First draft letter to the club

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Dear Mr. Shepherd,

I write on behalf of a number of Newcastle fans who are concerned about the matchday atmosphere at Saint James'. I am copying the letter to the manager and some first team members as I imagine that they find the silence at the ground as dispiriting as many fans are finding it.

The first thing I should say is that we are not wedded to a particular idea for improving the atmosphere. For example, we see the problems attaching to the creation of a singing end - such as the political implications of moving people after the SOS debacle. We are also aware that Saint James' is not the only or even the worst affected Premiership ground. Clearly factors such as all-seater stadia, Manchester United winning everything and corporatisation have affected every club in the division, including the famous churches of sound like Saint James' and Anfield, and the solution to this trend cannot come from Newcastle United alone. However, we wish to support the magnificent efforts made by the team and the manager as vocally as possible and to participate rather than to spectate. As such we would value your support in exploring various ideas that would hopefully result in an improved atmosphere at the ground.

One of the most radical ideas that we have come across is a Manchester United campaign called "Tier Two Commandos". This involves a number of fans who sit in the designated singing end (The Stretford End) and who want to support the team noisily. They have been collecting information on the other people in the stand, grading these people according to whether they sing all the time, sing when others sing, sing when the team is winning or don't sing at all. They are developing a stand plan containing this information. The next step has been to approach people from around the whole ground, asking where they wish to sit and again to record this information. They then propose to take the information they have collated and present it to club management who can re-arrange seating accordingly. I attach pages from their website which will give you a fuller picture of what they are trying to achieve. I understand that their initiative has some support within the club - for example, Peter Kenyon has sat in the Stretford End during a game to gauge the atmosphere.

We do not subscribe to so aggressive an approach, particularly the arbitrariness of one fan judging another by fairly subjective criteria. However, we do think that there is the germ of a good idea in fans being asked how they see themselves in terms of the sort of support they wish to give, where they would ideally sit and whether they have any ideas for improving the matchday atmosphere. This could be done through a questionnaire in the official magazine, through the matchday programme, through researchers based on the turnstiles on matchdays and through the supporters' committees once they have been elected.

We appreciate that it will take time to achieve any major improvement but we believe there are one or two short term measures that could usefully be taken. For example, we understand that the club does not object to banners around the ground and that it is the local fire department that has raised concerns. We have liaised with fans at Old Trafford who display banners and have found that there are suppliers of football banners who will give a certificate saying that the banner is fireproof. These sorts of banners could be attached to the front and back fascia of the stands without obscuring advertisements and, being fireproof, would not present the risk that the coats and jackets that are routinely placed on these rails and walls no doubt present. The banners are relatively costly (the price being somewhere in the region of £400-£500). I am happy to procure one with a simple legend and display it in the Gallowgate in the hope that others follow the lead. Would the club permit me to display it?

We would like to emphasise that we are not activists in any other sphere of the club's business: we simply want the support to match the grandeur of the stadium and the onfield efforts of the team.

We would be very grateful to hear your views.

Yours sincerely,

-- Anonymous, February 09, 2001

Answers

Views please.

-- Anonymous, February 09, 2001

Obviously I wouldn't sign off "Dougal". Query: should I put in a but of background about the cross-section we represent?

-- Anonymous, February 09, 2001

put in a but of background Nah, do that and they'll think you're a low down bum!

Sorry, couldn't resist it.

80)

-- Anonymous, February 09, 2001


Not quite sure about the words "SOS debacle". Could that put them a bit on the defensive before reading the rest of the letter? Maybe say something like "SOS case" or incident? Something like that? Otherwise, sounds great!

I kind of like the idea of adding a short description of the cross-section of supporters behind this. But I don't know if that might be more information than they care/need to know at this point? What do our bbs business experts think? Clarky?

-- Anonymous, February 09, 2001


Nah - stick it in. But put another "t" on the end. I'm sure he'll love the bit about Manchester United winning everything and he'll think it's Nicky writing. Either that, or it will get his goat.

OK, OK - good letter Dougal. Are we sure that all banners are banned (so to speak) or could you ask if there is any leeway from the fire brigade?

-- Anonymous, February 09, 2001



Shepherd said last week that they were banned on account of what the fire service had said and Ive had a banner removed by the stewards.

-- Anonymous, February 09, 2001

Oh and can we get them to ban smalltime nonsense like stand up if you hate man u, your not singing any more and other muppetry.

