Great north run versus sunderland

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Good read Bill <ok>

Still can't believe they've let this happen! I made the mistake of agreeing to give a lift home to a couple of mates after they'd finished last year. Traffic was carnage and a 15 minute drive took the best part of 2 hours.

Think the police have got their work cut out with this one!
 
Charley Farley said:
Why don't they swap the home and away fixtures with Stoke so that we play at their place when the gnr is on?
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Don't be silly Charley - that would be intelligent and make perfect sense - why wpould they want to do something like that (I am volunteering at the GnR as a steward and I have a season ticket so will not be able to attend the match. I know at least 20 of my mates who are Season Ticket holders who are running in the race - whatever idiot made this decision needs to be brought to rites as it is outrageous to put the match on at the same time (if my friends don't run the race it'll cost them hundreds each so they have the option to run or to pay a fortune to see SAFC even thought they've already got season tickets.)

This is the stupidest decision I've ever seen by whoever made it
 
Good article, I wonder how many like me were planning on going to the game but now can't because they are running. I was talking to George Cullkin on twitter and he is in rhe same boat. He was supposed to be covering the game but is also doing the run.

It's a complete joke.
 
marcusblackcat said:
Don't be silly Charley - that would be intelligent and make perfect sense - why wpould they want to do something like that (I am volunteering at the GnR as a steward and I have a season ticket so will not be able to attend the match. I know at least 20 of my mates who are Season Ticket holders who are running in the race - whatever idiot made this decision needs to be brought to rites as it is outrageous to put the match on at the same time (if my friends don't run the race it'll cost them hundreds each so they have the option to run or to pay a fortune to see SAFC even thought they've already got season tickets.)

This is the stupidest decision I've ever seen by whoever made it
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IMHO this is a PR disaster, I am not running this year but I know lots of people who are and their friends and family are going to watch and support them. I cannot believe SNQ who is good at PR and how the north east ticks has allowed this..totally stupid
 
Lostinvegas said:
Good article, I wonder how many like me were planning on going to the game but now can't because they are running. I was talking to George Cullkin on twitter and he is in rhe same boat. He was supposed to be covering the game but is also doing the run.

It's a complete joke.
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I think SAFC will find that this is a complete disaster. I'll be surprised if attendance is much more than 30-35k which will show up whoever made this joke of a decision. Like you say Vegas - there are a lot of people going to watch and support the GnR - I didn't get accepted this year but put my name forward to help out as a steward (drinks and stuff!!) as I want to be involved for the charity. SAFC (or whoever made the decision) have a lot to answer for with this
 
Outrageous decision, for the club, the police and for traffic issues.

If i was an oportunist criminal, which i'm not of course, i'd see this as a great day to be a scally, there'll be no coppers to stop me!
 
I can't believe the time of the game hasn,t been put back yet! This is a crazy situation, and everyone should be bombarding the club and the local media to try to get this changed..
 
I live in northumberland and my normal journey back from the gane takes about 50 mins with the traffic leaving the game. I go through the tunnel and this will be absolute carnage on the way back. Im thinking im just not going to go to the game. Why should i have to make that decision? Im sure a lot of fans will be in a similar situation and id say at least 5000 season ticket holders will be in a situation where they are running/helping out/supporting friends or family. All who will miss the game and anyone outsude of sunderland will just not bother going and paying for individual tickets. I think it will be a miracle if we get 30k at the game. Absolutely pathetic by whichever clown organised this.
 
Letter I have written to SAFC:

To whomever it may concern.

I have recently (over the past week or so) discovered that the kick off time for the match against Stoke has been changed to not long after the great north run starts.

I find this decision absolutely preposterous. The Great North Run is one of (if not the) biggest half marathon events in the world and is attended, supported, participated in by thousands of people from the North East and internationally. 52000 people will run in the event and a further hundreds of thousands volunteer to help and work at the event and man the sidelines at the event (along with the supporters).

As someone who has very close friends running in the event, I am attending this to support them and to help out at the event and find that this now clashes with the match against Stoke City. I can either attend the Great North Run or attend the Sunderland Match &#8211; it is impossible to attend both and, as such, I cannot attend the match as the arrangements for the Great North Run have been made well in advance of this change.

I have made local media aware of this also and cannot understand the clubs decision to arrange the game at this time. Surely a 4pm kick off would have been more suitable (I would still not be able to attend but this would at least give some people an opportunity to attend both) or re-arrange the fixture for another mid-week within the season (a non-Europe/non carling cup tie week). This would ensure full attendance from Season Ticket holders participating in the run.

Please pass my disgust on to whoever made this decision - I am not alone in my thoughts on this as an active member on a number of forums, there are a lot of people who will be unable to attend the game due to the time it has been arranged for.

