Newsletter

Get your daily update and weekly newsletter by signing up today!

Opinion

‘I don’t feel a sense of guilt because MY Newcastle United doesn’t exist anymore’

5 years ago
Share

USA – 1956:

“In Santa Maria, California, a doctor is baffled when his patients come to see him with the same complaint: their loved ones seem to have been replaced by emotionless impostors.”

Invasion of the Body Snatchers

England – 2019:

‘In Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, a fan is hoovering the stairs on a Saturday morning. He is baffled as to why, in such a short space of time, he doesn’t care that he isn’t going to the Newcastle United v Brighton match later that day. His beloved club seems to have been taken over by an emotionless impostor.’

Invasion of the Club Snatcher

In case you are wondering, that’s me (the fan, not the doctor).

After 34 years actively supporting my club and the last 27 years as a season ticket holder, I gave it up in February this year.

I don’t know why the Body Snatchers film came into my head whilst hoovering the stairs. I don’t think I have seen it since about 1985 (ironically about the same time I started going to the matches), so it seems strange it just appeared there.

On reflection, the parallels seem obvious: the person (club) that you know looks the same, but you sense that their character and soul has departed, being replaced by a parasitic host relationship. One who has no care for the body it inhabits, it is just a means to an end.

With Newcastle United we have an owner, who genuinely has no care for the club, other than for its primary purpose to support his SD brand.

The reason I don’t feel a sense of guilt for killing off my active affinity with the club is because MY Newcastle United doesn’t exist anymore.

It is just an empty shell of the entity I once loved.

#RIPNUFC

You can follow the author on Twitter @Brown_Shark

Share

If you would like to feature on The Mag, submit your article to contribute@themag.co.uk

Have your say

© 2024 The Mag. All Rights Reserved. Design & Build by Mediaworks