Golds comments after the Sarries game:

Fans were unbelievable

I can only agree. More than 8,000 turned up at KP on a wet Friday to support the Falcons. Remember that we live in a rugby outpost, where football is king and north of Newcastle there are more sheep than people. The rugby we have seen served up at KP for the last few years has been far from inspiring, the club has been very obviously just ticking over while up for sale, not much of a future to look forward to.

Yet still we get 8,000 there to cheer them on.

If the club is seriously putting some red in the shirts to appeal to a few football supporters from Sunderland, or is dropping 'Newcastle' from the name to attract a few people fdrom Durham, they need to be examined by a qualified psychiatrist. The supporters are there already, thousands of them, quite happy with what the club is called & not bothered about being patronised with stupid colours. We already have the best supporters in the country by a mile, it is at times like these that people show their true colours.

I have every faith that next season with Kurdi at the helm & Deano steering the ship we will see the crowds grow & grow, no matter what league we are in. With new life being breathed into the club, you will see new life breathed into the supporters.

When did we last look forward to the next season with so much enthusiasm?

Bring it on!

"If the club is seriously putting some red in the shirts to appeal to a few football supporters from Sunderland, or is dropping 'Newcastle' from the name to attract a few people fdrom Durham, they need to be examined by a qualified psychiatrist."

Does no-one in Sunderland like rugby - only football - ???

Absolute rubbish.

Besides I saw plenty of people wearing the new shirts and many once they saw it "in the flesh" as it were loved it too -

Give it up!

But it was good to see the ground so full - and hear shouts of "Falcons" from all stands!!

Oh for pity;'s sake, I didn't say nobody in Sunderland likes rugby, there is a Wasps fan there for starters & he is getting on the bus to AP with everyone else.

Are you saying there are no football supporters in Sunderland?

I was making a serious point. We have a strong supporter base out there already, just waiting for something worth supporting. I believe next season will deliver that & appealing to the 8,000+ people who were there on Friday will get the best results. Bird in the hand & all that.

Quote:

Monkey1
Oh for pity;'s sake, I didn't say nobody in Sunderland likes rugby, there is a Wasps fan there for starters & he is getting on the bus to AP with everyone else.
Are you saying there are no football supporters in Sunderland?

I was making a serious point. We have a strong supporter base out there already, just waiting for something worth supporting. I believe next season will deliver that & appealing to the 8,000+ people who were there on Friday will get the best results. Bird in the hand & all that.

You misinterpret to suit -

What am saying and what the Club realises by extending their marketing to include a wider region than just Newcastle - is that Newcastle alone cannot raise enought rugby interest to support the Falcons -

We both are aware that Football is King in our region - shame but there you go -

And yes am very aware that a Wasps fan currently based in Sunderland is travelling on the coach on the 5th - which is great and he will be most welcomed -

I did a piece on Sunderland's rich rugby history earlier this season, based on the release of a fantastic book on the subject.

They were one of the country's most prominent clubs around the late 19th century, and supplied numerous internationals for England, the Lions and Barbarians.

The book is well worth a read, but here is a link to the article for anyone remotely interested.

[www.journallive.co.uk]

I think what Monkey is saying is that there probably aren't thousands of people living south of the Tyne who refuse to watch the Falcons simply because of our colours and having 'Newcastle' in the name, and for no other reasons.

Indeed Leipy.

We have support from all over the region already. I refuse to believe that rugby supporters from Sunderland, Durham, Middlesborough etc are so small minded that they won't consider supporting Falcons unless the colours of their local footie team are represented & Newcastle is dropped from the badge.

I am not from Newcastle but see it as my local city, and Falcons as my local major rugby club, Morpeth being my local club rugby if you see what I mean.

Anyway, this was supposed to be a thread about what passionate supporters, looks like I dared to go against the party line somewhere so that idea got squashed.

In all my years as press officer the Sunderland Echo would never include Falcons coverage simp,y because of the 'Newcastle' name.

This despite us demonstrating repeatedly that there was significant support for the club in the Wearside area.

That annoyed me intensely, but having lived in Sunderland for a couple of years the parochialism there is really quite astonishing.

Not saying it is right or wrong, but if you put 'Newcastle' in anything at all they're immediately against it. The majority, anyway.

Obviously the same is true to an extent the other way, although not as fervently I would dare to suggest.

I would like to bet that only applies to a minority of football supporters who hate newcastle, and vice versa.

Such people are beyong help.

Monkey,

I can see where you're coming from and you are right to an extent, but basically anything that has 'Newcastle' in the name is unlikely to be received favourably in Sunderland.

Obviously not tarring all with the same brush, but I have lived there and experienced this first hand over a number of years.

I have also tried to deal with the local media there on Falcons issues, and the 'Newcastle' name just makes them run a mile even though Falcons represents the whole North East and a fair chunk of Cumbria.

Their sports editors just see 'Newcastle' in the name and run a mile. Trust me - I have tried to reason with them!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 26/04/2012 11:07 by Mark Smith NCJ Media.

