Newcastle fans plan second boycott for Swansea game

The group behind the boycott of Newcastle United’s home game with Tottenham have announced a second protest against owner Mike Ashley for Saturday’s match versus Swansea City.

Last Sunday’s 3-1 defeat to Tottenham saw many Newcastle opt not to turn up to St James’ Park as part of a boycott organised by AshleyOut.com.

The official attendance for that contest was announced as 47,427, although the number of empty seats in the stadium suggested that the actual figure may have been even lower.

And the group has chosen to continue its fight against sportswear magnate Ashley’s running of the club and the perceived lack of ambition behind the scenes.

A stand-up protest in the 34th minute – a reference to the revelations that Newcastle have £34million in unspent funds in the bank – has been organised for fans wishing to attend the game.

In addition, there will also be protests – co-ordinated with fans of Scottish side Rangers, a club in which Ashley holds a nine per cent stake – outside Sports Direct stores in the city.

“We will back any fan who continues to boycott the game to make a stand (#BoycottSwansea),” an AshleyOut.com statement read. 

“For those fans wishing to attend the Swansea game, we request them to #StandUpToAshley after 34 minutes of the game, to represent the fact that having no manager and a threadbare squad devoid of quality, yet having £34m in the bank is not an acceptable situation.

“Secondly, from 12:30pm (local time) on Saturday we will target Sports Direct stores within a 20 mile radius of St. James’ Park and their flagship Oxford Street store by means of a peaceful protest. 

“Further details regarding this protest will be released shortly but we wish to emphasise that this must be a peaceful protest and is aimed at Mike Ashley and the shareholders of Sports Direct International plc. 

“This protest is not aimed at the innocent staff members often working with minimal employment rights on zero hours contracts and they must be respected and supported at all times. This protest will be coordinated with supporters of Rangers football club who will target stores in the vicinity of Ibrox.

“The boycott for the Spurs game was only the start. We would like to widen the campaign at this stage to include Mike Ashley’s main interest, which is Sports Direct and affiliated companies and will shortly be launching a new section on our website dedicated to things every fan can do to ensure that Mike Ashley’s involvement becomes an ever-less profitable one for him and his companies. This new campaign will be known as #AshleyEmbargo.”

Newcastle have won just two games in 2015 and sit seven points above the Premier League relegation zone with five matches remaining.