I normally find the club very accommodating for the supporters but it appears in this instance that we are the last ones who have been considered (if we have been considered at all)
 
This was raised last week but it was just after transfer deadline day so I think a lot of people missed it! http://www.not606.com/showthread.php/83039-Great-North-run?p=1213386#post1213386

I come from north of the river too and normally drive through the tunnel, then John Reid road etc. The traffic issues mean I am just going to give this game a miss.

The club seem to be afraid to admit they have made a mistake. I want to see a statement from Niall Quinn as I cannot believe he sanctioned this.
 
Spot on Marcus pal. If anyone can find a way to start an online petition from the fans i would be more than happy to sign up on it and im sure countless other fans would also.
 
Reply from Sunderland:


Dear Marc

Thank you for your email.

Naturally we share in your disappointment that the Stoke game has had to be moved as 3pm Saturday kick offs are always our preference. However in this instance due to Stoke&#8217;s progress in the Europa Cup the game has had to be moved by the Premier League. In such circumstances the game has to be played at the earliest available opportunity and as such the Premier League has designated Sunday as this date - a midweek rearrangement was not possible due to Stoke&#8217;s involvement in the 3rd Round of the Carling Cup.
Full consultation has taken place with all of the relevant bodies involved in the Safety Advisory group such as police, transport groups such as Nexus and the local authority and all have given their support for the game to take place at this time.
We do understand that it may impact on some supporters due to the Great North run taking place but in this instance the game has to be played as soon as possible and our hands are tied.
Kind Regards
Media and Communications Team


My reply to this:

It would appear that the only &#8220;people&#8221; who weren&#8217;t consulted regarding this are the people that pay the wages of the players and staff working for the club (and the Premier League) &#8211; i.e. the FANS (such as myself). It is all well and good consulting the Police, the transport Groups and Local Authorities but when do the fans get taken into consideration? It appears that we don&#8217;t and as such I am highly disillusioned by this and find that the paying public always appear to be ignored for instances such as this.

Please can you advise how it will be possible for my 20 friends (all running the Great North Run and all Sunderland Season Ticket holders) to get from the finish line of the run to the kick off for the match? Last year they did not even get past the finishing post of the run until nearly 2:00pm and by the time they made it away from this it was after 3pm?

It really annoys me that the &#8220;big corporate business&#8221; of the Premier League and Sunderland AFC do not seem to care about the supporters as long as they tick all of their own correct boxes.
 
Stoke have a Carling cup game on Tuesday so I can see why Monday is out but I don't see why it can't just be postponed altogether. Even a later ko will still be difficult for runners and their supporters to get there. The joke is some people will be running for the SAFC foundation!
 
marcusblackcat said:
Reply from Sunderland:


Dear Marc

Thank you for your email.

Naturally we share in your disappointment that the Stoke game has had to be moved as 3pm Saturday kick offs are always our preference. However in this instance due to Stoke&#8217;s progress in the Europa Cup the game has had to be moved by the Premier League. In such circumstances the game has to be played at the earliest available opportunity and as such the Premier League has designated Sunday as this date - a midweek rearrangement was not possible due to Stoke&#8217;s involvement in the 3rd Round of the Carling Cup.
Full consultation has taken place with all of the relevant bodies involved in the Safety Advisory group such as police, transport groups such as Nexus and the local authority and all have given their support for the game to take place at this time.
We do understand that it may impact on some supporters due to the Great North run taking place but in this instance the game has to be played as soon as possible and our hands are tied.
Kind Regards
Media and Communications Team
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Well they did not consult with the GNR organisers who surely should have been first on the list. In a previous version of this reply (either on here or SMB can't remember now) they said supporters were involved in thes Safety advisory group too, but I don't know of any. I note they have changed the wording now not mentioning supporters who most definitely would not have approved this.

Can we email the premier league and get the truth about the dates this game has to be played? Something does not ring true here, surely the Premier league want as many fans to attend games as possible?

If it does not change I hope the club realises how low the crowd will be. And it will actually be lower than they announce as many season ticket holders will be counted in when they aren't there.
 
mitchthemakem said:
My neighbour is in his 60s and has done every GNR since day 1 he is also a season ticket holder why could they not play the game on Monday night
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isnt the game going to be on sky?.............and if this is the case......the individual clubs have little say as to when the game will be played due nature of the tv contract...If its not in the contract then it may be blackmail by sky as they are the tail and the clubs are the donkeys..........I think the power is first with sky then the clubs in europe then the also rans and that im fraid is us.........I think that our rants should be first laid at the door of sky...send them an e mail if you are a subscriber...
 
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