THE NAME GAME
0 views
Skip to first unread message
brighton rebel
Nov 25, 2009, 2:56:18 AM11/25/09
to slough town soapbox
Printed in the Southern League Midlands Division match v Bedworth
United. We won 2-0 in front of 241 spectators and are now second!
Only Newcastle United’s clown owner Mike Ashley could come up with
such a crap re-branding. Forget St.James Park, Newcastle now play at
the sportsdi...@St.James' Park Stadium. Doesn’t that just roll
off the tongue; I can already hear Toon Army fans scratching their
heads to try and incorporate it into songs.
Just as I hate it when old pub names are lost under some trendy new
moniker, I can’t stand it when traditional football stadium names go
the same way. Surely there’s other ways of raising sponsorship, or god
forbid, reducing players wages so clubs don’t have to bow to the
corporate hammer and squeeze every drop of cash out of everything.
York City went from Bootham Crescent to Kit Kat Crescent,
Bournemouth’s Dean Court became the Fitness First Stadium, but is now
looking for new sponsors. Everyone’s favourite football romantics
Accrington Stanley played at the Crown Ground, until it was renamed
the passion killing Interlink Express Stadium, then the Fraser Eagle
Stadium until that company went bust. Dagenham and Redbridge’s
Victoria Road has become quite the mouthfall – welcome to ‘the London
Borough of Barking & Dagenham Stadium’. Witton Albion have played at
the Bargain Booze Stadium, Cambridge United briefly played at the
Trade Recruitment Stadium and are now at the R Costings Abbey Stadium,
while Kettering's Rockingham Road has just been renamed Elgoods
Brewery Arena. When Graham Westley took over as chairman/manager/god
at Farnborough Town, amongst other things, he renamed the ground 'The
Aimita Stadium' after his company, but as soon as the pratt left it
was changed back to Cherrywood Road. Locals at Stocksbridge Park
Steels delightfully named Bracken Moor Ground have refused to call it
the Look Local stadium, much of the dismay of the sponsors the Look
Local newspaper.
Sometimes it does work - sort of. Pontefract Collieries for some
reason play at the Abstract Stadium, while Rugby Leagues Castleford
Tigers play at the Jungle after former sponsor Jungle.com. When Argos
bought the company, they severed all their links with the Tigers but
the club decided to keep the name. The Oval, bastion of English
cricket, is now "The Brit Oval", following a sponsorship deal with an
insurance firm. Of course compared with American sports, British
sponsorship is the epitome of subtlety. Thank god we haven’t yet got
the Pizza Hut Park and or Dick's Sporting Goods Park!
Mind you, if renaming football stadiums is bad enough, what about
renaming whole football clubs, which seems popular in Welsh football.
The owner of TNS waged a war with the BBC to get them to read out
Welsh Premier League results – nothing to do with the fact that it
would have been free advertising for his company. TNS are now The New
Saints, wherever that is. The oldest football club in Wales, Cefn
Druids have already been renamed 3 times by different sponsors and are
currently Elements Cefn Druids.
As for Newcastle, well the Newcastle United Supporters Trust summed up
the new name perfectly “Newcastle is beginning to resemble one of Mr
Ashley’s famous sales at Sports Direct - chaotic, cheap and a
shambles. Now, as his latest slap in the face to the fans and the
city, he wants to sell off the famous name of St James‘ Park.
Everything he does now seems to be calculated to thumb a nose at his
customers.”
If the idea of re-branding is to make more money, then it seems rather
short sighted if you manage to alienate your customers – sorry
football supporters – along the way. Maybe Ashley should have hooked
up with some bath and toilet manufacturer and renamed St.James Park
down-the-plughole.com?
United. We won 2-0 in front of 241 spectators and are now second!
Only Newcastle United’s clown owner Mike Ashley could come up with
such a crap re-branding. Forget St.James Park, Newcastle now play at
the sportsdi...@St.James' Park Stadium. Doesn’t that just roll
off the tongue; I can already hear Toon Army fans scratching their
heads to try and incorporate it into songs.
Just as I hate it when old pub names are lost under some trendy new
moniker, I can’t stand it when traditional football stadium names go
the same way. Surely there’s other ways of raising sponsorship, or god
forbid, reducing players wages so clubs don’t have to bow to the
corporate hammer and squeeze every drop of cash out of everything.
York City went from Bootham Crescent to Kit Kat Crescent,
Bournemouth’s Dean Court became the Fitness First Stadium, but is now
looking for new sponsors. Everyone’s favourite football romantics
Accrington Stanley played at the Crown Ground, until it was renamed
the passion killing Interlink Express Stadium, then the Fraser Eagle
Stadium until that company went bust. Dagenham and Redbridge’s
Victoria Road has become quite the mouthfall – welcome to ‘the London
Borough of Barking & Dagenham Stadium’. Witton Albion have played at
the Bargain Booze Stadium, Cambridge United briefly played at the
Trade Recruitment Stadium and are now at the R Costings Abbey Stadium,
while Kettering's Rockingham Road has just been renamed Elgoods
Brewery Arena. When Graham Westley took over as chairman/manager/god
at Farnborough Town, amongst other things, he renamed the ground 'The
Aimita Stadium' after his company, but as soon as the pratt left it
was changed back to Cherrywood Road. Locals at Stocksbridge Park
Steels delightfully named Bracken Moor Ground have refused to call it
the Look Local stadium, much of the dismay of the sponsors the Look
Local newspaper.
Sometimes it does work - sort of. Pontefract Collieries for some
reason play at the Abstract Stadium, while Rugby Leagues Castleford
Tigers play at the Jungle after former sponsor Jungle.com. When Argos
bought the company, they severed all their links with the Tigers but
the club decided to keep the name. The Oval, bastion of English
cricket, is now "The Brit Oval", following a sponsorship deal with an
insurance firm. Of course compared with American sports, British
sponsorship is the epitome of subtlety. Thank god we haven’t yet got
the Pizza Hut Park and or Dick's Sporting Goods Park!
Mind you, if renaming football stadiums is bad enough, what about
renaming whole football clubs, which seems popular in Welsh football.
The owner of TNS waged a war with the BBC to get them to read out
Welsh Premier League results – nothing to do with the fact that it
would have been free advertising for his company. TNS are now The New
Saints, wherever that is. The oldest football club in Wales, Cefn
Druids have already been renamed 3 times by different sponsors and are
currently Elements Cefn Druids.
As for Newcastle, well the Newcastle United Supporters Trust summed up
the new name perfectly “Newcastle is beginning to resemble one of Mr
Ashley’s famous sales at Sports Direct - chaotic, cheap and a
shambles. Now, as his latest slap in the face to the fans and the
city, he wants to sell off the famous name of St James‘ Park.
Everything he does now seems to be calculated to thumb a nose at his
customers.”
If the idea of re-branding is to make more money, then it seems rather
short sighted if you manage to alienate your customers – sorry
football supporters – along the way. Maybe Ashley should have hooked
up with some bath and toilet manufacturer and renamed St.James Park
down-the-plughole.com?
brighton rebel
Nov 25, 2009, 3:06:20 AM11/25/09
to slough-to...@googlegroups.com
Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages