Member Article

Manchester Gains from Newcastle?s Wonga Loss

The newly announced sponsorship deal between Newcastle United and payday lenders, Wonga, has brought about mixed reviews.

Whereas there are many fans who have put ill feelings towards the deal to one side due to the reinstatement of the St. James’ Park title, many more are unhappy that the club would opt for such a questionable sponsor.

We form part of the latter. Following our decision to withdraw the planned corporate hospitality with the club for the home match versus Manchester City in December, the we have done what we can to ensure that our customers and fans of both teams do not have to suffer.

Our Managing Director, Glenn Morrill, is a lifelong Newcastle fan and has been quick to point out his “extreme disappointment” that the club he loves has signed a deal with such a firm.

We are happy to announce, therefore, that we will re-open the competition for the reverse fixture at the Etihad Stadium on March 30th, 2013. We didn’t want customers and fans of either team to be put out by a decision that they could not influence.

However, we remain steadfast in our position and will not conduct business with the club whilst Wonga are involved.

We plan to develop the service next year to assist in educating people on managing their finances so they can stay away from payday lenders, so any affiliation with Wonga, however tenuous, made our hospitality with Newcastle United untenable.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by MyMoneyPA .