Newcastle fans are losing such patience with the way that their football club is being run that some supporters are even turning to the divine.
The Magpies are in freefall, having lost their eighth game on the spin against Leicester at the weekend, and it all got too much for one man by the name of Fr Stephen Foster.
The priest, who currently lives in Ireland, has looked to the heavens in an attempt to “change the mentality” of Newcastle owner Mike Ashley who has been largely blamed for Newcastle’s downfall.
The prayer in full reads as follows;
“Dear Father in Heaven
Listen to our prayer in the midst of our suffering.
To be at St James Park is where we want to be. To win is great. To see passion, excitement, endeavour and skill is ecstatic.
To lose is always terrible. It takes some time to recover. But now we are being attacked from within. We are more financially secure now, but the cost is great. No involvement in cups is allowed. Best players sold. Mediocre mid-table finish is what is demanded.
The balance sheet has become the most important thing.
But this is not what we want.
And so Heavenly Father, grant that the owner will see more to this than profit and balance sheet. That there is more to life than money. It’s about families and belonging. Being happy.
If you spend your hard-earned money on a match ticket, it’s an insult to witness passionless, mercenary football.
Our family is Newcastle. Give us what we want.
But, if he is not prepared to change Heavenly Father, give him the insight to know it’s time to go.
Give us a new owner (or a new mentality for the present owner) who will take our spirit and not crush it but revive it. Give us someone who will not rename our stadium from St James Park, not change the colour of our strip. Not rebrand us into something we are not.
We’ve had highs and lows. Notably the Fairs Cup. That was a great year. But too many lows.
Help us now,
Amen.”
Yeah we’re sure that God is going to take a day off from worrying about sick children to make sure that Newcastle get all three points against West Brom.
