Like everyone else - every now and then I go through my Facebook memories. This was today's doozy - originally posted on 28th August 2009. 11 years ago. It's simultaneously like going back in time and being stuck just here. Some of the names and details are different - but nothing has changed. Not really.
As they sing in The Rocky Horror Picture Show:

​Let's Do The Timewarp Again

FROM NUFC.COM

​Club criticism: 
Chaos theory in practice  

From the Mirror, the thoughts of Brian McNally - a local journalist of long-standing whom we've not always been  in agreement with. This time though he's on the money:
The bare-faced cheek of Newcastle United managing director Derek Llambias and his boss Mike Ashley regularly attracts unflattering comparisons on Tyneside with Peckham brothers Del Boy and Rodney.

More front than Brighton is an expression coined by the Toon Army long before the Tyneside comedy double act's little wager that ended with Llambias cavorting around St. James' Park in his birthday suit during a private party.

Once they were branded as "Cockney Mafia"- geographically inaccurate I should point out - by protesting Geordie fans in the wake of Kevin Keegan's departure in September 2008 it seemed their days on Tyneside were decidedly numbered.

But, incredibly, almost a year on from Keegan's departure two of the most despised football men in British football still own and run Newcastle United.

That, despite, twice putting the club up for sale, isolating Geordie legends Keegan and Alan Shearer, selling a raft of star players including fans' hero Shay Given, making hundreds of staff redundant, and, in the process, suffering scathing and unrelenting criticism over the course of the most depressing 12 months in Newcastle's 117-year history.

Survival in this hostile climate is possibly the most noteworthy feat of their troubled time at St. James' Park.
A play lampooning the Ashley-Llambias axis "You Couldn't Make It Up" perfectly captured the mood of farcical chaos that surrounds the two men.

In trying to sell the club they have issued more deadlines than a 24-hour rolling news channel and broken every one of them. They have made public statements that don't even stand up to the flimsiest of examinations. 

Take the strange case of the Shearer snub. At the end of last season Llambias said: "We want him to be the manager 110%," while Ashley insisted that making Shearer interim manager was his "best decision." They then completely ignored both Shearer and their previous statements to leave the club in limbo.

Then there is the mystery of the disappearing buyers. Ashley and co are still unable to find a purchaser for the club, despite Llambias publicly claiming in July that "more than two" bidders had matched the £100 million asking price. So if Llambias' claim was correct seven weeks ago they there had at least three buyers-where are they now?

And why is he still asking £100m after selling nearly £25m worth of stock in the shape of Oba Martins, Sebastien Bassong, Damien Duff and Habib Beye?

We now find that Newcastle have been talking to Tyneside businessman Barry Moat, Graham Roberts Fanbase 410 outfit and Geoff Sheard, whose attempts to buy Sheffield Wednesday came to naught last season, none of whom had the necessary funds ready available.

A proud club has been made a laughing stock by a clueless, spineless administration that seems incapable of getting the simplest decision right or providing fans with even the most basic level of communication.

It saddens me that a club with such passionate and loyal supporters is run with an ineptitude that would be embarrassing even at Sunday League level. The Toon army deserve far better.

Even Ashley has admitted to a catalogue of basic errors that painfully illustrate that both he and Llambias don't have a clue how to run a professional football club. Ashley may know how to pile his sports goods high and sell them cheaply, while Llambias can spin a roulette wheel and run a casino.

But the horrendous mess they have made of "running" Newcastle United over the last two years has plummeted the club into an unparallelled decline.

Never in all my time in football I have never encountered a club so chaotically and pathetically run as Ashley's Newcastle United. Is it any wonder that potential buyers question a club that is put up for sale by email, where the owner swigs beer in the stands and challenges his MD to streak around an empty stadium.

The only streak the Toon Army are dreaming of now, apart from a winning one, is the sight of a pair of rather portly backsides disappearing over the Tyne Bridge never to be seen again in Geordieland. It can't happen soon enough for me and 50,000 disenchanted Geordies.

Newcastle West End Foodbank provides emergency food for people who are struggling to make ends meet and unable to afford food for themselves or their families.  
We work with over 60 Referral Agencies who refer people to the foodbank for support in their time of need.  Our Referral Partners include:
Citizens Advice
Social Services
Refugee Organisations
Homeless Charities
Newcastle City Council
Schools
Religious Centres
GP’s
Housing Associations
 
The social impact of Coronavirus has resulted in more people using our services and we have responded by opening additional centres across the city to prevent people going hungry.  We now distribute food in the following areas:
Benwell
West Road
Byker
Heaton
Lemington
Newbiggin Hall
 
Over the course of 12 months to 31st March 2021 we issued over 19,000 food parcels (an average of 1600 parcels per month) which fed approximately 53,000 people.  In part the reason for this increase is the result of Covid 19 on vulnerable people. Our response to demands across the City is the support we provided to other community groups in Walker, Byker and Heaton.  
 
