Post by MrCelery on Jun 10, 2005 2:37:46 GMT 10
Those Marinators that want a bit of background on the Newcastle Rowdies vocal supporters that now follow the Mariners might be interested in this article I've stumbled on.
Not sure who wrote it (not me!), but a good summary of what is happening up north.
It was found on a Newcastle United (UK) site:
www.football24-7.com/news/features/185.html
TOP STORIES
Twin Toon
By Tom Lynch
The world of football is graced with teams in far-flung parts of the world, bearing the names of illustrious European clubs.
Names such as Ajax, Barcelona and Benfica are represented in such places as South Africa, Ecuador and Macao.
English teams are well represented, with both Arsenal and Liverpool having namesakes in Africa and South America, while one of Chile’s top teams is Santiago side, Everton. Even Blackpool of division two is represented in the form of South African side Rabali Blackpool.
Another side that can boast a namesake is Newcastle United.
What makes Newcastle’s namesakes different though, is while the Uruguayan Liverpool, or the Ecuadorian Barcelona don’t play in the places that their names suggest, the Magpies’ Australian counterparts do.
Without having experienced Australia first hand, and with no money to jet across to the other side of the world, I have done some research via the Internet, and eventually came across a site called Newcastle Football (www.newcastlefootball.cjb.net), and was able to speak to fans of the Australian NUFC.
The Australian City of Newcastle is situated in New South Wales to the north of Sydney. It was founded in 1797 by settlers from its sister city Newcastle Upon Tyne, in the north east of England.
From what I have found out, the two cities have many similarities. One fan I spoke to described it as being “a lot like Tyneside, but with good weather, and no Angel of the North”. Many areas of the Australian City carry the names of districts of Newcastle Upon Tyne and it’s surrounding towns. Heaton, Wallsend, Jesmond, Gateshead, Killingworth and others are all to be found down under.
In Newcastle Upon Tyne, many people have felt (and still do) that the city is looked down on by people from London, and it would seem that the people of Newcastle NSW, feel that they are portrayed in the same manner by the residents of Sydney.
Both relied on the heavy industries of coal mining and shipbuilding, before going into decline in the latter part of the twentieth century, but have emerged as regenerated, cosmopolitan cities.
However as far as the two NUFC’s go, things appear to be very different.
The English side, is of course the original having been formed in 1881 as Newcastle East End before becoming Newcastle United in 1892, and while the Magpies have had their fair share of ups and downs, they are one of English football’s most famous teams. Being the only club in a city passionate about football, The Toon can draw on massive support, regarded by many as some of the best fans in England.
In Australia though, football has always taken a back seat to both rugby codes, cricket and aussie rules, and whilst the profile, and standard of the sport has significantly increased, Australian football fans feel there is still a lot of work to be done to win over the majority of the Australian public.
On top of that, the Aussie NUFC is the subject of much antagonism amongst the football loving community of Newcastle NSW. The club was formed just three years ago by the city’s Rugby League team, the Newcastle Knights, and immediately won a place in Australia’s top flight, the National Soccer League (NSL). This caused friction on two counts. The rivalry Australia’s football fans feel towards Rugby League, and the City’s previous football team.
In England, the rivalry between Newcastle United and local neighbours Sunderland is one of the most fiercely contested in England, that envelopes not only the two clubs, but also the two cities separated by just ten or so miles.
The situation in Australia is rather different. The nearest other NSL team to Newcastle is Northern Spirit, who play in the northern suburbs of Sydney, but it is not a rivalry. The Aussie Newcastle fans love to see their side beat the top sides in the NSL, such as Perth Glory, Parramatta Power and Sydney Olympic, but the real rivalry lies not with any football club, but with Rugby League. “The majority of football supporters in Australia hate Rugby League” I was told. So when the Newcastle Knights set up NUFC Australia (known by many fans as ‘Newcastle Uknighted’), sporting the rugby team’s red and blue colours, and the Knights’ 25,000 capacity Energy Australia stadium became their home, it provoked a lot of anger amongst the city’s football supporters.
More importantly, the second count involves NUFC Australia’s predecessors in the NSL, Newcastle Breakers.
The Breakers started life as Newcastle KB United in 1978, and though never one of the most successful sides in Australia, did manage to attract crowds of 10,000, and like the Geordies, had a loyal and noisy band of supporters, led by a group called ‘the Rowdies’.
After narrowly missing out on the finals of the NSL in the 1999-2000 season, their most successful season ever, the Breakers lost their NSL licence in favour of the new Rugby League backed side.
After more than 20 years, the Breakers were no more, many Breakers supporters, including the Rowdies refused to support a Rugby League owned side, who had killed off their club. A number of supporters have adopted a policy of supporting the new side, whilst remaining opposed to the Newcastle Knights and Rugby League in general.
At St.James’ Park the feel good factor is high, as Newcastle are looking to emulated last year’s third place finish in the Premiership, playing attractive and attacking football, under Bobby Robson, one of the most respected managers in the world, while across on the other side of the world, the Australian fans are less than enamoured with the way that their side is run with the fans website lambasting general manager Jock Graham, and supporters describing him as “f***ed up” and “unable to run a football club for shit”.
A throwback to the days of the late 80’s at St James’ perhaps, when ‘SACK THE BOARD’ seemed to be daubed on every bare wall in Newcastle, and fans calling for then chairman Gordon McKeag’s head, even releasing a record saying so.
So there we have it. The two clubs may share the same name, but it appears that while in England, Newcastle United are a club on the up, with the support of pretty much the entire city behind them, in Australia, Newcastle United suffers from the fact of being in a country still largely indifferent to football, football fans who won’t support the team, because of their Rugby League links and the demise of the Newcastle Breakers, and those that do support them, are unhappy with the Rugby League links and the way that the club is run.
