Newcastle supporters have set up a website aimed at sabotaging Mike Ashley’s Sport Direct retail business
The club’s fans have been fiercely against Ashley’s ownership for much of the time since his takeover 11 years ago and were particularly vocal about the lack of funds made available to Rafa Benitez in the transfer window this summer.
Newcastle were amongst a minority of Premier League clubs not to break their transfer record, which still stands at the £15m they paid Real Madrid for Michael Owen in 2005 – two years before Ashley’s ownership started.
As part of their latest protest, supporters are sharing a link to the website SportsRedirect.com, which deliberately encourages people to find alternative sportswear shops to Ashley’s Sports Direct company.
‘This link is fully operational and appears to annoy Mike Ashley,’ the tweet below -sent earlier this month – reads. ‘Why not RT it and annoy him some more,’ it adds. At the time of writing, it has since received over 1,000 retweets – the bulk of which presumably coming from Newcastle supporters.
https://twitter.com/tfMichael1892/status/1026893872453103618?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1026893872453103618&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ftalksport.com%2Ffootball%2F412114%2Fnewcastle-united-fans-have-found-a-way-to-annoy-mike-ashley-and-its-absolutely-genius%2F
As pointed out by talkSPORT, Newcastle fans have also accused the club’s owner of deliberately misleading fans over turning the club shop at St James’ Park into a Sports Direct store. As the following tweet makes clear, some have even contacted Newcastle City Council about the matter.
Discussions about the “Official Club Shop” at #NUFC and whether or not it’s just a rebranded SD store.
We’ve been sent this response from Newcastle City Council from someone asking if this is the case and whether it’s misleading fans. #IfRafaGoesWeGo #UnitedAgainstAshley pic.twitter.com/mVjJ8BernA
— We’ve Got Our Club Back (@IfRafaGoesWeGo) August 16, 2018
On the field, Newcastle started their season at home with a 2-1 defeat to Tottenham on Saturday. They play their first game away from home this campaign at newly promoted Cardiff City on Saturday.
