Source: FOOTYMAD
Niall Quinn gets a victory in the war against illegal T.V.
Advantage Quinn Sunderland legend, Chairman and destroyer of Geordie scum has taken a small victory in his battle against illegal satellite channels. The Black Cats god has met with pub and bar owners of Sunderland City centre, and they all have came to an agreement not to continue showing these matches Quinn who made public a bid to regain the missing Sunderland fans that have chosen to watch the games in the bars of Sunderland and surrounding areas than actually go to games. But in doing so has kicked off a storm in a tea cup with the media and daft Geordie nation, desperately jealous of having such a great chairman. Niall commented, “We’ve done our research, we’ve had Premier League observers investigate what’s going on. There is one typical town in our heartland which has around 50 pubs, clubs, cricket clubs, social clubs and other bars." “They found 37 of those 50 were showing our games live, illegally. That’s just one town and I could name another 12 in our area where the same thing is happening.” “If just 30 people are watching in each bar and that’s a conservative number you see the scale of the problem.” “Those fans may be saving on a match ticket but they’re still turning up to have their fish and chips, beer or sandwiches. I don’t think all of them can’t afford to watch us.” “The fans in front of those illegal screens or at home watching illegal sites on their home computers perhaps do not understand how critical it is. If I don’t win them back, the club may have to downsize and cut its cloth differently. It’ll be difficult to follow up on the current investment and players may have to be sold.” “People have accused me of just wanting fans’ money in an area where it is just not affordable,” Quinn responded. “That’s not my complaint. If any one of our fans tells me: ‘Look, I just can’t afford to watch you’, I can have no problem with that.” “But we do our level best to make Sunderland good value to watch. We’re right up there in the top places in the table but we are 18th in the league of season-ticket prices. Only two Premier clubs are cheaper to watch than us.” “Among the first reactions to what I said in the programme, a stay away said we hadn’t repainted some parts of the stadium and the concourses were dreary stuff like that. “That’s not the Sunderland fans I know and love…the miners who stood up to Thatcher; the fans who follow us through thick and thin, staying away because the concourses may need a lick of paint? That’s a worry.” “Look, if we get 45,000 season-ticket holders for next season, I will get down on my knees and apologise to them all but it will have been worth it to get them back in the fold.” “If we fail then I’ll do my best for our existing 30,000 season-ticket holders and our other 7-8,000 regulars other than that, the club’s progress will have been stunted.”
