Fans Forum not for 'em

Jabba Strikes Back continues. Not content with banning the local press, the club have now barred NUST from participating in the newly revamped and much trumpeted Fans Forum. The inaugural meeting of the forum only took place in September but NUST's permanent place has already been revoked. Their alleged crime? Publishing minutes of the meeting 24 hours earlier than the club's own (delayed) minutes. The pettiness of the decision is mind-boggling. I think we've got an answer to our question of "whether the notoriously cloth-eared Jabba will be prepared to listen"...

As NUST have taken pains to point out, the ban was handed out in the same week that they held a conference on Football Governance and Fan Engagement at Newcastle University Business School, which received coverage on the BBC's Politics Show. Their statement on the ban rightly flagged up the fact that "the Government's Culture Media and Sports Select Committee have recommended that football clubs develop meaningful and structured relationships with supporters" - something that Jabba and Newcastle appear determined to avoid.