait a long time 🙂 but I’d rather do that..

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  16. Pootle @ 80 he is using us the same way he uses the we kids in his sweat shops making his cheap tat, he doesn’t give a flying fuk about anyone except his own

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  17. I read on here what a great business man MA is, and how **** FFS is. MA is so good he screwed the scouse getting them to pay over the odds for Carrol. Who was the best business man when MA paid over the odds for NUFC, didnt even do due diligence!!! I bet FFS was pissing himself laffing when he found a mug businessman like MA to give him all that money for his shares. Who was the good businessman in that deal, and who is suffering the consequences, the supporters??

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  18. TS9 you may have a point m8 i know you cannot put any sign up in my small village without planning owner or not,but bet hes sussed some way round it

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  21. @toonsoldier

    The council have stated they won’t acknowledge the name SDA. They refuse to change any council signs which have SJP on.

    I cant see how they would have any say. It’s like a shop changing its name and signage. As long as it not grotesque I wouldn’t have thought they could do anything a out it.

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  22. @Big Dave

    cheap tat!!! I bought some lovely lonsdale sweatpants for £8 last week and some puma trainers for £24, got them on now actually lol

    the ladies at the gym love them.. 👿

    didnt FFS buy cheap tat for a £5er and sell them to his fellow Geordies..

    Unfortunatlely, thats the way the world revolves..

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  23. @B1GSTEVE & Troy

    oh give owa man, need need to get personal. He’s entitled to his views which arent too far from the truth, how do you know we wont be told in the future what the score is 🙄

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  24. DAVE@95 sneaky way to carm me doon 😉 kna hes getting the scrap of the signs at sjp nee thoughts when moneys aboot 😀

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  26. Ice and TS9 he got planning for them a while back sure they had a petition going.

    B1GSTEVE now now he is our saviour and spiritual leader 😉

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  27. Ice @ 99 I was thinking about your blood pressure because Batts will need you to help carry the lead and don’t forget you’s don’t have Richie to help now so you will have to do his share 😆

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  28. Football owners are a sordid lot. Show me an honest billionaire and I’ll show you my pet unicorn.

    It doesn’t make it right, but some on here act like ashley’s the only one. Our MD is a casino operator for crying out loud

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  30. @Mark

    I’m being serious. His views are that extreme, it’s the type of trick Stardust would do. 😯

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  31. I agree with Witters…

    I for one think the timing of this has been spot on again, during another break in play while the players have 2 weeks off.

    We all knew this was coming, they were never going to change the name of the ground then leave a dirty great SJP sign up were they?!

    It will be renamed in the Summer, I’m convinced of that, especially if we make Europe. With all the sponsors of the Olympics and SJP being used I honestly believe a big firm will take it on.

    Big Dave and I have had this conversation on the last thread and I said then that I don’t agree with it and I personally don’t think the money it generates buys our history and tradition.
    By the same token, we all saw the article about NUFC dropping down the finacial pecking order.
    As I said in the last thread, I don’t believe this has been done to **** anyone off and if it wasn’t so lucrative and a guaranteed source of income I don’t believe it would ever be considered.

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  33. If you want our owner, whomever it may be, to be different than all the others you’ll be waiting a long time is my point…

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  34. @Big Dave

    lol I look dead in his **** 😆

    The thing is with his tat, made cheap, sold cheap.

    I could wear Polo or Le Coste or Armani for the gym, al made in China. its all cheap tat just priced differently..

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  35. Even if the club is making a profit from all the sports direct eyesores (which I doubt NUFC are) how would taking a small sign down make any difference? Does he set out to irritate us? And he also seems to do all of this when we don’t have a game for a while, FA cup this weekend, it was the international break when the stadium name was ‘changed’. I just wish he would talk to us and give us an explanation.

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  36. Sharpy I don’t agree that it’s a guaranteed source of income, but I believe it is a guaranteed source of advertisment for SD.
    As I said why would he buy the club with the sole aim to globally market SD then pass up that global marketing privilege

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  37. Dissapoints me that so many fans accept this but then I am not surprised. He has pissed all over us on several occasions and it’s not even a debate to most of us whether he has the clubs (which I include the fans in) best interests at heart. He is a cretin who is only out for himself.

    Anyone (looking squarely at Wolfe here) who says he saved us as we would have dropped like a stone astound me. How the hell do you know what would have happened to the club if he hadn’t taken over? Who’s to say someone else wouldn’t have come in? You just don’t know so stop saying he saved us from inevitable doom.

    If you predicted inevitable doom BASED ON PAST EVENTS and how things were going…maybe try to understand why we are concerned about this regime based on past experiences and bare faced lies from them

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  39. its obvious the st james sign was going to come down after he changed the name, oh well its still st james park to me 😆 along as he buys luuk de jong i don’t give a ****.

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  40. JL – yes, he just does it to irritate us. He’s a **** and doesn’t like us. Proven time and time again.

    Which is fine as most of us don’t like him and rightly so. Some of us on the other hand think a man who holds us in complete contempt is our messiah

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  41. Pet unicorn 😆

    Can’t believe we both have one. I couldn’t afford a real one so I bought a my little pony and stuck a cocktail stick on its head. And this was modified as children may be reading 😛

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  42. Mark @ 109 I bet you do look dead in that chav sh1te 😆 😆

    JL thats one of the things that pisses me off with them they go about everything with a sledgehammer with no thought or concern about anyone.

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  43. Bigsteve, its not the only time hes bought a company without due diligence and regretted it, either.
    Gerald Earner was a successful business man but he ****** his company over with some misjudged behaviour.
    Fred Goodwin was successful.

    The stupidity of blind obediance to somebodies reputation is something I find staggering.

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  48. Witters who has said he hasn’t done some things right, everyone that I know on here have gave him credit for the good that he has done.
    I just don’t see why that argument keeps getting threw in. so because we are doing well we should jump on the Jabba wagon and let him take us to where ever he wants 😕

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  54. Funny days blogging this like, went from “there but for the grace goes Ashley” to “the bastards sold us up the river and destroyed our history”

    Reckon that covers both camps then 😆

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  56. BTW Troy The Restoration Man is on channel 4 not BBC 2, but if you stick channel 4 on, straight after the restoration man is Big Fat Gyspy Wedding were you will get to see the latest SD range 😉 😆

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  64. Witters are you telling us that when ever you walk into st James’ it doesn’t bother you at all to see the TatShop logo plastered all over?
    It doesn’t bother you that he’s done this without SportsDirect paying NUFC for the privilege?

    I’m slightly astonished that a Geordie isn’t bothered at all, to be honest.

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  67. Does anyone remember a poster by the name of Dragoner? Back on Ed’s blog. I know he got kicked out or something but what was the whole story behind that?

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  69. Ice 👿 fuking brill
    Joe Dragoner ? are you sure that was the name ? I can remember someone with dragon in the name but cant remember atm. there was a spyro aswell but dont know what it is

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  72. What’s up with this Cisse business? Why can’t African nations follow the international breaks like everyone else?

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