Just a quick whimsical post about Newcastle's decision to break from the name 'St James' Park' which has been in use since 1905 and rename it 'Sports Direct Arena.' I know a lot of teams have done similar things when moving but this subject is something that took up a lot of my time last year writing a million (exageration) word dissertation on the changing concepts and perceptions of Football clubs 'community' Surely this americanisation is only going one way and club traditions are slowly being dissolved. (This was a topic that nearly killed me) and therefore I'll leave it at that before I regurgitate long words on theories of community and social belonging Anyway my view is too much money in football, and if we end up with a ground other than Portman Road, I will be some what miffed
I dont really know how I feel about it tbh. In many ways its losing the heritage but how many fans will call it by its true name plus alot of current stands are already named for coporate reasons. At PR I sit in offically sit in South Stand Upper but to me it will always be Churchmans, which in itself is named after a company. £10m to rename something is decent money when you consider all fans will still call it SJP. On similar lines isnt West Ham offically called The Boleyn Stadium? but nobody has ever refered to it by that name.
I agree with this. At the same time as I would be slightly dissapointed if Portman Road was suddenly called the Marcus Evans arena for traditions sence but at the end of the day its only a name and one that has little relevance to ITFC apart from the fact its the road its on. Is it worth keeping a name for traditions sake at the chance of making more money and (although extremely unlikely) lowering ticket prices and getting higher attendances?? I'm not saying I'm for it, but I can see some comercial sense to it and don't really see apart from some obvious fan discontent any adverse affects it would have on the club!!
Whether you agree with it or not, unfortunately it's the way football is going. It's all about the wonga nowadays, and tradition (sadly) counts for nothing. I agree it does make commercial sense, especially if it means making a club financially secure, but I would rather see name changing limited to new stadiums only, that way it doesn't suddenly and blatantly devalue the traditions which a club/stadium has built over a long period of time.
Lets change the name and get millions of pounds for doing so, after all, us fans will still call it Portman Rd, so to us there will be no change and we will be richer!!! WIN WIN!!!
Whether its called the " bluetack stadium " , " the red wine arena " etc whatever it'll always be Portman Road for me. I wouldn't be overly amused if Portman Road was to be renamed, however, that's the name of the ROAD at the end of the day. A sign of the times really.
I personally couldn't give a ****! We all know that it's Portman Road and what's in our hearts will always be more important than the official name. No one calls the premier league "the barclays premier league" or the championship "the n power championship" so **** it all! Let's rename our ground the Greene King Stadium and get some money in. I still call the bobby robson stand the north stand, I don't know about anyone else...
