Best thing you will read as a Newcastle United fan today, this week, this month…. | OneFootball

This is an article that as a Newcastle United fan I have started to write on and off for the last few years, but somehow kept coming back to “what’s the point”, but in some respects I feel I owe it to The Mag.

You see, in the very early days of The Mag, I met with Mark (Editor) and a few others in a pub in Gateshead.

Before I knew it, I was writing/submitting articles to Mark for inclusion, also selling The Mag outside the Gallowgate end and asking local newsagents to stock it (that newsagent around the corner from me in Swalwell being my inaugural success). My service to The Mag continued for many years.

From being a very young lad, I just loved football – I think my earliest recollection was reading my uncle’s early editions of Shoot and cutting out photos for scrap books – for some strange reason I can still see Bob Hatton and Kevin Hector in their Birmingham City and Derby County kits respectively.

I can then remember being with the male side of the family in my grandparents’ downstairs flat on Condercum Road, Benwell on FA Cup final day 1973. Everyone was rooting for the Leeds team, I loved their all-white kit – shame about the result and least said the year after the better, my white ‘Howay the Lads’ t-shirt aside.

I remember the 1974 world cup final and a black and white patterned football just like the one my brother and I were fortunate to have at the time (wasn’t a proper ‘caser’ mind).

My brother and I would ‘help out’ at the hairdressers my mam ran on Ellesmere Road, Benwell, getting tips from customers for fetching cups of tea whilst they were under the fixed dryers, sweeping the floor and other small tasks, only for the money to go out as quick as it came on, funding the purchase of sweets and other things like football stickers/cards.

I recall reading the back pages of papers left by customers, images from big games at that time, including Ipswich Town v Manchester United, Derby County v Leeds, Liverpool v QPR. I can still see the Back of a Daily Mirror with an atmospheric photograph (those old-style iconic floodlights) from a midweek game at Derby County’s Baseball Ground.

My uncle then began taking us to the odd Newcastle reserve game played at St James’ Park on Saturday afternoons when the first team were away. The manual metal scoreboard in the Gallowgate end would put up the first team scores from around the country, back in the day when all games were played on the same day.

Then probably the most pivotal moment in my football supporting days came on Saturday 30th November 1974, when aged eight I got to attend my first proper first team Newcastle United match versus Manchester City, courtesy of my Uncle Walter (it’s your fault!!). I sat on the asphalt track behind an advertising hoarding with feet in the puddled water. I even got to see myself on the TV highlights the next day on Sunday’s ITV’s Big Match. We won 2-1, Pat Howard putting us 1-0 up before Man City equalised. Then Supermac headed the winner before running over to our side after scoring the winner. I can still see Willie McFaul in that green goalkeeping jersey punching the ball.

Then my brother and I got our first football kits, boxed generic ones by Umbro, I received a blue top with white ‘V’ and wing collar (I could be Ipswich Town or Everton) and my brother a gold one with black collar (he could only be Wolverhampton Wanderers), all great teams regardless.

This was only bettered by Christmas 1975 and the gifts of official England kits made by Admiral. These were the ones with the red and blue stripes down the sleeve – my brother and I could be Kevin Keegan and Trevor Brooking one day and Tony Currie and Colin Bell the next.

We loved FA Cup Final day, it was an all-day football fest, following the teams at their hotels from breakfast right up, on their coach journeys to Wembley until the match itself. We’d pick a team to cheer on, more often than not the underdogs. It really was a treasured occasion.

Teams had great kits, unspoilt by advertising and played with some fantastic wingers. Teams wore numbers 1-11 (largely reflecting their positions) and goalkeepers generally a green jersey, the referee in black….how simple was the game then.

Interestingly, when teams from the home nations played in Europe you generally wanted then to win – the teams were largely made up from home-based players and possibly 1 or 2 others i.e. Thijssen and Muhren at Ipswich Town, Villa and Ardiles at Tottenham Hotspur. I recall genuinely great European nights (the penalty shoot-out between Tottenham Hotspur and Anderlecht, Liverpool v St Etienne and David Fairclough’s winning goal and the Kop surging down….). We even loved the end of season/annual Home International tournament too, can still see the one-two between Keegan and Brooking in the 5-1 rout of Scotland at Wembley May 1975 and the 2-1 reverse in 1977 and the Scottish supporters’ pitch invasion.

I then began attending sporadic Newcastle United home games with mates, for some reason I can readily recall a 2-2 draw with Notts County in 1979, a midweek fixture , my first time in the East Stand wooden seats (one of which I have as a seat at home following its demolition in 1987).

By 1982/83 Newcastle was buzzing with the arrival of Kevin Keegan.

The queues outside the ground were unreal, after a bit of a panic and a long wait I managed to get into the Leazes End to witness that incredible 1-0 win v QPR, King Kev scoring. The atmosphere was unreal.

That season for most games I ended up in the Main Stand ‘E’ Wing paddock next to the away fans – the atmosphere was always tremendous.

After an unbroken run of attending the home games I also ventured away for the first time, boarding a Magpie Travel bus to Brunton Park, Carlisle United on 20th November 1982. Despite a 2-0 defeat I had the ‘bug’.

Other away days followed, including Grimsby Town, Boro, Derby County, Rotherham United (a 5-1 win on Match of the Day, unusual for a Division 2 side to be featured, but we were becoming a draw). My first away trip on the train (a Football Special) to Burnley was mint, followed by a trip to Barnsley on a Friday night, 5-0 keeping slim promotion hopes alive before the final away game at Wolves last game, followed by what became the obligatory end of season pitch incursion.

