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Opinion

Have a look at League Cup attendances for all 25 matches – Newcastle fans are officially mad

7 years ago
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Just have a glance at the League Cup attendances  for the 25 second round ties this midweek.

It hardly needs words to be added but I will at the bottom…

27,709 Newcastle 2 Forest 3

18,108 Aston Villa 4 Wigan 1

17,931 Southampton 0 Wolves 2

17,098 Leeds 5 Newport 1

16,313 Blackburnn 0 Burnley 2

12,679 Middlesbrough 3 Scunthorpe 0

12,521 Norwich 4 Charlton 1

11,414 Brighton 1 Barnet 0

11,280 Sheffield United 1 Leicester 4

9,930 Stoke 4 Rochdale 0

9,837 Crystal Palace 2 Ipswich 1

9,719 QPR 1 Brentford 4

9,003 Watford 2 Bristol City 3

8,290 Huddersfield 2 Rotherham 1

8.245 Birmingham 1 Bournemouth 2

8,187 Carlisle 1 Sunderland 2

7,148 Reading 3 Millwall 1

7,139 Doncaster 2 Hull 0

6,385 Bolton 3 Sheff Wed 2

6,259 Cheltenham 0 West Ham 2

6,243 Fulham 0 Bristol Rovers 1

5,820 Cardiff 1 Burton 2

5,162 MK Dons 1 Swansea 4

3,033 Grimsby 0 Derby 1

2,699 Accrington 1 West Brom 3

(The 25 winners then had the 7 European competing clubs added to make up the 32 for the 4am third round draw in China…)

Yes, Newcastle fans are officially mental.

After a summer of Mike Ashley starving the manager of proper funds to compete this season, then Rafa making clear the League Cup was not a priority and he was going to make a ‘lot of changes’ to his team (10!)…

We still turn up like tens of thousands of moths to the flame.

Just look at our Premier League rivals who Newcastle ‘can’t compete with’ in the transfer market.

9,003 at Watford, 9,837 at Crystal Palace, 9,930 at Stoke.

The 17,931 at Southampton is a little more respectable but not in the same league as Newcastle’s crowd.

As for our fellow promoted clubs, Huddersfield celebrate beating Newcastle and being  top of the league with 8,290 piling in, whilst Brighton are little better with 11,414.

Yes, we all know how important Premier League cash is these days but that DOESN’T mean the fanbases, especially paying customers, are not important/vital.

If that was the case, why would Man Utd, Man City, Arsenal, Spurs, Everton, West Ham, Liverpool, Chelsea etc, all have expanded their capacities in recent times, or are currently doing it, or are planning on doing so?

The bottom line is that all of these things go hand in hand, having bigger and better crowds all feeds into having more revenue and growing your ‘brand’, growing and keeping your support. More supporters (should!) drive more commercial income – including much more cash from merchandise (shirt sales etc ) and bigger and better sponsorship/commercial partnerships.

Nobody can tell me that a new owner with a long-term commitment to making Newcastle United a massive success, on and off the pitch, couldn’t make it happen (and also make a fortune by selling the club on in the future to somebody else).

The 51,000 average crowds in the Championship proved once and for all the potential at this club, yet the owner is doing a personal development at the back of the Gallowgate end (using a lease on land which was owned by Newcastle United when he bought the club), building shops, offices and student accommodation that will make it impossible to realistically expand St James Park any time in the future.

Please somebody, rescue all of us from Mike Ashley.

(All contributions from Newcastle fans welcome, send articles (as well as ideas/suggestions) to contribute@themag.co.uk)

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