What this Newcastle United trip to Australia is really all about | OneFootball

So, with the season over for Newcastle United, all eyes turn to this Saturday’s FA Cup Final.

Where every Geordie will be a Manchester City supporter for the afternoon.

I’m off work and will be in front of a TV somewhere, watching to see if the blue half of Manchester can beat the red half and make most of the country happy, as well as crucially for us Newcastle fans, put us back in Europe at their local rivals expense.

Pep and co, you know what you must do.

Qualifying for Europe is important in our continuing development both on and off the pitch but there are other avenues where we can build our stature and promote our name.

That also means building up something that the Manchester Uniteds of this world have that we don’t… a brand.

Which is why I was perplexed at the comments from Alan Shearer this weekend, where he labelled our upcoming trip to Australia as “madness”.

Alan Shearer speaking on Match of The Day on Sunday:

“Can you imagine if you are a player who is playing in either the Copa America or Euro 2024, having to do that?  Madness. Crazy. I wouldn’t be happy at all.

“It is crazy for Newcastle to go and play Spurs there [in Melbourne] on Wednesday night and then another game.”

Really? Well Mr Shearer, I’m pleased you’re not in charge or have any influence over commercial aspects and development of the club.

During the Mike Ashley years, our growth wasn’t even zero. It was regressive.

Tottenham Hotspur has often been held up as a yardstick as to our decline from 2007 when Ashley bought the club. People with accurate figures will be able to highlight how we have fallen and how the Cockerels have gone on from strength to strength. Only now are we seeing small signs of things being put right, on and off the pitch. I get the impression that Darren Eales will have his finger on the pulse and be behind the marketing and rejuvenation.

Ironically for this topic, our opponents out in the land down under, are Tottenham. It’s a funny old game as the saying goes. But it’s important that we appear and it’s important that big name players attend.

I’ve seen the comments from Keiran Trippier and I agree with them.

Kieran Trippier quizzed about the trip ahead of the Brentford match:

“It is not ideal because it is a tournament year.

“I understand why the club are doing it.

I have done it at Tottenham and Madrid, but from my own experience of it, in a tournament year it is not ideal.”

The trip is far from ideal but at least the player in question acknowledges that he knows why the club have arranged such a fixture.

As an aside, Garang Kuol will likely feature prominently over in his native country. It’s all about publicity. I bet Spurs have a decent following in South Korea just because they have the excellent Son Heung-min. If there were a cracking Japanese player out there, you’d better believe the club would look into making the signing happen. If you think that I’m hinting that there will be a box ticking exercise at play then you’d be dead right. If there’s a player available that can be good for the club AND give us a boost commercially then you better believe the club will look at it.

Back to Alan Shearer.

He knows as well as anyone that building his beloved Newcastle United is going to be a long and bumpy road, especially after Mike Ashley’s untold damage to it.

Part of this is going abroad and playing games and getting a brand built.

Australia this week, Japan in August. It was the USA the other year as highlighted in the Amazon Prime documentary and the trip will have promoted the club no end.

“This series follows Newcastle’s drive for success and their fight to break into the elite”- Alan Shearer.

If that means we go to Australia and Japan, then to Australia and Japan we go.

Strangely, back in the summer of 1996, Newcastle United had just signed football’s most expensive player, making headlines across the world with their progressive forward thinking attitude and swashbuckling football. As Kevin Keegan said at the time, the club had bought the best players for the best fans.

That footballer was Alan Shearer. The same Alan Shearer was flown out to Thailand at a moment’s notice. Why? Due to commercial reasons. He HAD to be there. Scottish and Newcastle Breweries and Adidas, our kit sponsors, would have insisted on that. In 2024, Adidas will likely be influencing our every move once again.

Fast forward to 2024 and any publicity and media attention will be vital to our sponsors as well as our blossoming brand.