Ripping down SDA signs..........
Maybe they had seen this..
Newcastle chief Derek Llambias has sensationally admitted that the club's owner Mike Ashley still calls their home ground St James’ Park - and says the fans should too.
But the Toon have vowed to press ahead with finding a new naming-rights sponsor for the historic 52,000-seat stadium, explaining that it will help fund a top-class new signing every season.
Llambias revealed the club's latest financial figures for the year to June 2011 on Thursday - and the numbers show Newcastle are in a healthy, virtual-break-even position at a time when many of their rivals are losing tens of millions.
Despite that encouraging news, managing director Llambias insists the only way for Newcastle to compete at the sharp end of the Premier League is to up their “commercial revenue”, which is lagging milllions of pounds each year behind clubs they aim to compete with, such as Spurs, Chelsea, the two Manchester teams and Liverpool.
In his first ever interview, Llambias has told the Mirror he and Ashley are not “riding roughshod” over the club’s history and traditions, and stated they will always be there and owned by the fans.
The ground was officially renamed the Sports Direct Arena in November, sparking fury from many fans.
But Llambias said: “Do you think me and Mike call it the Sports Direct Arena? We call it St James’ Park, because it is St James’ Park.
“The naming rights is such a passionate thing. It’s not about being disrespectful or taking away the tradition or the history of the club - it’s about trying to get another Yohan Cabaye out there on the pitch. That’s how we see it.
"To optimise our commercial side, we needed to get that in there - other clubs do it.
“We’ve had to take the criticism on the nose. We’re not riding roughshod over people’s love. People come to see our players on the pitch. It’s about us, the fans, the manager, the players and the region - it’s an emotional thing.
“If we wanted to ride roughshod, we’d just put the ticket prices up.
"That’s not happening.
"We know we’ve got a huge responsibility, and we know there’s a lot of emotion involved and we are emotional people, too.
"We are not being disrespectful. Mike and I understand and feel for it.
“The only area of income we can really build is the commercial revenue. We don’t want to put ticket prices up. We have a 10-year ticket deal and now we’ve announced a nine-year deal.
"We’ve increased our family area to 7,500 and for an adult and a kid it’s 500 quid a year.
"We’re trying to fill the stadium at a price we can afford. We can’t have it half-full, because we’d lose that spirit.
“There are only a few ways to increase our income. We know the naming rights is contentious, but that income is something we need.”
Newcastle earn £15million a year from commercial deals such as shirt sponsorships and retailing.
In comparison, Spurs bank £50m, Chelsea £45m, Manchester City £54m and Manchester United a staggering £103m.
Llambias added: “Could our stadium be the O2 Arena of the north? I think it could.
"It’s already a cathedral, but it’s dead in the summer. There are things the club can expand on, but we are limited.
“Sports Direct is showcasing the naming rights, but without Sports Direct we would not be in Newcastle. That is the business that gives Mike the power to do what we’re doing, and the power to put £270m of his own money behind the football club.
“We’d have loved someone to come along and say, 'We’re going to give you the money for the shirt sponsorship and the stadium.'
“If we lose on a Saturday, my wife just leaves me alone in the next room and Mike sulks in his house. That’s what happens when you get involved in something when you start to run and love a team and all the functions of our club.
"We just feel it’s for the good of our club going forward and it could give us another player.”
Newcastle sources admit the best scenario may be for a business such as their existing shirt sponsors Virgin Money - who are based in the city - to buy the naming rights... and then rename the ground St James’ Park.
“What a PR coup that would be,” a club source said.