https://theathletic.com/1788169/2020/05/03/newcastle-wor-flags-takeover/?source=user_shared_articleWor Flags: ‘We just want to go back to supporting our club the way we used to’
https://theathletic.com/1788169/2020/05/03/newcastle-wor-flags-takeover/?source=user_shared_articleEveryone is desperate for this to be over, the interminable wait. The coronavirus pandemic has placed the world on pause.
At Newcastle United, the impatience for a return to normality is exacerbated further by the abnormal events off the pitch. A much-anticipated takeover bid is currently being assessed by the Premier League and it feels like Tyneside is living through a never-ending transfer deadline day, constantly refreshing social media in search of fresh news.
It is already nine weeks since Newcastle fans last stepped foot inside St James’ Park to watch the goalless draw with Burnley and nobody is quite sure when it will be safe for football to return.
But it is now an entire year since Wor Flags were last part of the match-day experience. The group’s zenith came with a Gallowgate End-sized flag display ahead of Newcastle’s narrow 3-2 defeat to title-chasing Liverpool on May 4, 2019.
“It sends shivers up your spine thinking back to it,” Chris Heron says. “We really made our mark.”
For this supporter group, the wearisome takeover saga and the once-in-a-century global health crisis have proven particularly discouraging.
“A real kick in the bollocks” is how five members of Wor Flags describe the situation to The Athletic during a conference call to mark the anniversary of the unveiling of a 78-metre wide, 54-metre tall and 52-stone flag, the largest ever unfurled at a European football match.
The 25-strong supporter group, responsible for three seasons’ worth of magnificent pre-match displays in the Gallowgate End of St James’ Park, put themselves into self-imposed exile last summer following Rafael Benitez’s departure as manager. In June, Wor Flags declared that they would “only return when Mike Ashley has gone”.
That moment feels agonisingly close – Newcastle fans are understandably restless for confirmation that the takeover has been concluded – yet, even if Ashley does depart imminently, it could be months, if not years, before supporters can return to watch live matches at St James’ Park.
“We’re a group who have always wanted to back the team but we felt strongly that the owner wasn’t backing the team himself,” Thomas Concannon says. “We want to enhance the match-day experience but we’re supporters and we care about the direction our club is heading in. We weren’t prepared to be used as a propaganda tool to pretend everything was OK when it clearly wasn’t.”
“Under new ownership we’d be back at St James’ Park in a heartbeat,” Jonny McHale, who was one of the thousands of Newcastle fans who gave up their season tickets last summer, says. “Hopefully the takeover happens and, beyond that, we can get back into the ground soon.”
The decision to indefinitely suspend displays was largely unanimous and they all agree that it was “the right thing for the group to do”. But there was also a practical element to the postponement; just six of the 25 members have regularly attended matches this season, making it “impossible” to sustain Wor Flags’ game-day contributions.
For the first 14 home fixtures of the 2019-20 season, therefore, the flags have remained untouched, locked away in the storage cupboard underneath the Gallowgate Stand.
“I’m probably the only person in the group who’d still have been doing the displays this season and I admit that’s for a very selfish reason,” Dan Lycett, the group’s primary designer, says. “It was genuinely the most fun part of my match-day for three years. The football has been poor and joyless for the most part. But doing the displays, seeing and feeling the reaction, that makes my weekend. I really miss it.”
They all do. It has been a “painful but necessary” recess.
It was in 2016 that Wor Flags began life – initially as Gallowgate Flags, before the merger with Wor Hyem, who convinced the club to introduce a singing section in Block V of that stand in 2017 – by answering Benitez’s call for unity following relegation.
“The idea was to do a big display for the first game of the season to show we were all behind Rafa and the team,” Dan, who was at the group’s first meeting, says. “We wanted to fill the Gallowgate with flags and really improve the atmosphere. It just snowballed from there.”
When Newcastle hosted Huddersfield Town on August 13, 2016, 500 black-and-white waver flags of various sizes and patterns were distributed before kick-off. The initiative lifted the noise levels inside the stadium and the displays soon became a valued part of match-day.
Over the course of the succeeding three seasons, demonstrations included a welcome message for Miguel Almiron, a “We are the Geordies, the cock of the North” banner, individual flags of Benitez and captain Jamaal Lascelles, a “United As One” display to promote the club’s inclusivity initiative, a Remembrance Day tribute, a “legends day” display and a Gallowgate-wide “Unity” banner.
All were paid for by supporter donations.
“The donations have flown in,” Thomas says. “The support’s always been there. We’ve had offers from the club to pay for flags but we’ve always rejected them. This has always been a fan-inspired movement and it will remain so. That’s what makes it special; that’s why it’s authentic.”
Perhaps most famous of all were two controversial displays, both of which were directed at the ownership and intended to highlight the group’s independence.
First, in October 2017, a song by Valencia fans chanted for Benitez during his time at the Mestalla – containing the words “In spite of the lies they tell us, we’ll never doubt you” – was emblazoned in white letters on a black background. Although the group insisted at the time it was not directed at anyone in particular, the inference was obvious.
“When everyone read the translation they knew what we meant,” Dan says. “What made it for us was the photograph that came out afterwards showing Rafa looking at it. He was buzzing. There was a big smile on his face and it was the justification for doing it. It was 100 per cent for him and he appreciated it.”
Then, in January 2018, a Keegan quote about Ashley only being “one man” and encouraging supporters to “never give up on your club” was unfurled.
