NUST Official Statement – Condemns decision by TV broadcasters | OneFootball

NUST have reacted angrily to the latest decision that unfairly punishes Newcastle United’s hardcore fans.

Wednesday finally brought the latest batch of Newcastle United live TV matches, along with those for the rest of the Premier League clubs.

Two of Newcastle’s three November matches selected for UK broadcasting and of course moved, staying on the same days BUT different kick-off times.

On Saturday 6 November Newcastle are now away at Arsenal with a 12.30pm kick-off, that weekend there is work on the lines and extended journey times, making it extra awkward for Newcastle fans to get to the game.

However, it is Brighton on Saturday 27 November that really takes the biscuit, the kick-off moved to 5.30pm, meaning it is impossible to get back to Newcastle by train after the match.

Quite incredible really, moving Newcastle’s longest trip to such an awkward time.

This fixture has been chosen a number of times by the broadcasters in both league and FA Cup, you have to ask as well, exactly what are Newcastle United doing about this when it comes to protesting to broadcasters and the Premier League on behalf of their hardcore fans?

I think we can all guess that one.

NUST Official Statement to members – 22 September 2021:

‘TV Broadcasters strike again

Just as English football took a huge leap today with the introduction of legalised standing at matches in the top two tiers of English football, our hardcore travelling lads and lasses were brought quickly back down to earth with the latest announcement from BT Sport that two of our fixtures for November had been moved for TV broadcast.

For years, Newcastle fans have suffered at the hands of the TV broadcast selections, with ridiculous kick-off times making travelling either extremely difficult or extremely expensive, more often than not a combination of both. Our fixture at Brighton on November 6th has been moved for BT Sport broadcast, a 5:30pm kick off. There are zero trains back to Newcastle after this fixture, meaning fans face a mammoth journey by bus or by car or face extra expense by staying in a hotel overnight.

Later in November, Newcastle travel to Arsenal for a 12:30pm kick-off at the Emirates Stadium on the 27th. A date already difficult enough with engineering works on the East Coast mainline, this change makes a limited service even more challenging for our travelling fans.

The broadcasters had committed to announcing the fixture changes on the 16th September, and have already missed one of their first deadlines by six days. In that time, train prices have soared, and Newcastle fans are facing hefty bills of well over £100 for travel for each fixture.

After everything to do with the European Super League fiasco, and with fans being out of stadiums for so long, we hoped everyone had finally seen what we already knew, that fans are the life and soul of this game. We are indispensable.

The latest TV changes tell the hardcore traveling fans of Newcastle United that nothing has changed. The TV broadcasters will continue to take you for granted for their own means and face zero accountability for it. Both fixture changes have been imposed with zero consideration for Newcastle United fans.

On Sunday, Sky Sports supported a net-zero carbon fixture between Tottenham and Chelsea at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the irony of this being that just a few days later a broadcasting company sends Newcastle to the other end of the country leaving fans with little choice but to travel by road if they want to return home after the game.

Newcastle United Supporters Trust will continue to lobby broadcasters and the Premier League through the avenues open to us, as we have done for years, however, as we all know, no one with the power to prevent these decisions is listening.

This is a further reminder of the importance of the on-ongoing fan-led review into football, and that fundamental reform of football governance must be enacted through legislative change to reset the game to operate in the best interests of fans.’