IT was very sad news to hear of the death of former club director Archie Phillips.

Although I had only had one or two very brief conversations with him, I knew the contribution he made to the club over a number of years.

I was made aware of his colourful character and, at times, colourful language but he made a big hands-on contribution when the end of the Merton stand was being built and in the hours he spent doing the actual playing surface.

Archie must have been a very proud father when Stewart pulled on the shirt and he was able to watch him perform so admirably for the club as he went on to become one of Hereford United's all-time leading goalscorers.

Meanwhile, comments by Newcastle's Freddie Shepherd, who wants the Premiership clubs to run football as a whole, have gained considerable publicity.

He seems to have little regard for anyone outside the Premiership.

We should remind Mr Shepherd that it's not too long ago that Newcastle were in the lower reaches of the old Second Division and apparently heading into the old Third.

I recall playing them very late that season at Wolves. I think it was Kevin Keegan's second match as manager after he had taken over at St James Park.

Andy Mutch scored a hat-trick as we beat them 6-2 at Molineux and, with a handful of games to play, they looked doomed.

As it turned out, despite a further run of defeats after that, they managed to win their last couple of games that season and avoid the drop and Keegan subsequently turned things around to lead them back into the top flight.

What Mr Shepherd seems to be advocating now is that it doesn't matter if clubs below the Premiership go to the wall.

But where would they have gone if there had been no competition for the relegated clubs to go to? Does he want reassurance that whatever happens and however they play, Newcastle will not be relegated from the Premiership?

Freddie Shepherd is very fortunate to be running a club that gets 52,000 fans through the turnstiles every other week.

I've always had a soft spot for Newcastle, basically because of their fanatical supporters, but Mr Shepherd should be well aware that his club, despite its vast resources, is not pulling up any trees and failed to make Europe this season.