Is changing St James’ Park name the way forward?

Nov 13 2011 by Michael Kelly, Sunday Sun

HAVE Newcastle United fans over-reacted to owner Mike Ashley’s decision to rename St James’ Park to the Sports Direct Arena? After all, if they want their team to compete among the big boys, the cash has to come from somewhere. Mike Kelly reports

IF turmoil was a sport, Newcastle United would be top of the league.

So used to it are fans that with any whiff of controversy you can go up to St James’ Park (sorry, the Sports Direct Arena) and even before the journalists and TV crews arrive, there will be a healthy gaggle of fans waiting to be interviewed with well-honed soundbites.

Yet of late after the usual turbulence of owner Mike Ashley’s reign it had been a pleasant surprise this season to see other clubs - Blackburn Rovers for one - whose fans were bemoaning their lot, while an air of quiet satisfaction had descended on the Toon faithful. Sitting a remarkable third in the Premier League certainly helped.

It couldn’t go on and sure enough last week it all kicked off again when Ashley consigned the evocative and historic name St James’ Park to the bin replacing it with the distinctly unlovely Sports Direct Arena.

This, the club hopes, will just be a temporary move and some time in the near future it might be called absolutely anything. The naming rights will go to the highest bidder and the idea, according to Managing Director Derek Llambias, is to raise £8 - £10 million a year in revenue from a joint shirt and stadium sponsor deal, enough money to buy players and compete with the big boys at the top of the league.

Finding new revenue streams has also become a necessity because of UEFA’s Financial Fair Play initiative to ensure clubs live within their means over a rolling three-year period which comes into full effect in the 2013-14 season.

Other stadiums have been renamed and earlier this year Manchester City signed a shirt and stadium sponsorship deal with Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways worth in the region of £350 million over 10 years (Ironically the English translation from Arabic of Etihad is ‘united’ although Manchester City fans don’t seem particularly bothered about supporting City in the ‘United’ Stadium).

So, in a way, it appeared to make perfect business sense. What’s the problem?

About 10 miles down the A19 most Sunderland fans are allowing themselves a pleasant chuckle at the turn of events.

Martyn McFadden, editor of the fanzine A Love Supreme, said: “Lots of Newcastle fans laughed at us when our ground was re-named The Stadium of Light. I’ve been texting a few back.”

While Martyn emphatically denied having any sympathy for Toon fans, he conceded: “It’s unfortunate. It’s just the way football is going.

“Maybe Sunderland will do the same in a few years time. The way income is being regulated now it’s all about the money.”

When Sunderland’s ground was named The Stadium of Light in 1997, it was met with a lukewarm response, not least because there already was a famous ground with that name in Portugal. However, the fans have grown accustomed to it and the situation was different to that at St James’ Park as the Black Cats were leaving their traditional home of Roker Park so there was feeling of starting anew.

“It just became a name,” said Martyn. “I always say The Beatles was a bad name for a band, and they didn’t do badly.”