From April 2020 to March 2021, 53,000 people benefited from the food in those parcels.  This is an increase of 62% (up 20,000 – on the previous year @33,000).
 
This number includes 21,500 children – under the age of 16 which was an increase of 62% on the previous year.
 
To make these food parcels required 307 tonnes of food in the past 12 months– up by 50% on 2019/2020.
 
On average public food donations at supermarkets or to our centres make up 46% of the food we issue.  NWEFB has to raise funds and donations to make up the shortfall in food.  
 
Lockdown meant it was not possible to generate donations at NUFC match-day collections. 
 
Free School Meals in the holidays and the £20 uplift in Universal Credit have helped low income families cope with the economic impact of the pandemic.  Both FSM and the UC uplift are temporary measures which government plan to stop in September 2021.  Furlough is also due to be stopped. This could lead to yet another increase in people using the foodbank.
 
When these measures are withdrawn, many families could fall into deeper financial hardship and poverty. 
 
Research shows that people need to use food banks for many reasons, the main ones being low-income – benefit changes – benefit delays – or can’t meet household bills. 
 
A Foodbank is a last resort for people who are struggling to make ends meet and feed their families. 
 
Newcastle West End Foodbank works closely with its service users to address the challenges of living on little or no money, or without a regular income. 
 
 
Newcastle City Council Information

• Newcastle has pockets of relative poverty and food poverty is symptomatic of wider poverty, with high levels of unemployment and child poverty, key statistics include: · Newcastle residents live in the 23rd (out of 317) most deprived local authority area in the UK (IoD, 2019) 
• In 2020, 31.8% of pupils are entitled to and claiming Free School Meals, compared to the national average of 17.3% (NCC, 2020)
• In Newcastle 20,626 children live in poverty, equivalent to 45% in Central Newcastle, 33% in North Newcastle and 38% in East Newcastle (End Child Poverty, 2019/20) 

 

​They say that the return to normality doesn’t seem real yet. That the 18 months of Covid which has left thousands dead, millions ill, and all of us affected is still too recent and too raw. Yet Newcastle United kick off against West Ham at 2pm on 15th August, with all fans allowed back in. It seems familiar, but remote.

Maybe things will feel real when Wilson scores that winner at the Gallowgate and we remember that collective roar of unity and triumph. Maybe we’ll remember that football is so wonderful because it allows us to forget the daily worries of life? 

I know, because we are all fans, that people don’t seem positive about this new season. Ticket sales are down, people have changed habits of lifetimes, football isn’t relevant when faced with family members suffering and dying. The “takeover”, the lack of signings, the lack of confidence in management and ownership has become a recurring depressing theme. Most seriously though, we have lost confidence in ourselves. We fear the future, we argue in places least suitable for nuance and understanding, like social media….we lack unity and we lose spirit with squabbling and people are sickened.

But I’ll tell you what is real and sickening. A father in Benwell coming home from work with just enough for the rent but not enough for food; a mother in Byker who can’t afford nappies for her baby, people going through redundancy who don’t have savings being forced to wait 5 weeks for benefits, a cut in October of £20 to Universal Credit when heating, clothing and footwear are needed to keep out the Tyneside winter chill…that stuff is real. Really real.

So we need you all to show your united response against adversity which has always characterised the people of the North-East. We need the support and goodwill of the NUFC family, players, management, media, and especially fans. We need your help.

We need the 10p you find in the sofa ‘cos that’ll buy a tin of beans, we need the tins and toiletries you can spare, we need the pasta sauce and the rice pudding, we need the fivers that’ll feed a family for a week. We need the cheery waves and greetings when we see you, we need your wonderful smiles and goodwill. We need you all and we need you now. I don’t care if you’re going into the match or not, we still need you. I don’t care what you think of players, manager, owner, media, politics, economics, philosophy or theology, we still need you. We need you united. 

We’ll be outside St. James Park, starting with the Norwich friendly and then the West Ham match and all home matches this season.

We’ll be having a public meeting in September where we’ll discuss how to end Foodbank dependence – The Right to Food, Living Income and the West End Foodbank’s Pathways Programme.