-- Anonymous, February 09, 2001

Cod - I agree but I don't really thinking we can blame the club for "stand up if you hate..." :)Also, you're right: FS was on about banners last week.. Right, suggested amendments so far incorporated:

Dear Mr. Shepherd, I write on behalf of a number of Newcastle fans who are concerned about the matchday atmosphere at St. James'. I am copying the letter to the manager and some first team members as I imagine that they find the silence at the ground as dispiriting as many fans are finding it.

The first thing I should say is that we are not wedded to a particular idea for improving the atmosphere. For example, we see the problems attaching to the creation of a singing end - such as the political implications of moving people after the litigation with the bonholders last year. We are also aware that St.James' is not the only or even the worst affected Premiership ground. Clearly factors such as all-seater stadia, Manchester United winning everything and corporatisation have affected every club in the division, including the famous churches of sound like Saint James' and Anfield, and the solution to this trend cannot come from Newcastle United alone. However, we wish to support the magnificent efforts made by the team and the manager as vocally as possible and to participate rather than to spectate. As such we would value your support in exploring various ideas that would hopefully result in an improved atmosphere at the ground.

One of the most radical ideas that we have come across is a Manchester United campaign called "Tier Two Commandos". This involves a number of fans who sit in the designated singing end (The Stretford End) and who want to support the team noisily. They have been collecting information on the other people in the stand, grading these people according to whether they sing all the time, sing when others sing, sing when the team is winning or don't sing at all. They are developing a stand plan containing this information. The next step has been to approach people from around the whole ground, asking where they wish to sit and again to record this information. They then propose to take the information they have collated and present it to club management who can re-arrange seating accordingly. I attach pages from their website which will give you a fuller picture of what they are trying to achieve. I understand that their initiative has some support within the club - for example, Peter Kenyon has sat in the Stretford End during a game to gauge the atmosphere.

We do not subscribe to so aggressive an approach, particularly the arbitrariness of one fan judging another by fairly subjective criteria. However, we do think that there is the germ of a good idea in fans being asked how they see themselves in terms of the sort of support they wish to give, where they would ideally sit and whether they have any ideas for improving the matchday atmosphere. This could be done through a questionnaire in the official magazine, through the matchday programme, through researchers based on the turnstiles on matchdays and through the supporters' committees once they have been elected.

We appreciate that it will take time to achieve any major improvement but we believe there are one or two short term measures that could usefully be taken. For example, we understand that the club does not object to banners around the ground and that it is the local fire department that has raised concerns. We have liaised with fans at Old Trafford who display banners and have found that there are suppliers of football banners who will give a certificate saying that the banner is fireproof. These sorts of banners could be attached to the front and back fascia of the stands without obscuring advertisements and, being fireproof, would not present the risk that the coats and jackets that are routinely placed on these rails and walls no doubt present. The banners are relatively costly (the price being somewhere in the region of £400-£500). I am happy to procure one with a simple legend and display it in the Gallowgate in the hope that others follow the lead. Would the club be prepared to take this up with the fire services?

We would like to emphasise that we are not activists in any other sphere of the club's business: we simply want the support to match the grandeur of the stadium and the onfield efforts of the team.

We would be very grateful to hear your views.

Yours sincerely,



-- Anonymous, February 10, 2001


Dougal,

Your letter is fine - send it.

There could be some minor benefit in describing the fan community you pupport to be representing. However, my instinct is to keep the letter to FS as short and snappy as possible - otherwise he may lose interest before he gets to the end.

If you e-mail me the precise document you mail to FS I will e-mail it to David Stonehouse so that at he understands the source and background - he already knows about the Greenspun bbs. It seems highly likey that if FS has any interest in progessing your suggestions he will involve Stonehouse anyway(ie. delegate it to him).

-- Anonymous, February 10, 2001


Thanks, Clarky. I will do that today.

-- Anonymous, February 10, 2001


Screach - I'm going to be spelling in the matchday programme...

-- Anonymous, February 10, 2001

Screach, I actually mean that I'm going by the spelling in the matchday programme.

-- Anonymous, February 10, 2001

>> However, we wish to support the magnificent efforts made by the team and the manager as vocally as possible and to participate rather than to spectate. Maginificent efforts? Did I really write that?

-- Anonymous, February 11, 2001

Dougal - just modify the letter slightly to reflect your downer today - that is take out, or tone down, some of the superlatives - and send it.
I'm as brassed of as anyone, but nothing has really changed.

-- Anonymous, February 11, 2001

I agree and the other thing is, the raeson I want everyone to sing is because it used to be a massive part of matchday whether we won or lost - watching the game was only a part of it. Now it's almsot all of it.

-- Anonymous, February 11, 2001


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