Who says Mike Ashley doesn't understand
Newcastle fans? After being ridiculed for saying
he felt under threat, it's emerged that an Ashley lookalike has
been attacked in a case of mistaken identity. Tyneside's population
of chirpy little cockneys has been warned to stay indoors.
It's no fun being fat, or being a Newcastle
fan. But now it seems anyone bearing those twin afflictions could
be in for more strife, after a bloke who looks like Mike Ashley was
attacked in a case of mistaken identity.
Season-ticket owner Alan McKenna was enjoying a drink with his
cousins when another fan took a swing at him, believing he was
Ashley. The trouble continued at St James' Park on Saturday, when
the restaurant owner was stopped in the toilets by another fan who
believed he was the club's hated owner.
"I have been mistaken for Mike Ashley quite a lot, even though I
don't think we are that similar," said McKenna, who apart from a
fondness for seconds, is hardly an identical twin.
"When he was popular, people would often come and pat me on the
back if I was walking through Newcastle, telling me what a great
job I was doing. But now the abuse has really started."
The case brings up horrible echoes of the days when
pediatricians were targetted by angry mobs of vigilante parents,
and also goes some way to justifying Ashley's claim that he felt
physically threatened by the club's protest.
"I think I'm going to have to get a Newcastle shirt with 'I'm
not Mike' on the back," continued McKenna. "I never used to mind
looking like Mike Ashley - but after all this abuse, I've changed
my mind!"
At least it McKenna may lose a bit of weight now...
