THE group responsible for organising Sunday’s boycott of Newcastle’s home game with Spurs have promised to conduct a “long campaign” in an attempt to force Mike Ashley out of St James’ Park.

The campaigners who set up the AshleyOut.com website have issued a statement praising those fans who opted to take part in what they considered a “very successful” boycott.

The official attendance for Sunday’s game was 47,427, but this figure is understood to include those season-ticket holders who had already paid for their seat, but who chose not to attend.

The actual crowd figure is estimated to have been at least 10,000 lower than that figure, although Newcastle City Council have distanced themselves from reports suggesting they considered the real crowd figure to be closer to 30,000.

The statement released by AshleyOut.com said: “Fans of all generations took the decision to stay away from the home game vs Tottenham Hotspur and thousands also protested loudly and peacefully outside of St James’ Park, all uniting behind one simple message: ‘ASHLEY OUT’.

“The pictures beamed around the world of huge sections of empty seats sent a strong message to Mike Ashley and those watching: the fans of Newcastle United have had enough and are willing to put up a fight and make sacrifices to reclaim their club.

“Reports vary as to the true number of fans who passed through the turnstiles and we will not speculate on this. We simply ask everyone to judge from themselves...whether the club’s ‘official’ attendance appears legitimate, or if this is yet another clear example of a club lying to its own fans to present itself in a better light?”

The organisers of the AshleyOut campaign intend to preserve their own anonymity in order to prevent attention being distracted from their cause, and are set to announce further plans and initiatives before the end of the week.

The statement added: “It is clear this was a very successful start to what will be a long campaign. It has only been two weeks since AshleyOut.com launched, and in that time a lot of progress has been made.

“We’ve undoubtedly raised awareness about Mike Ashley’s disastrous ownership of Newcastle United and this has been reflected by a vast increase in scrutiny from local, national and international media.

“We’ve made an encouraging start to a campaign that aims to empower all Newcastle United fans and to help them do whatever they can to remove Mike Ashley from his position as club owner. However, there is obviously much more work to be done.”

Newcastle officials declined an opportunity to comment on the issues contained within the statement.