Newcastle fans ask for Wonga logo to be dropped
Newcastle United fans are calling on kit maker Puma to drop Wonga’s logo from replica shirts.
The Newcastle United Supporters Trust (NUST) wants the kit supplier and the controversial payday loans company to offer fans the option to buy a replica shirt without the Wonga logo on it.
The move follows a a NUST online survey of over 1,000 participants which found the majority of fans were unhappy with the sponsorship deal.
The 4-year deal, which was officially announced last week (9 October), has attracted criticism from local MPs and fans because of the payday loan company’s high interest rates. Wonga, said to charge annual interest rates of up to 4,000 per cent, was criticised by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) earlier this year for using aggressive and misleading debt collection methods.
Michael Thewlis, a board member of NUST, says: “Our fans have asked us to contact Puma and Wonga to see if they are prepared to offer shirts without the new sponsor’s logo – which already happens for some children’s shirts across football and for adult shirts at Celtic and Rangers in Scotland. – and this is something we will take forward.“
Wonga were unable to provide comment by the time this article was published, while calls to Puma were not returned.
