Fans blast Newcastle stadium name-change

Newcastle fans reacted with scorn Thursday after it emerged that the club’s St. James’ Park stadium is to be rebranded with the name of a dotcom sponsor.

The Magpies’ home is to be renamed as sportsdirect.com@St James’ Park until the end of this season, to plug the sportswear firm of controversial club owner Mike Ashley.

Some 16,000 people have signed an online petition protesting at the name change, while local MP David Clelland has tabled a parliamentary motion urging the club’s owners to reconsider.

“The idea of turning the history of St James’ Park into something that resembles an email address absolutely beggars belief,” said Mark Jensen, editor of The Mag fanzine, which described the move as “cheap and nasty.”

Club managing director Derek Llambias admitted the name change had been badly handled.

“We could have worded it better,” he told BBC radio, while defending the decision which could see the stadium changed to another name if an outside sponsor is found.

“If it brings in a good chunk of money to the club that goes straight to the team, it’s a revenue that we should look at,” he said.

“Newcastle United’s history is just incredible … people have to look at maximising their revenues. That’s one part of a stadium that you can use that is under-utilised.”