Newcastle United fans launch #BoycottArsenal campaign in protest against Mike Ashley

A campaign has been launched to persuade Newcastle United fans to boycott St James’s Park in protest against Mike Ashley’s running of the club.

By Miles Starforth

Published 27th Jun 2019, 11:45 BST

Updated 28th Jun 2019, 15:00 BST

Supporters are angry at the loss of manager Rafa Benitez, whose association with the club will formally end on June 30 when his contract expires.

They blame owner Ashley, who put the club up for sale in late 2017 claiming he couldn’t take it any further.

And a group of fans have set up the @ArsenalBoycott Twitter account in an attempted to persuade supporters to boycott the club’s season-opener against Arsenal on August 11.

They tweeted: “We believe our aim as Newcastle fans should be to do everything we can to get Mike Ashley out of this football club. This is why we are introducing the #BoycottArsenal campaign.

“We hope to gain backing from a large amount of Newcastle United fans.”