Ashley Goes To War With Rangers!

Last updated : 29 October 2015 By Footy Mad - Editor

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An almost identical situation to Rangers exists at Newcastle United, the struggling English Premier League club which Ashley owns.

Toon fans are deeply unhappy with the terms of a commercial deal about which few details are known and are refusing to endorse official club merchandise in in the same high numbers as they did in the past.

But Michael Martin, a board member at the Newcastle United Supporters Trust and the editor of the True Faith fanzine, doubts Ashley will blink in his war with Rangers and Ibrox chairman Dave King.

“I desperately hope that Rangers supporters get a hold of their club and get to run it the way they want to run it,” said Martin.

“But I would be staggered if Rangers made any headway in changing those deals."

He spoke out after King issued a strongly-worded statement following a board meeting at Ibrox on Tuesday accusing Sports Direct of “poor business practices” and “corporate governance failures”.

King, who assumed control at the Championship club following the EGM he requisitioned back in March, also promised that the sports goods company will be “held accountable legally and financially”.

The previous regime at Ibrox agreed to a deal which the Rangers Supporters Trust has calculated nets the Glasgow club only 75p for every £10 which is spent.

That situation has led to widespread unhappiness among the Rangers support and to large numbers of disgruntled fans refusing to buy replica jerseys and official club products.

King and his associates have been unable to arrive at a compromise with Sports Direct – despite vowing to greatly increase the number of strips the nationwide chain of stores sells if they do – at a series of meetings since seizing power.

But Martin is highly doubtful Rangers will be able to negotiate with the enigmatic billionaire in the future.

He added: “You would think that he (Ashley) would want to keep supporters onside so they buy his products, but that is not really his character.

"He isn’t even interested in keeping his own shareholders at Sports Direct onside. That is his character. His policy seems to be ‘my way or the highway’.

“I think it will come down to whoever blinks first with the legal bills, Sports Direct or Rangers.

"But he has got unlimited funds to fight those actions whereas Rangers are desperate for commercial income so they can compete with Celtic again.

“The thing is, for the amount of money involved at Rangers, it is quite small in the scale of his fortune. This guy is making his money out of sport, but seems to hate the nature of it.”

Martin added: “In terms of the merchandising, Newcastle has an online deal with a company which has been set up called NUFCDirect.com.

"That is run from Shirebrook where Sports Direct’s headquarters are and because Newcastle United isn’t a public limited company we can’t really find out who gets what.

“We are shy of detail on that. The managing director, Lee Charnley, has said that it’s a great deal for Newcastle. But he would say that wouldn’t he?”

“We are banging our heads against a brick wall. The Newcastle United Supporters Trust is one of the few members-only fans’ groups. It is unsurprisingly banned from attending the fans’ forum with the club."

 

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NEWCASTLE UNITED

Fri 10th July (8pm BST)

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Gateshead FC 0 Newcastle Utd 1 (Cisse pen)

(First half): Darlow, Janmaat, Haidara, Lascelles, Williamson, Anita, Colback, Gouffran, Cisse, Sissoko, De Jong. (Second half): Woodman, Bigirimana, Satka, Good, Ferguson, Tiote, Obertan, Aarons, Perez, Armstrong, Riviere.

Tue 14th July (8pm CT)

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Club Atlas (MEX) 2 Newcastle Utd 1 (Sissoko)

Krul (Darlow 46); Janmaat (Bigirimana 72), Williamson, Lascelles, Haidara (Ferguson 72); Anita, Colback; Sissoko (Obertan 72), de Jong (Perez 72), Gouffran (Aarons 72); Cisse (Armstrong 72).

Sat 18th July (8pm UTC)

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Sacramento Republic FC (USA) 0 Newcastle Utd 1 (og)

Krul (Woodman 46), Janmaat, Williamson, Lascelles (Taylor 46), Haïdara, Anita, Colback, Sissoko, Obertan (Aarons 69), de Jong (Perez 69), Cissé (Wijnaldum 69).

Tue 21st July (7.30pm UTC)

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Portland Timbers (USA) 4 Newcastle Utd 3 (Wijnaldum, Aarons 2)

Darlow (Woodman 46), Bigirimana, Satka, Ferguson, Aarons; Abeid (Anita 65), Wijnaldum (Janmaat 46), Gouffran (De Jong 76), Sissoko (Obertan 46), Ayoze, Cisse (Armstrong 46).

Sun 26th July (1pm BST)

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Sheffield United 2 Newcastle Utd 2 (Wijnaldum, de Jong)

Krul, Janmaat, Williamson, Taylor (Lascelles 69), Haïdara, Anita (Obertan 59), Colback, Sissoko (Abeid 80), Wijnaldum (De Jong 73), Perez (Aarons 45), Cissé (Armstrong 80)

Wed 29th July (7.45pm BST)

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 York City 2 Newcastle Utd 1 (Perez)

Darlow (Elliot HT); Bigirimana, Lascelles, Satka, Ferguson; Abeid, Gouffran; Aarons (Kemen 59), De Jong, Perez; Mitrovic (Suddick 70)

Sat 1st August (3pm BST)

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Newcastle Utd 0 Borussia Mönchengladbach 1

Krul, Janmaat (Mbemba 62), Williamson, Taylor, Haïdara, Anita (De Jong 75), Colback, Sissoko (Perez 81), Obertan (Aarons 62), Wijnaldum, Cissé (Mitrovic 62).

