In Black And White

I make no pretence to following football for its own sake. But I believe in local patriotism.

Newcastle City Council already owns Saint James' Park (even that eccentric use of the apostrophe is an integral part of the local culture and heritage); Freemen of the City still receive compensation for no longer being able to graze their livestock there.

But it does nothing about that ownership. It should. And many another municipality should follow its example. The grounds of football and other major sports clubs should be as they are in Italy, owned by their respective local councils.

And the clubs themselves should be as they are in Spain, proper clubs with the fans as their members who elect the board, and who can decline to re-elect it. That there is no plan to designate the stadium "Wonga Arena" does not lessen the objectionable nature of the club's ownership by a firm of predatory loan sharks.