Not sure who wrote it (not me!), but a good summary of what is happening up north.
It was found on a Newcastle United (UK) site:
www.football24-7.com/news/features/185.html
TOP STORIES
Twin Toon
By Tom Lynch
The world of football is graced with teams in far-flung parts of the world, bearing the names of illustrious European clubs.
Names such as Ajax, Barcelona and Benfica are represented in such places as South Africa, Ecuador and Macao.
English teams are well represented, with both Arsenal and Liverpool having namesakes in Africa and South America, while one of Chile’s top teams is Santiago side, Everton. Even Blackpool of division two is represented in the form of South African side Rabali Blackpool.
Another side that can boast a namesake is Newcastle United.
What makes Newcastle’s namesakes different though, is while the Uruguayan Liverpool, or the Ecuadorian Barcelona don’t play in the places that their names suggest, the Magpies’ Australian counterparts do.
Without having experienced Australia first hand, and with no money to jet across to the other side of the world, I have done some research via the Internet, and eventually came across a site called Newcastle Football (www.newcastlefootball.cjb.net), and was able to speak to fans of the Australian NUFC.
The Australian City of Newcastle is situated in New South Wales to the north of Sydney. It was founded in 1797 by settlers from its sister city Newcastle Upon Tyne, in the north east of England.
From what I have found out, the two cities have many similarities. One fan I spoke to described it as being “a lot like Tyneside, but with good weather, and no Angel of the North”. Many areas of the Australian City carry the names of districts of Newcastle Upon Tyne and it’s surrounding towns. Heaton, Wallsend, Jesmond, Gateshead, Killingworth and others are all to be found down under.
In Newcastle Upon Tyne, many people have felt (and still do) that the city is looked down on by people from London, and it would seem that the people of Newcastle NSW, feel that they are portrayed in the same manner by the residents of Sydney.
Both relied on the heavy industries of coal mining and shipbuilding, before going into decline in the latter part of the twentieth century, but have emerged as regenerated, cosmopolitan cities.
However as far as the two NUFC’s go, things appear to be very different.
The English side, is of course the original having been formed in 1881 as Newcastle East End before becoming Newcastle United in 1892, and while the Magpies have had their fair share of ups and downs, they are one of English football’s most famous teams. Being the only club in a city passionate about football, The Toon can draw on massive support, regarded by many as some of the best fans in England.
In Australia though, football has always taken a back seat to both rugby codes, cricket and aussie rules, and whilst the profile, and standard of the sport has significantly increased, Australian football fans feel there is still a lot of work to be done to win over the majority of the Australian public.
On top of that, the Aussie NUFC is the subject of much antagonism amongst the football loving community of Newcastle NSW. The club was formed just three years ago by the city’s Rugby League team, the Newcastle Knights, and immediately won a place in Australia’s top flight, the National Soccer League (NSL). This caused friction on two counts. The rivalry Australia’s football fans feel towards Rugby League, and the City’s previous football team.
In England, the rivalry between Newcastle United and local neighbours Sunderland is one of the most fiercely contested in England, that envelopes not only the two clubs, but also the two cities separated by just ten or so miles.
The situation in Australia is rather different. The nearest other NSL team to Newcastle is Northern Spirit, who play in the northern suburbs of Sydney, but it is not a rivalry. The Aussie Newcastle fans love to see their side beat the top sides in the NSL, such as Perth Glory, Parramatta Power and Sydney Olympic, but the real rivalry lies not with any football club, but with Rugby League. “The majority of football supporters in Australia hate Rugby League” I was told. So when the Newcastle Knights set up NUFC Australia (known by many fans as ‘Newcastle Uknighted’), sporting the rugby team’s red and blue colours, and the Knights’ 25,000 capacity Energy Australia stadium became their home, it provoked a lot of anger amongst the city’s football supporters.
More importantly, the second count involves NUFC Australia’s predecessors in the NSL, Newcastle Breakers.
The Breakers started life as Newcastle KB United in 1978, and though never one of the most successful sides in Australia, did manage to attract crowds of 10,000, and like the Geordies, had a loyal and noisy band of supporters, led by a group called ‘the Rowdies’.
After narrowly missing out on the finals of the NSL in the 1999-2000 season, their most successful season ever, the Breakers lost their NSL licence in favour of the new Rugby League backed side.
After more than 20 years, the Breakers were no more, many Breakers supporters, including the Rowdies refused to support a Rugby League owned side, who had killed off their club. A number of supporters have adopted a policy of supporting the new side, whilst remaining opposed to the Newcastle Knights and Rugby League in general.
At St.James’ Park the feel good factor is high, as Newcastle are looking to emulated last year’s third place finish in the Premiership, playing attractive and attacking football, under Bobby Robson, one of the most respected managers in the world, while across on the other side of the world, the Australian fans are less than enamoured with the way that their side is run with the fans website lambasting general manager Jock Graham, and supporters describing him as “f***ed up” and “unable to run a football club for shit”.
A throwback to the days of the late 80’s at St James’ perhaps, when ‘SACK THE BOARD’ seemed to be daubed on every bare wall in Newcastle, and fans calling for then chairman Gordon McKeag’s head, even releasing a record saying so.
So there we have it. The two clubs may share the same name, but it appears that while in England, Newcastle United are a club on the up, with the support of pretty much the entire city behind them, in Australia, Newcastle United suffers from the fact of being in a country still largely indifferent to football, football fans who won’t support the team, because of their Rugby League links and the demise of the Newcastle Breakers, and those that do support them, are unhappy with the Rugby League links and the way that the club is run.
