Now made public how many Athletic Bilbao fans travelling to Newcastle United Champions League match | OneFootball

Athletic Bilbao fans are heading to Tyneside next week, playing their Champions League match against Newcastle United on Wednesday 5 November.

An 8pm kick-off and Eddie Howe’s side looking to make it nine points from a possible twelve in the opening four Champions League matches.

Meanwhile, Athletic Bilbao fans have seen their team lose 2-0 to Arsenal and 4-1 to Borussia Dortmund, before winning 3-1 against Qarabag.

Barcelona brought no more than 800 fans to St James’ Park last month, which was only a marginal improvement on the 500 or so they brought to Tyneside for each of their previous two Champions League visits.

So what about their La Liga rivals?

In the Champions League, the rules now state that clubs have to give five per cent of their stadium’s capacity to away fans, which in the case of St James’ Park would be around 2,600 tickets minimum (sadly, the likes of PSG are allowed by UEFA to refuse to comply with the minimum five per cent rule, only offering 2,000 tickets each time, rather than the 2,400 or so that away fans should be entitled to).

There were around 2,500 Benfica fans who gave their team great backing inside St James’ Park earlier this month, as well as clearly enjoying a great time in our brilliant city, both before and after the match.

Next week that number is going to be bettered, with it now revealed (see below) that around 3,000 Athletic Bilbao fans will be inside St James’ Park next Wednesday night.

It should be some day and night, as a great rapport between the fans of the two clubs, ever since the two teams met in the UEFA Cup back in 1994.

That trip to Bilbao is one of the very favourite European trips for many of the Newcastle United fans lucky enough to travel.

The away matchday coinciding with a public holiday and many of the city centre streets blocked off to traffic, allowing the Athletic Bilbao fans and their visitors from Tyneside to have a superb time, an incredible atmosphere in the streets and a welcome that will never be forgotten.

Athletic Bilbao fans getting official advice from their club ahead of travelling to Tyneside:

Useful information for Athleticzales travelling to Newcastle

Around 3,000 fans will travel with Athletic for our second Champions League away day of the campaign

Athletic will be backed by around 3,000 fans travelling to England for our Champions League fixture against Newcastle FC at St. James’ Park next Wednesday night (20:00 GMT / 21:00 CET).

We remind Athletic fans travelling to Newcastle that it is mandatory to apply for a UK-ETA to enter the United Kingdom.

In order to enhance the travel experience and facilitate access to the stadium for the match, the English club and Newcastle city authorities have shared the following guidelines for Athletic fans:

Meeting point:

The Bigg Market, an area with numerous bars and restaurants, is the meeting point for fans. The walk to St James’ Park will depart from this point at 17:30 GMT, and local authorities estimate that the trek to the stadium will take approximately 15-20 minutes.

Together with Newcastle FC, Athletic Club has organised a series of activities for fans starting at 12:15: Walking Football with Gontzal Suances as captain at Newcastle United Foundation’s facilities, planting of an oak tree and post-game drinks. More info.

Youth League match:

As with every Champions League match, the youth teams will face each other beforehand, this time at Gateshead International Stadium. Kick-off is at 15:00.

St James’ Park access:

The stadium gates will open two hours before kick-off (18:00). We recommend arriving well ahead of time, so you can speed up entry, avoid last-minute crowds and enjoy the start of the match in a relaxed manner. Athletic fans must enter the stadium via turnstiles 89-94 at the Leazes Stand. For security reasons, body and bag searches will be carried out. Bags larger than A4 size are not permitted and there is no cloakroom available. For further information on prohibited items at St James’ Park, please refer to the stadium regulations.

At the turnstiles assigned to Athletic Club supporters, there will be staff wearing pink bibs bearing the Athletic Club crest. They will be there to help with any incidents or queries that may arise on arrival at the stadium and to facilitate the entry process.