Actually Mark the coverage of "Newcastle Falcons" in the Sunderland Echo of late has been fairly consistent - reporting equally on both successes and failures. It is I admit only for the current season that this has occured but none the less it is in there.

And regarding attitude Sunderland/Newcastle - well that will never change and I do not think that there are more narrow-minded people in Sunderland than in Newcastle - I feel it is equal in terms of the blatant and ignorant dislike of each other - sadly not just related to football supporters.

That said am sure the Club did not canvass Middlesborough and Sunderland fans and appeal to them to come to KP just because they added a splash of red to the new shirts -
in much the same way as they did not take up some suggestions made by fervent Newcastle Rugby supporters.

If the new season attracts more regular fans, regardless of where they are from, then am confident that with a collective of remaining players, SK and DR we will do well following on from the excellent changes we have seen under Gary Gold and his staff!

To suggest local rugby fans would be either persuaded to or indeed dissuaded from supporting Newcastle Falcons because of a red stripe of the new shirt is inane, I credit rugby followers with being a little more intelligent and discerning than that, and please let's keep the local football rivalry and all that nonsense well out of the rugby arena. If it was or is an attempt by the club to widen appeal to followers of Sunderland and or Middlesbrough football clubs, then whomever came up with the cockamamie idea truly needs their bumps feeling - preposterous !
With regards to the new shirt, opinions are well documented on another thread, it's simple, you either pay your money and you make your choice or you don't.

The Falcons is a broad church, we welcome and indeed have many supporters from all over the Northeast region and beyond, and many go to considerable lengths and expense in following and supporting the club. Long may that continue whether from Wearside, Teesside, Durham, Cumbria or the Borders - all IMO most welcome.

As for the dropping of the "Newcastle" tag from the shirt, well we're told it's due to manufacturing complexities and that Newcastle will remain as part of the name of the club. I sincerely hope that this is the case and again is not some misguided attempt to go down the "regionalisation" route. For the reasons above, and as is clearly evident, we attract support from across the region in any case, and rugby folk aren't so myopic so as to let the Newcastle tag deter or dissuade them for supporting the club. What must be avoided is throwing the baby out with the bath water. Teams that loose their identity and lead a somewhat nomadic existence struggle to attract and maintain a core following - see Saracens and Wasps, I would suggest core support at both of the aforementioned clubs will grow when permanent residencies are established. IMO the "Newcastle" tag keeps the club firmly grounded in the Northeast, without impinging or adversely affecting the ability to grow regionally our supporter base.

Back to the gist of Monkeys thread, and I couldn't agree more, the future looks a whole lot better irrespective of events as may transpire at Adams Park on the 5th, when if anyone is in doubt, the Northeast will show exactly how passionate the Northeast is for Newcastle Falcons.

Rose,

If the coverage has been there this season then that is a very encouraging forward step. Certainly more than when I was working for the club trying to push it.

And I was not having a pop at the Sunderland public - merely reporting my first-hand experiences having lived in both Sunderland and Newcastle.

I certainly don't want to tar all with the same brush and state that one is better/worse than the other. That was not my point at all.

I will leave it there as I sincerely don't want to get into a Sunderland v Newcastle ding-dong. There is nothing to be gained there.

You really have to be quite small minded not to support the only premiership rugby in the North east just because it's got the Name Newcastle in it. Are we that desperate to encourage this sort of supporters in any case? Rugby fans all over the place are known for their civility and I hope the wendyball mentality does not permeate this wonderful game.

We used to get Kp filled regularly before as Newcastle Falcons and as far as I am concerned that will again become the case if we're successful on the pitch. The club does not need to sell it's soul to bring people in these sort of fans, we just need to start playing winning rugby. Simple.

Newcastle Eagles, the basketball team are very successful and have fans from all over the North east and have the name Newcastle in there.Folk should not be so small minded,and if they are I dont think they are the right sort we need as rugby fans, sorry.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 26/04/2012 11:47 by lizard118.

I agree with Kilroy on this, but I think we need to recognise that rugby is in the minority up here. The majority of folk, and therefore newspaper readers, do have an affinity with their local club, some of them very passionate about it to the point of fanatacism. I would like to think that the rugby supporting public, whether they follow football or not, are a bit more discerning in their decision making than to be swayed by colours or names. The majority of football fans however do not seem to be, hence the fear from editors that Smithy has experienced. I cannot believe that the recent changes have had anything to do with football, surely the club has better marketing ideas than that, they seem to have been getting so many other things right (or at least improved) lately. One thing that we do have in common with local football fans however is our committment and loyalty despite years of neglect and rubbish on the field.

Well, we certainly get passionate debate going on here, whether it be about the team, perfomances,the shirt, the region, media coverage or whatever, proving the point.

There is a degree of parochialism in the area, again a form of pride in one's locality, but if Saints can appeal to East Anglia & get supporters in from Norwich for their home games, there must/might be something the club can do to entice additional support in from Wearside, Teesside, North Yorks & Cumbria and beyond.

Given the extent to which the Community Programme goes out in to the shires already I don't know what else it can be other than more of the same & wider afield?