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: [email protected]



​

​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….