​As soon as we don’t need to do this we’ll tell you because Foodbanks should be a memory by now. But they’re not. They’re here and people, your friends and neighbours need them.
We need you now. United.
Howay the Lads, and Lasses!
NUFC Fans Foodbank.

Dear Mr Johnson,
 
Transparency and accountability in football
NUFC Arbitration
Levelling up
 
We hope this letter finds you well and in good spirits.
We appreciate that as Prime Minister you’re busy and have got a lot on at the minute, however we would hope that investment in the Northeast may be something that you could assist us with. 
It wasn’t long ago that you were comparing parts of the Premier League to a cartel, and we think most Newcastle United (NUFC) fans would agree that the behaviour adopted by the owners of some clubs has fallen short of their, and our, expectations as fans and lovers of the beautiful game.
Interesting that the Premier League’s (PL) owners and directors’ tests aren’t often mentioned in the same way as the formation of the European Super League (ESL) but clearly, if they are designed to protect clubs and their fans, then they should protect the league and its interests. In the way that the footballing fanbase did over the ESL and we all appreciated your swift and forthright intervention on this matter. It would have killed competition in football and as we as a country rally from defeat with a view to coming back stronger it is the Northeast which is calling on your assistance.
As we’re sure you are aware, NUFC is currently going through an arbitration with the PL in relation to a proposed takeover. The Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia is one of the consortium members who have indicated significant investment in the Northeast should this takeover go through. 
Significant investment in line with the governments Build Back Better and levelling up agendas which could reinvigorate the Northeast economy and positively impact millions of people in the region.
What you may not know is that the PL told our supporters Trust they aspired to be more transparent with fans. Our club has asked the PL for the arbitration to be transparent and in public and yet the PL have not responded. They haven’t responded to recent letters from MPs, Oliver Dowden’s call in his Twitter video or the Independent Football Ombudsman’s latest concerns that NUFC fans’ calls for transparency are wholly legitimate. 
In the absence of a real regulatory body, we have written to MPs, the FA and have contributed to Tracey Crouch’s fan-led review.
And now Mr Prime Minister we are asking for your support to intervene and compel the Premier League to act in a transparent way, for the benefit of Newcastle United, their fans and for football as a whole. 
Kind regards, 
 
T: @ProtestNUFC
E: nufctransparencyprotest@gmail.com



​

​On Friday a letter was handed in at the Premier League Headquarters in Paddington for the attention of it's Chief Executive Richard Masters. Here is what it said.

Dear Mr Masters,
 
Transparency and accountability in football – NUFC Arbitration
 
We hope this letter finds you well.
We’re not expecting a response, however given that you responded to Amnesty International and Hatice Cengiz in relation to a proposed takeover of Newcastle United Football Club (NUFC), we’d hope that you’d find time to respond to the fans. Especially now after your continued and in fact deafening silence over the last 15 months.
This vacuum has led to an industry of rumour, clickbait and guesswork which does not serve the fanbase well. You purport to care about mental health even though you know your continued silence does not help the mental health of fans who just want to know what’s happening, those asking should I renew my season ticket, and those who just find the whole saga draining.
NUFC fans are a diverse and knowledgeable fan base.  We’re dreamers and yearn for the days of exciting football to grace St James’ Park once again and we hope that may come as soon as August irrespective of who is in the boardroom or owners’ box. 
Another thing about NUFC fans is that we are realists. We understand the need for commercial confidence. We know there are things that we shouldn’t know. We appreciate it. We understand that the same way we understand that investment in a club invariably leads to regional investment, something we know that the prospective owners have indicated a desire to do.
We find it odd that in your discussion with NUFC Trust representatives you agreed the need to be more transparent with fans and yet that transparency hasn’t been forthcoming. 
It’s probably worth noting that as well as the support from the North-eastern MPs who have asked for transparency, some of them have written to you, more than once! There were also over 50 MPs outside of the region who demanded transparency and again you have failed to deliver. 
Indeed, we hope this letter elicits a response from you that neither Newcastle’s Club Statement, Oliver Dowden’s Twitter message, Amanda Staveley’s interview or the Independent Football Ombudsman’s concerns that Newcastle fans have made a legitimate call for transparency however we’re realists and know where we sit in the football pyramid… 
The attempted formation of the European Super League (ESL), and the need for some owners to avoid competition to focus on finances by putting revenue ahead of fans is a dangerous precedent that we collectively as a fanbase, UNITED to stop in its tracks. It’s only a matter of time before that tipping point of fans realise that all decisions relating to their club should be made in a transparent way and call on the government for the creation of a regulator and indeed, we have fed this into the current review led by Tracey Crouch.
Key questions NUFC fans would like answers to (dreamers):
-          Will the PL agree to the transparency around arbitration as requested by the club and supported by the prospective owners and the fans?
-          Why has this takeover taken longer than any other?
-          What is / has been the reason for the delay(s)?
-          Have the owners and directors’ tests (ODT) commenced?
-          Has there been inconsistency in application in relation to this takeover when compared to others?
-          What would happen if Mike Ashley just sold the club, given that the clubs’ forming the ESL weren’t severely punished?
-          If the ODT are designed to protect clubs, how can a takeover proceed when it is financed through increasing club debt?
-          Are the ODT fit for purpose?
But appreciate you may only be able to answer (realists):
-          When does the arbitration hearing take place?
-          How long will the arbitration process last?
-          When are we likely to hear the outcome of arbitration?
-          Will we be made aware of the outcome of the arbitration?
We hope for a response(dreamers), we don’t expect one (realists).
 
