The biggest battle is for fans' hearts and minds

Nov 14 2009 by Mark Douglas, The Journal

CAN Newcastle United really fall under supporter control? Mark Douglas reports on moves to buy out current owner Mike Ashley.

“The success depends on getting the right people in – you need a manager who buys into the vision.

“And then you need to harness the enthusiasm of the fans. We have 20 volunteers who sweep the terraces after the games unpaid.

“I would think that Newcastle United’s loyal supporter base is a huge asset.

“If you could mobilise that support and get people behind the project it could be a huge success.” Supporter ownership is no road to utopia, though.

The problems that have hamstrung Ashley – chiefly the club’s complex finances and the long, lucrative player contracts – will still exist.

And so too will the expectations, hopes and dreams of fellow supporters.

York City have never reached the heights of the Champions League, but the trust that took over ownership of the North Yorkshire side found that patience with their approach of living within their means was finite.

The group did sterling work to keep the club afloat but cowed by debts and the daily grind of keeping the club afloat the trust sold its stake in 2006.

“It was hard. There was external pressure from other supporters who wanted to know why we weren’t buying a player, or why we weren’t keeping hold of someone,” former chairman Steve Beck says.

Beck also acknowledges that the further up the football pyramid you go, the harder it is.

“It is harder. You can add noughts to the sort of sums we were struggling with. There is no dressing that up,” he admits. “When we sat down in the darkest hours the Plan B was to begin again as AFC York City, where costs would be manageable with no debts. At times I have wondered whether that would have been a better option.”

York’s experience is an injection of realism, but not one that should take the edge off NUST’s laudable aims. United have major advantages over the 15 clubs that have come under supporter control – primarily that they are not attempting to take over after administration. Similarly, it is the size and scale of the club is what makes people doubt NUST’s daunting, but it also what makes their vision achievable. If the 40,000 fans who regularly turn up can be convinced, then mission impossible suddenly becomes not only achievable, but probable.