“The Keegan flag was, for me, about being a fan,” Chris says. “That’s the most I’ve felt like a proper supporter doing this. That made a statement of, ‘This is our club.’ We’re not just going to happy-clap for you and ignore what goes on behind the scenes, we’re here to really take the ownership to task. That went worldwide because it was first display which really said, ‘This is our club and we’re not happy.'”
Although “difficult conversations” with the club followed, the displays continued and, somewhat surprisingly, Wor Flags insist Newcastle never vetoed any of their proposals.
The group formulate ideas by sharing suggestions into their WhatsApp conversation for Dan to design before the others advise tweaks. Although “a lot of arguments” occur, those heated discussions lead to “the best displays”.
Tentative conversations about how the group may relaunch if a takeover is finalised – “we want to make a big impact on our first game back,” they insist – have started, although the lack of clarity over when they may return complicates matters because “we like our displays to be relevant”. A potential tribute to the NHS has been floated – they already make regular donations to the NUFC Fans Food Bank – while the group would be keen to lay their current flags over empty stands at St James’ Park for behind-closed-doors matches if the Premier League resumes without crowds.
“We’d love an opportunity to engage with any new owners,” Anth Armstrong says. “We’re advocates of safe standing, we want a bigger, better-placed singing section and we also want to keep improving our displays. We’re keen to keep enhancing the match-day atmosphere.”
The installation of a pulley system would be a “game changer”, believes Dan, as it would make impressive demonstrations more straightforward. Engineers have already visited St James’ Park twice to conduct feasibility studies.
Such technology may have allowed for one of Dan’s more left-field schemes, which was discussed but then eventually dismissed, to become reality.
“The display that got away was the wobbly-armed Rafa,” Dan says. “It was just after Ashley had bought House of Fraser and I wanted to have a six-metre tall image of Benitez’s head at the top of the Gallowgate, with his arms coming all the way down the sides of the stand. They’d have held a sign saying ‘House of Benitez’. It would have been controversial but I think it would have looked brilliant with those interactive 3D designs. It would have been another message sent to those above as well.”
Benitez inspired a significant number of demonstrations and it was a fear that the Spaniard would depart last summer which quickened the group’s efforts to unveil a surfer flag covering the entire Gallowgate End before the 2018-19 season was out. The original plan was for the Premier League-record-sized banner to be used during the opening weeks of the current campaign but four months’ work was crammed into three weeks so that Wor Flags could unfurl the design before banishing themselves from the ground.
More than 2,000 fans helped pay for the £15,000 banner, which was only finished three days before the Liverpool match. Given that it was printed in Poland, Jonny and Thomas opted to drive across to pick it up in a van, borrowed from a fellow fan, via a ferry trip donated by DFDS.
Johnny and Thomas load up the van with the Gallowgate banner
“It was the only way we were going to get the flag back in time,” Thomas says. “We got off the ferry on the Friday morning, drove straight to the ground and then practised with it that evening.”
More than 40 volunteers were involved in a dummy run to prove to the club’s health-and-safety officials that they could unfurl the banner quickly and safely, otherwise the display would not go ahead.
“We didn’t realise there was a chance it might not happen before we drove across to Poland!” Jonny says. “I don’t think they realised how big it was. But thankfully we showed we could do it.”
While those positioned in the other three stands around the ground can appreciate the visual displays before games, the group themselves cannot instantly see whether they have had the desired effect. But a year ago, they sensed it had done so immediately.
“The successful displays are the ones where you can feel the atmosphere shift instantly,” Chris says. “You can feel the noise increase and the crowd and the players get a buzz from it. We had that with the ‘Unity’ banner, with the Keegan quote, the Spanish quote and definitely with the huge surfer flag.”
“The record flag stands out because huge emotions were released afterwards,” Anth says, admitting “staying sober” until the 7.45pm kick-off time was an “additional challenge”. “On the concourse after it had been packed away we all literally celebrated as if we’d scored a goal. So much effort went into that and we knew we had just one chance to pull it off. It was overwhelming. We were elated. It was a feeling of immense pride that we, this club, these fans, had pulled it off.”
Their hiatus followed and, even despite calls from some fans for Wor Flags to return once Newcastle were drawn at home in the FA Cup quarter-final against Manchester City – a tie which was meant to take place in March but has been postponed – the group “resisted the temptation” to do so.
“It’s been so, so hard this season,” Jonny says. “I’ve missed it, I’ve wanted to go back but I felt I couldn’t because of one man. That’s the sole reason. It felt right that we had to make a stand. Hopefully that has been one of the contributing factors in quickening his exit.”
Interestingly, although the group have openly positioned themselves against the current regime, every member stresses that those inside the club have been “great to work with” and they “can’t wait to get them back involved with our plans”.
And, while the prospective new owners would be welcomed, Wor Flags insist they are not “mere cheerleaders”. They will retain their independence to criticise when necessary, but only when it comes to club-related matters.
“We’ve been adamant from day one that we’re not a political group,” Dan says when asked about potential Saudi Arabian involvement. “There’s no political intention in any display; we’re not leaning left or right, we’re not talking about human rights. It’s not up for football fans to have that discussion in the stands. We all just want to go back to supporting our club the way we used to.”
“We’re very much just about Newcastle United,” Thomas concludes. “We just want to get back to cheering on Newcastle United. We’re fans, at the end of the day; fans who hopefully bring that something extra to match-day.”
The flags are still there, housed inside St James’ Park, ready for if and when Wor Flags can finally make their long-awaited return.
