Owners May Change and Your Club May Never Be the Same Again, But the Fabric Remains
With the latest megabucks takeover of a Premier League club at Newcastle United, the same old questions have been raised, the contrast of concern, excitement and jealously has spread across the league ladder, and the familiar debate of foreign investment in the national game has filled the airwaves. Whatever your thoughts on the subject, there is sure to be substance and justice in the way you feel. Whether you are a Geordie exasperated with the Ashley era and jubilant that those days are now finally over, or if you’re an envious onlooker wondering what this latest injection of cash into one of the Premier League’s under-performers will mean for your club, your emotions are understandable and completely justified.
The latest injection of cash has raised many headlines, and rightly so, for it is possibly the biggest measure we’ve seen so far of where football’s morals lie. But what can’t be disputed is the outpouring of emotion seen at St James’ Park on the evening of 7th October 2021. Newcastle fans are famed for being some of the most passionate around and this was there for all to see as thousand adorned in the famous black and white stripes descended upon their footballing Mecca, with some hanging from the famous statues of Sir Bobby Robson and Jackie Milburn belting out songs accompanied by local hero and man of the moment, Sam Fender. The only negative, and slight irony, for those fans would’ve been the mass global exposure that Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct would’ve enjoyed as a consequence. But hey, that’s a small price to pay when your club has just become the richest in the world.
Things will always change in football, that is inevitable. It is English football’s ability to evolve and embrace change that has got it to where it is and made it so attractive to investors. But we must remember that there are two sides to every story. How you feel on the matter is likely to be governed by where your club fall on the foreign investment debate and the resources this has created. For example, I’m sure Norwich fans, whose owners have adopted a strategy of embracing a yo-yo strategy just to merely survive, have a different view to Newcastle, Man City and Chelsea fans. Fans further down the league ladder are likely to have even stronger feelings as they scrap each and every season to survive, always on the cusp of extinction.
No matter what happens in football and whatever changes, one thing can never be taken away: a club’s heritage. Many things are woven into the fabric of a football club’s history, but nothing epitomises a club’s identity more than its shirt. Just like owners alike, there would’ve been some dodgy ones along the way, but overall they create memories that cannot be destroyed, emotions that can’t equalled, and a bond that means so much more than the initial financial outlay alone. Despite the current state of your club, its shirt can transport you back to a better and often simpler time. It can give you comfort in adversity, evoke pride in times of failure and provide a safety blanket where there’s uncertainty. It is for this reason classic football shirts age like a fine wine, growing in stature and financial value with each passing day as they become more sought-after and increasingly rare. Fans want that reattachment; they want to reunite themselves with the feelings that only their favourite shirts and memories of their heroes that wore them can create.
Some owners have tried to change the shirt and realised very quickly that they underestimated its power; getting it drastically wrong and having to swiftly back pedal. Proving that in a day and age when pretty much anything in football can be bought, the shirt is the one thing that remains untouchable.
While the hysteria rages on in the north east, it’s safe to say that the famous black and white is going nowhere. Football is a unique business, but nothing is more unique within it than a football club’s shirt, no matter what the future holds. When times are good, wear it with pride; when times are bad, do the same.
What do you think of the recent takeover at Newcastle United? Is it great to see such investment in our national game or is it bad for football’s future? We’d love to hear your comments below.