 

Sunday August 9

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NEWCASTLE UTD 2 SOUTHAMPTON 2 (Cisse, Wijnaldum)

Krul, Janmaat, Mbemba, Coloccini, Haidara; Colback, Anita (Tiote, 67); Sissoko, Wijnaldum (De Jong, 81), Obertan; Cisse (Mitrovic, 75). Subs not used: Darlow, Taylor, Aarons, Perez.

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Saturday August 15

SWANSEA CITY 2 NEWCASTLE UTD 0

Krul, Janmaat, Mbemba, Coloccini, Haidara, Anita, Colback, Sissoko (45' Taylor), Wijnaldum, Obertan (82' Mitrovic), Cisse (54' Aarons). Subs: Williamson, Perez, Tiote, Darlow

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Saturday August 22

MANCHESTER UTD 0 NEWCASTLE UTD 0

Krul, Mbemba, Taylor, Coloccini, Haidara, Anita, Colback, Perez (78' Tiote), Wijnaldum, Obertan (69' Thauvin), Mitrovic (88' Cisse).
Subs: Williamson, de Jong, Aarons, Darlow 

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Tuesday August 26 

NEWCASTLE UTD 4 NORTHAMPTON TOWN 1 (Thauvin, Janmaat, de Jong, Williamson

Darlow, Janmaat, Lascelles, Williamson, Haidara (78' Toney), Tiote, Gouffran, Aarons, de Jong, Thauvin (65' Mitrovic), Perez (72' Colback).
Subs: Dummett, Wijnaldum, Mbemba, Elliot.   

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Saturday August 29

NEWCASTLE UTD 0 ARSENAL 1

Krul, Janmaat, Mbemba, Coloccini, Haidara, Anita (72' Perez), Sissoko (78' Cisse), Wijnaldum, Thauvin (87' de Jong), Mitrovic   
Subs: Obertan, Tiote, Darlow, Taylor  

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Monday September 14

WEST HAM UTD 2 NEWCASTLE UTD 0

Krul, Janmaat, Mbemba, Coloccini, Haidara, Anita (60' de Jong), Colback, Sissoko, Wijnaldum (79' Aarons), Thauvin (60' Perez), Cisse    Subs: Gouffran, Obertan, Lascelles, Darlow  

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Saturday September 19

NEWCASTLE UTD 1 WATFORD 2

Krul, Janmaat, Mbemba, Coloccini, Haidara (80' Aarons), Wijnaldum, Colback, Thauvin (88' Obertan), Sissoko, Perez, Cisse (45' de Jong)
Subs: Williamson, Anita, Lascelles, Elliot

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Wednesday September 23

NEWCASTLE UTD 0 SHEFF WED 1 (League Cup)

Krul, Janmaat (45' Mbabu), Lascelles, Williamson, Mbemba, Anita, Wijnaldum, Thauvin (45' Perez), Sissoko, Obertan (71' Toney), de Jong   
Subs: Coloccini, Gouffran, Elliot, Barlaser 

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Saturday September 26

NEWCASTLE UTD 2 CHELSEA 2 (Perez, Wijnaldum)

Krul, Janmaat, Mbemba, Coloccini, Mbabu, Sissoko (90+2' de Jong), Colback (54' Obertan), Anita, Wijnaldum, Perez, Mitrovic (85' Toney)
Subs: Williamson, Lascelles, Thauvin, Elliot

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Saturday October 3

MANCHESTER CITY 6 NEWCASTLE UTD 1 (Mitrovic)

Krul, Janmaat, Mbemba, Coloccini, Mbabu (53' Lascelles), Sissoko (66' Tiote), Anita, Gouffran (66' Thauvin), Wijnaldum, Mitrovic, Perez   
Subs: Williamson, Cisse, de Jong, Elliot   

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Sunday October 18

NEWCASTLE UTD 6 NORWICH 2 (Wijnaldum 4, Perez, Mitrovic)

Elliot, Janmaat, Mbemba, Coloccini, Dummett (65' Haidara), Sissoko, Tiote (45' Anita), Colback, Wijnaldum, Perez, Mitrovic (88' Cisse)
Subs: de Jong, Lascelles, Thauvin, Woodman

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Sunday October 25

SUNDERLAND 3 NEWCASTLE UTD 0

Elliot, Janmaat, Mbemba, Coloccini, Dummett (78' Thauvin), Sissoko, Tiote (45' Lascelles), Colback (49' Anita), Wijnaldum, Perez, Mitrovic   
Subs: Cisse, de Jong, Haidara, Woodman

Saturday October 31

15:00 Newcastle United v Stoke City

Saturday November 7

12:45 Bournemouth v Newcastle United

Saturday November 21

15:00 Newcastle United v Leicester City

Saturday November 28

15:00 Crystal Palace v Newcastle United

Sunday December 6

16:00 Newcastle United v Liverpool

Sunday December 14

16:00 Tottenham v Newcastle United

Saturday December 19

17:30 Newcastle United v Aston Villa

Saturday December 26

17:30 Newcastle United v Everton

Monday December 28

15:00 W Brom v Newcastle United