Kind regards,

No matter where our homes are, when we travel away with Newcastle United, we always cheer when we see the Tyne Bridge upon our return. It’s our symbol of home and comfort. 

Unfortunately, our bridge is knackered, nearly a century old (construction started 96 years ago). Unpainted, rusty, unlit and neglected, we see our local councils and MP’s appealing to the government for help; for the £18m that would fix it, a sum of money so trivial that it’s less than the fine the Big 6 paid for their disgraceful betrayal of every football fan in the country. 

We all know that St. James Park is neglected too, and the training ground, and the infrastructure that a successful sporting institution requires to flourish. 

We know what being marginalised and ignored feels like.

London only wants Newcastle when they want something from us. Our men for the army, our coal and industrial production and now, when that’s all gone…we find they won’t even fix the Tyne Bridge. “Born in Blyth. Made in the Royal Navy. Ignored by London”. They take what little we have and tell us it’s for our own good.
That’s why this takeover is so vital. Because it will deliver inward investment to our City and Region and give us a bit of hope.

Now that coal, shipbuilding and Brown Ale are gone, the last thing that we have is Newcastle United. We all know the effect that a successful and engaged team has on the whole region. People cheer up, communities engage, more post-graduate students arrive, more university research grants are given, more jobs are created, people don’t have to leave home for work, our people thrive in a positive atmosphere where they feel valued.

For the first time in decades we have an opportunity to change our destiny, to challenge the decline we’ve suffered for so long, to show what a wonderful, welcoming, successful city we can be; where people are happy, safe and successful. Confident in a future where our young people might stay at home and the grandkids be round the corner instead of hundreds of miles away.

But they don’t want you to have that investment; they want it for themselves. 

It’s ok for Man U. to get Saudi investment, Spurs to be bought, racing, boxing and F1….but not us? It’s ok for oligarchs and hedge funds and sovereign states and anonymous Delaware companies to own football clubs…they apparently pass the ODT (anonymously?), but a bid to buy Newcastle United with inward regional investment that would create many jobs here is being delayed by expensive lawyers and “no comment” is being made by an EPL that promised “openness” last year. A “Fan led review” is promised - but there’s no fans on it - and Tracey Crouch is saying, don’t contact me I only work here….they talk a lot, they do nothing.

We can’t trust these people. We need a public hearing. If the facts support them, fair enough, but their record shows that they can’t be trusted.

​That is why we need openness, transparency and confidence in decisions. Without that, in politics or sport, there’s no point in playing the game any longer….

Right To Food campaigners urge inclusion in food strategy ahead of national Right To Food day 

Leaders of the Right To Food campaign have written to Henry Dimbleby, chair of the National Food Strategy team, ahead of its report to Government next month, urging him to include the Right To Food in their findings as they embark on the next stage of their campaign with a national Right To Food day on social media next Monday 28 June. 

Led by Liverpool West Derby MP Ian Byrne and fan activist group Fans Supporting Foodbanks, the campaign was launched in November 2020 with the aim of changing the law to make access to food a legal right for all in the UK. It has achieved considerable support in the last six months. 

The Right To Food campaign petition to Parliament set up by Fans Supporting Foodbanks national network in December 2020 gathered more than 53,000 signatures before it closed and the campaign has received the backing of the Daily Mirror, Human Rights Watch, Marcus Rashford, Liverpool FC, Everton FC, The Big Issue, several trade unions, charities, faith leaders and many businesses and members of the public.  

