The stadium formely known as St James’ Park

Previously on a Bdaily blog I covered the issue of Mike Ashley renaming Newcastle United’s historic St. James’ Park stadium, now known as The Sports Direct Arena. 

Yesterday, the signs were ripped off St. James’ Park, cue a similar reaction from fans to the November announcement which has been portrayed in the media overnight. 

St. James’ Park has stood in the centre of Newcastle since 1982 and many diehard fans are dismayed that Ashley can seemingly cut short the legacy of what fans see as one of the key symbols of English football.

North Shields based Armadillo Creative created a poll on the subject to see what local businesses thought of the issue. As I write 93% are against the name change.

Ashley’s business mind may have well played a significant part in the decision. He may well be trying to deflect the anger that is currently being shown from a potential sponsor. By taking the flack now, come the end of the season, or beyond, when-or-if a new stadium sponsor shows interest the main damage has already been done. In my previous blog I mentioned that a major company could benefit from extremely positive PR in the locality by taking the stadium naming rights and rerenaming to St. James’ Park. Think of the instant rapport that company would gain from the Geordie public!

Update: Briefly this morning, St. James Park was back! During the night the name was daubed across the walls it previously graced with white paint. Workmen were quick to remove the graffiti.

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