[b said:
Quote[/b] (sufcintheprem @ Nov. 29 2004,21:22)]On the BBC there is an article with excerpts from Freddy Shepherd's comments on the future of professional football in England. How can someone in his position be so damn ignorant?
The long and the short of what he's said is that there is no future for 92 professional teams because the top flight teams "should not be concerned with those struggling at the lower end". Who does this guy think he is? How are Newcastle concerned with supporting us.
Surely he must be aware of the structural changes being enforced in the lower leagues with the eventual goal of putting clubs in a position where they should be able to turn a profit. Given the choice, clearly, I would much rather watch Southend than Newcastle and if Southend ever went out of business, I don't know what I would do.
That said, how realistic is it that our club would go out of business? Clearly, we have had a few close scrapes but never underestimate the power of supporters. Lower league football is very much a niche market with an almost friendly relationship between staff and fans in contrast to the Premier$hite draw of anonymity. If it came down to it, and this worries me, I couldn't say how much I would put in to the club to keep it going.
I can't believe such a significant figure in football fails to realis this.
As a Mackem (well, near enough - I'm actually a Woolyback), the comments that have eminated from the Geordies up in Newcastle over the years have provided us with endless entertainment:
"We'll love it when we beat them, just love it!!!" - Kevin Keegone about Man. Utd. as they through away a twelve point lead over them.
Freddy Shepherd and his sidekick Douglas Hall referred to Geordie lasses as "Newcastle Dogs" and Alan Shearer as a "Mary Poppins" in a coke and alcohol fuelled scene in front of a secret press camera when on the lash in Spain. They also said that the Geordies were so thick you could flog them anything, for example, the Newcastle strips were made for pennies but flogged for £40 a time. They resigned as directors but were back in a matter of months being the major shareholders.
Freddy Sheperd, does he learn - not likely, as it was leaked to press that he and Man. Utd.'s Martin Edwards were caught with a prostitute in Basle after a Man. Utd. Chapion's League match there. So you must be into dogs Freddy.
They also managed to **** off a substantial number of their fans when they started up their Platinum Club, a premium rate scheme for corporate spectators. 2,000 fans who'd sat in the same seats for years were shafted in the process and kicked out to another part of St. James with inferior views.
And of course there was the 'Geordie Nation' banner of Douglas's father Sir John Hall who spent a fortune trying to buy up a whole whack of other sports sides (Rugby [Newcastle Gosforth], and nicked from the Mackems an Ice Hockey Team [Durham] and a basketball team [Sunderland]) to create a Newcastle United Sporting Club. The whole thing made a spectacular loss with only the Rugby venture being viable. The rest was flogged off for the total sum of £1.
It is only a few years ago since Mr. Freddy Shepherd tried to buy out Hartlepool United to use as a feeder team for Newcastle United, saying in the process that it was a way of saving small clubs from financial extinction. So with his latest comment about the big teams not getting involved in propping up the smaller clubs, he's managed to shoot himself in the foot again...
...this the club with a revolving door on the manager's office. This the club where the dressing room is controlled by what has to be the most overrated squad in English football at this moment in time. And we've all seen what this squad get's up to in it's spare time in the tabloids (not mentioning certain hotels or pop stars).
This is the Newcastle United who's spending on players goes easily into 9 figures - what have they won for all their efforts, yes, sweet FA. Newcastle, big club my arse...
...Sunderland may be in the Championship, but at least we haven't Freddy Sheperd as managing director.
Ian (alias 'Beefy')