How bad can it honestly be, being a fan of Newcastle United in the summer of 2025? | OneFootball

So, Newcastle United have reportedly missed out on another striker, whilst our League Cup hero sulks and agitates for a move.

But we did sign a player in the window in a deal worth upwards of £55 million and whilst many have said we don’t need another keeper, I reckon Aaron Ramsdale is a very shrewd acquisition. Hopefully, the Greek and the Slovakian will both be moved on in the coming days?

In addition, it’s not like the window has slammed shut yet, although with Aston Villa away in just nine days time I can understand why there is a degree of despondency across Tyneside right now.

But how bad can it honestly be, being a fan of Newcastle United in the summer of 2025?

Around two hours drive to the south is the city of Sheffield and if we thought we were having a bad time of it, you maybe need to spare a thought for the followers of Sheffield Wednesday FC.

Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of The Wednesday Cricket Club (itself formed in 1820), they were known as The Wednesday Football Club until 1929. Wednesday is one of the oldest surviving football clubs in the world of any code, and the second-oldest professional association football club in England. And they might soon cease to exist.

As recently as 1991 (which is recent if you’re my age) Sheff Wed, as I call them, won the League Cup, a John Sheridan goal being the difference between them and Man U in the Final.

Until we ridded ourselves of those 70 years of hurt by winning the same competition last March, Wednesday was amongst a small band of clubs outside the so called ‘big six’ that had managed to buck the trend and lift a trophy. Along with the likes of Oxford United, Coventry City, Portsmouth and even the Boro, I was insanely jealous of those trophy hoists, for the simple fact we hadn’t been able to manage it.

Whilst the time that has elapsed since 1991 probably represents a lifetime for some, I still consider it to be a relatively short period. So, what is going on in South Yorkshire?

Wednesday have been owned by the Thai businessman, Dejphon Chansiri, for a decade now. They had their troubles before that (nearly going into administration in 2010 before Milan Mandaric acquired the club for the princely sum of £1), and so whilst the arrival of Chansiri heralded some initial highs, Wednesday narrowly missing out on a return to the Premier League when they lost in the 2016 play-off final to Hull City, those years also saw huge overspending and a failure to transfer players on for a profit, something that would eventually come back to bite the Sheffield club.

In July 2020, the club were deducted six points (it had been twelve before appeal) for breaching PSR rules, selling Hillsborough and not putting the legalities in place in time being the stated reason for the breach. Chansiri selling the ground for £60m to himself was surely an indicator of the parlous state of Wednesday’s financial affairs and despite the points deduction being halved, Wednesday were still relegated to League One on goal difference.

Although the club made it back to the Championship in 2024, matters have got progressively worse, culminating this year in Chansiri failing to pay players and staff on time and in full, since March.

In June, the EFL placed a triple transfer embargo on the club for a failure to pay the players. After this, further embargoes followed after Chansiri was late paying the tax bill, and there are transfer fees to other clubs that remain outstanding. Some players subsequently served notice to step out of their contracts and leave on a free transfer, the likes of Josh Windass being one such example, whilst other promising youngsters have been offloaded in what represents something of a fire sale.

Recently, the North Stand, which holds 9,000 supporters (many of them season-ticket holders) and which has Chansiri’s name emblazoned across the seats in what seems to be a gross act of vanity, has been closed by the local council because of a failure to carry out critical works on the roof, the safety regulator deeming it unsafe.

As things stand, Sheff Wed will be fulfilling their opening fixture at Leicester on Sunday, but beyond that, the situation looks more than bleak.

As far as Newcastle United is concerned, it’s probably a case of ‘by the grace of God’ and all that. We had an owner for fourteen years who seemed determined to drag us under and when contemplating how bad this window has been, we should probably remind ourselves of where we were four short years ago, and where we are now.

I know PSR is not our friend, it is holding us back and preventing us from competing on a level playing field with the so called ‘big six’ and there needs to be an urgent fix in that regard. But Chansiri’s quick fixes didn’t yield positive results on the pitch and Sheffield Wednesday are paying the price, and some.

It’s fair to say they’ve been ruined and it’s worth thinking about that, when we bemoan a system that is far from ideal and loaded not just against NUFC, but everyone outside the so called ‘big six’.