OPINION
What separates a big club from a huge club?
Some would argue that it is a gigantic stadium. Others might say it’s a rich history, or a bulging trophy cabinet. But in the current climate of billionaire owners and corporate partnerships, what truly turns a big club into a massive one is a dedicated global fanbase.
Twitter followings, shirt sales, captive foreign markets, these are the new measures of a club’s profile, and the Premier League is, arguably, the finest league on the continent for exporting its global brand.
That’s why Newcastle United fans must feel as if their club has been missing a trick for a long time now.
The Geordies, on the face of it, should be a huge club. They have the stadium, they have the history, and lord knows they have the potential for success.
What they really lack, however, is the brand.
When Mike Ashley bought the club from Sir John Hall, a large determining factor in the sale was the commitment to open up Asian markets for the Magpies.
Only recently, however, has the owner began to do so, as reported by the Chronicle.
A sponsorship deal with betting company Fun88 was a decent start, as was the signings of Yoshinori Muto and Ki Sung-yeung, but only now have the Toon Army taken the decision to play their preseason friendlies on the continent, and you can’t help feeling that Ashley’s Asian strategy is all a little bit “too little, too late”.
Yes, they are making inroads, but not anywhere near as strongly as the bigger clubs they are looking to catch up on, and now, with everybody jumping on the bandwagon, you wonder if the owner has left it too late to fulfil his promise in an increasingly saturated market.