More than twenty towns and cities also voted to formally support the campaign and to declare themselves a Right To Food city/town and have written to Henry Dimbleby to ask for Right To Food legislation to be recommended in the National Food Strategy report to Government. These include Liverpool, Manchester, Greater Manchester Combined Authority, Liverpool Combined Authority, Rotherham, Totnes, Brighton and Hove, Haringey, St Helens, Newcastle, Portsmouth and Durham. 
In March 2021 the Right To Food campaign team made its submission to the National Food Strategy including five key ‘asks’ which they believe, if adopted by Government, will provide an achievable, tangible and legally binding route out of food poverty for millions of people in the UK. These are: universal free school meals; community kitchens; reasonable portions in benefits and wages; ensured food security and independent enforcement. You can read the full submission here: www.ianbyrne.org/right-to-food

In today’s letter to National Food Strategy chair Henry Dimbleby, Dave Kelly, National Chair of Fans Supporting Foodbanks says: “It is our view that it is simply unacceptable for millions of people to continue to go hungry in what is, after all, the fifth wealthiest country on the planet…  

“The Right To Food submission to your review by Ian Byrne MP on behalf of the campaign in March 2021 included five key ‘asks’ which we all believe will provide an achievable, tangible and legally binding route out of food poverty for millions of people. I therefore urge you once again on behalf of the Fans Supporting Foodbanks national network to adopt these in the National Food Strategy and kickstart the process of making access to food a legal right for all.” 
​
In a separate letter to Henry Dimbleby today, Ian Byrne MP says: “Our submission to you in March 2021 included five key ‘asks’ which we believe, if adopted by Government, provide an achievable, tangible and legally binding route out of food poverty for millions of people in the UK… I again urge you on behalf of the Right To Food campaign to implement these asks in the National Food Strategy and to start to challenge the unfairness and injustice we see in our nation.” 
 
NUFC FANS FOODBANK are proud to be part of the Fans Supporting Foodbanks national network.

Following on from his appearance on Friday night’s 3 Amigos show we have spoken at length with Keith Patterson and are following up on his suggestion that supporters continue to apply as much political pressure on the UK Government as we possibly can; keeping the issue of the potential takeover of NUFC by the consortium made up of PCP, The Reuben Family and the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) in the public eye.

Having established a willing buyer and a willing seller, the problem lies very much in the reluctance of the EPL and their willingness or lack there of, to see the sale go through. Letters to the Premier League seem fruitless. They have set their stall out; taking a legal route when it comes to dealings with supporters and their response to NCSL supports this.

So; what can we as supporters do? Well simply we keep the political pressure on; keep the topic in the public eye while NCSL continue their legal action against the Premier League.  Ask leading politicians and relevant Government departments why supporters are not being listened to; what are they (both the government and the Premier League) hiding and why do they feel that Newcastle United are not worthy of new ownership by a consortium with the interests of supporters, our city, our region and our football club at its heart.

It is suggested you make your enquiry short and to the point and possibly along these lines - feel free to tailor it to your own requirements - but keep it short (only 1000 characters allowed to PM).

Dear ****, 
​
I write to you today as a supporter of Newcastle United. I have just one request, a response from you regarding the government position on the potential takeover of the football club from Mike Ashley. As you are aware the Public Investment fund of Saudi Arabia (PIF) placed an offer as part of a consortium with Jamie Reuben, whom I believe you know, & Amanda Staveley of PCP Capital Partners. This offer was subsequently withdrawn due to protracted obfuscated process of approval by the English Premier League who are required to approve the sale in order to protect the club against potential future financial harm. 

My question: Does HM Government have any objections "without prejudice" to the general basis that the Saudi Public investment fund can if they so wish own or invest in an English football club & should they wish to return to the table with a renewed offer no objection will be forthcoming from your Government. 
Kind regards

Useful email addresses and links are as follows:

Boris Johnson - Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service, and Minister for the Union. Follow this link  https://email.number10.gov.uk

Dominic Raab Foreign Secretary and First Secretary of State 
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office -  fcdo.correspondence@fcdo.gov.uk

Oliver Dowden Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport - 
Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport -  enquiries@culture.gov.uk

For anyone who was pre - occupied last night and who missed the Toon Matters Friday Night 3 Amigos show, you can watch it below.  It featured a 4th Amigo - Keith Patterson - the Newcastle United supporter behind the Newcastle Consortium Supporters Ltd (NCSL).  Definitely worth a watch.