NUST issue official update - Massive progress made on takeover campaign & meeting confirmed
The NUFC Supporters Trust (NUST) have issued an in-depth message to members late last night.
Following the launch of the campaign to demand transparency and answers from the Premier League in light of the collapsed Newcastle United takeover, the NUST has confirmed on day one that:
- Over 4,500 fans have contacted their MP seeking support
- Contact with 405 MPs
- Clear cross party unity from NE MPs that transparency from the Premier League is a must
Now for their full message to members released last night, which features their latest statement, the steps taken so far, the MPS prepared to challenge the Premier League, the Zoom meeting arranged for Friday involving George Caulkin, the NUFC fan groups supporting the Trust and more:
Full NUST update - August 5th
Dear Member,
It has been a huge week for the supporters of Newcastle United and the members of the Trust.
The national media is waking up to the need for answers and transparency from the Premier League thanks to an independent petition on Change.org which has attracted a massive 82,000 signatures and counting. This is an issue that affects all football fans who support Premier League sides. Since our last member update, we have been hard at work to get our members the answers you deserve from the Premier League. The Trust today released the following statement:
The North East of England has recently missed out on potentially hundreds of millions of pounds of investment from a consortium of investors who have recently tried to buy Newcastle United.
This region has long been starved of the kind of investment in infrastructure and housing that other parts of the United Kingdom have benefited from. The collapse of the purchase of Newcastle United has potentially robbed the North East of a huge opportunity.
PCP, PIF and the Reuben Brothers have publicly commented on large scale plans for investment in the whole region, not just the city of Newcastle upon Tyne.
The supporters of Newcastle United have been ignored by the Premier League. The people of the North East have been ignored by the Premier League. The Premier League may have sound reasons for drawing out the takeover process for more than four months and the Premier League may have done everything they needed to do to protect their business and Newcastle United.
However, there must be transparency after the process has completed. Answers must be provided about decisions which affect millions of people in our region.
So far, the silence from the Premier League suggests they believe the people of the North East don’t matter and that we don’t deserve answers. The Trust has over 14,000 paying members across the North East and we are calling on local politicians to come together to request that the Premier League provide answers to supporters about this process.
This is not about Newcastle United or even just the Tyneside region. The economy of the whole North East would have benefited from this investment.
The aim is to better understand a process that has denied this region of investment when it needs it most. The people of this region shouldn’t be kept in the dark about decisions that affect them the most.
The Trust has written to every single North East MP asking for a cross-party consensus from all North East MPs to tackle the issue of transparency from the Premier League. Just like supporters their voice is louder together and this is an issue that transcends football. The region has been deprived of much-needed investment from the proposed buyers of Newcastle United. We hope MPs will hear the Trusts call and work together on top of some of the excellent work individual MPs have done. So far there has been incredible to pressure the Premier League for transparency work or a positive response to the Trust from:
- Ian Mearns (Labour – Gateshead)
- Kate Osbourne (Labour – Jarrow)
- Chi Onwurah (Labour – Newcastle Central)
- Sharon Hodgson (Labour – Washington and Sunderland West)
- Liz Twist (Labour – Blaydon)
- Ian Levy (Conservative – Blyth Valley)
- Alex Cunningham (Labour – Stockton North)
- Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour – South Shields)
- Catherine McKinnel (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
- Lizz Twist (Labour - Blaydon)
- Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
- Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
- Mary Kelly (Labour - City of Durham)
If you live in the North East and your MP is not on this list we urge you to email your MP using our action tool – it takes seconds to do and our letter template is already loaded ready for you to send. An incredible 4,000 letters have been emailed to MPs in the United Kingdom since we launched this morning. That is a huge response and we are not done yet. It is crucial that the Premier League are accountable to supporters and the best method we have as citizens is through our elected representatives. We have been blown away by the response so far – let’s see if you, the members can smash this total (wherever you live in the UK) and prompt the UK government to get the answers fans deserve from the Premier League. The ball is rolling, we at the Trust urge you to use our online tool (which automatically locates your MP based on the postcode you enter) and send the letter to your MP. As a constituent you can ask your MP to help you get transparency from the PL on the proposed takeover process involving Newcastle United.
To send the letter click here. We need you. The people of the North East need us.
Since we last wrote to you on Sunday the Trust Board has
- Written to the Premier League (CEO Richard Masters, Director of Policy Bill Bush & PL Chairman Gary Hoffman) for a meeting on the takeover process and the lack of transparency for supporters
- Written to Newcastle United on the matter of the takeover to offer to assist with anything supporters can do to help the current owner realise his ambition of selling our club for £300m
- Contacted other Premier League Trusts to start the process of cross-club cooperation to seek transparency from the Premier League
- Created an online meeting for up to 500 NUST members this coming Friday at 17.30 on Zoom – hosted by George Caulkin of The Athletic. The event is a ‘Call for Unity’ for Newcastle United fans moving forward and details are below
This coming Friday the 7th August at 17.30 the Trust will host a live Zoom call to discuss:
- Our plans in the campaign for transparency from the Premier League on the Newcastle United takeover process
- What the Trust and its members have learned from the process and what it means for the future of Newcastle United
- The release of plans for a new member initiative within the Trust that will give members a greater involvement in the way the Trust is run
We are hoping to attract some special guests to the event and we are delighted to announce that The Athletic’s George Caulkin will host the event for us. Spaces are limited and only open to NUST members. Please act fast if you would like to take part on the Zoom call but be aware that the full event will be live-streamed to MP Chi Onwurah’s Youtube Channel .
To register for a space on the event please click HERE.
Those who are registered on the Zoom call will be sent a link by email shortly before 17.30 on Friday. If you wish to speak at the event we would ask that you register to speak/ask a question in advance by email to [email protected] using the subject line: NUST Town Hall Request no later than midday on Friday.
We hope to see you all there. It is essential that Newcastle United fans organise and work together. At the Trust we feel recent events have brought Newcastle United fans closer together like no event before it. We are stronger United.
This week the Trust hosted a discussion with various fan groups and accounts to bring together people from across the support to unite as one, behind the Trust. This call has ushered in a new period of integration and mutual respect and help for one another between Newcastle United fan groups, some of whom have not always seen eye to eye with each other or the Trust. Both Alex Hurst and Greg Tomlinson who represented the Trust on the call were delighted by the desire of all to pull together for our supporters and our quest for answers from the Premier League and others surrounding the takeover process and the future of Newcastle United. The following groups and accounts came together when we asked them to, and we are just getting started. We want to thank the following (in no particular order) for sharing the Trusts message today and helping over 4,000 of our letters reach MPs:
- The Magpie Group
- London Magpie Group
- @MaintainSJP
- NUFC360
- Toon For Change
- NUFCBlog.co.uk
- Irish Mags
- @NUFCFansutd
- Newcastle Fans TV Fan Channel
- @NUFCToonTalk
- @NCLE_Legends
- GallowgateShots Podcast and Fan Channel
- True Faith Fanzine and Podcast
- Nufc.com
- @ifrafagoeswego
- The Mag
You may notice the Trust has a new logo and artwork thanks to Budapest69 who provided his time free of charge. We are hugely grateful to a range of Mags who donate their time and services for free for the Trust. The Trust is currently seeking experienced Facebook and Instagram page admins of large NUFC accounts to help us share our message through that platform. If you think you can help and donate some time to the Trust please email [email protected] with some more information.
Finally, the Trust has a new website and membership support network. If you ever have issues with membership, the website or receiving correspondence from the Trust (or know someone that is having these issues) please head to https://nufctrust.co.uk/support/
Thank you for reading!