Despite being in 6th Form and living on a paper round wage I somehow managed to get to every home and away game in the 1983-84 season. Memories of that season include the opening day fixture and a 1-0 win at Leeds Utd and getting the train (what a mental day that was), staying overnight in Swansea on a Saturday as the game had been rained off and played the next day. I was then back to Wales on the Wednesday night for the away game at Cardiff City’s Ninian Park (Beardsley’s first goal). The FA Cup 3rd round game at Anfield in January 1984, trips to Hillsborough and Chelsea’s derelict Stamford Bridge (see below) and of course the main highlight at Leeds Rd, Huddersfield Town where promotion was effectively sealed – we had both ends and half the main stand with pockets everywhere else.

I loved going to the traditional grounds, i.e. Boundary Park (Oldham Athletic), Filbert Street (Leicester City), Highfield Road (Coventry City), Ewood Park (Blackburn Rovers) and even Roker Park (Sunderland) plus many more.

The away followings then were unreal. There was a genuine feel of spontaneity, rawness, imperfection and passion.

At this time I started on a separate journey to ‘pick off’ other grounds that Newcastle United were unlikely to play at (cup draws aside) in an attempt to see a first team game at every English League Ground (also known as ‘the 92’), starting with games at Tranmere’s Prenton Park and Chester City’s Sealand Road, teams who regularly played on a Friday night.

The ‘92’ journey was superb, travelling with some of the many friends I made along the way i.e. travelling with a group of Scunthorpe fans in their minibus to games at Newport County, Stockport County and Torquay United, with Scarborough to Yeovil, and Chesterfield to Aldershot. These supporters were no different to us, passionate about their city/place of birth – they may be fewer in number, but we are no better.

I remember during this period;

• Getting my first season ticket, in the East Stand ‘Benches’ – my all-time favourite ever location you could stand or sit, and there was singing often started by the Gallowgate or the ‘Indian chief’ in the seats above. We also had a section of the new Main Stand towards the Leazes End who were brilliant; • attending a midweek Simod Cup at Watford, honestly there were less than 50 in the away end I’m sure, • getting news of a friendly v Queen of the South at short notice and making emergency travel arrangements; • getting into Luton’s Kenilworth Rd, beating the away fan ban for 2 consecutive years • that away FA Cup 5th round fixture at White Hart Lane, 87 FA Cup 5 round. Tottenham Hotspur were clearly not expecting more than 5,000 to travel, there must have been easily 11,000 away fans; • The opportunity to follow England in Germany in 1988 arose – saw all the England games (v Ireland, Holland and Russia – all rubbish results) and Italy v Spain, Germany v Holland, as well as league play offs at Mainz and Wolfsburg.

As the club’s fortunes deteriorated following relegation in 1988/89 season, some of the loyalist supporters formed a protest group under the banner ‘Sack the Board campaign’. A boycott of home games was instigated at the start of the 1989/90 season – I was genuinely torn but my heart wouldn’t let me miss a game to join in, support the team, not the regime, more later (*).

There were some highs but many lows, being in the away end at Roots Hall, Southend United on New Years Day 1992 to witness a 4-0 defeat being up there.

Relegation to Div 3 was a genuine reality for months, before the season crescendo and strangely one of the highlights of following the club, David Kelly’s goal in the last home game v Portsmouth and the last away day trip to Leicester City, where safety was secured and spirits spilled over.

With Keegan on board as Manager fortunes on the pitch eventually began to turn.

I did eventually achieve ‘the 92’ on 28th March 1992 at Barnet’s home game v Rochdale.

Promotion back to the top flight in 1993 was secured and European adventures followed as well as FA Cup finals.

Issue 65 – July 1994

When the Premier League was formed in 1992, one of the lads in our group said at the time, Sky and TV will eventually kill the golden goose, looking back he wasn’t wrong.

As a regular traveller, ticket prices were rising every season and I readily recall a trip to Leicester City’s new ground (King Power Stadium) where the price of a ticket was around £32 having been about £20 the season before – I then saw Leicester City players (a hopeless Frank Sinclair and ageing/nasty Dennis Wise) getting out of top of the range Land Rovers with tinted windows. I thought at the time, ‘you can see where the money is going’ and it isn’t the game per se.

We then started seeing London games hitting near £50 (Chelsea and Arsenal). Away allocations were dwindling too. The game was changing at pace.

Having completed the English 92, the Scottish 42 was next – in fact it was better with the journey north being so much nicer. Some great memories i.e. seeing Brechin City and Albion Rovers winning promotion, they celebrated no differently to us, the fantastic ground settings like Alloa Athletic and Dumbarton.

You got to see the real toxicity of the ‘Old Firm’ and the impact this had in terms of competition, they must win at all costs and it’s not healthy for the game (read the ‘cartel’ clubs in England). I witnessed first-hand bus loads of fans leaving other towns/cities in Scotland for an old firm fixture. These tourist fans are growing in number and no longer exclusive to Liverpool and Manchester United in England, although they appear to be the worst culprits. I see West Ham fans are going through a similar experience currently on several fronts.

In 2007, Mike Ashley’s takeover in my humble opinion was the worst thing ever to happen to Newcastle United in my time, yes we had the likes of McKeag and Westwood before, but this individual was deliberately running the club on fumes, using it as an advertising vehicle for his own grubby business interests and insulting NUFC legends and fans along the way.

For his treatment of Keegan alone he should have been forced out. As fans, I think we failed in that respect,

Anyway, becoming increasingly dis-illusioned with football in the top flight and clearly seeing Ashley’s intentions, after 4 years of his reign, I made the toughest decision and rejected the offer to renew my season ticket for the 2012/13 season.

I was now doing something the fans involved in the ‘Sack the Board’ campaign had done in the early 90s. This time I wasn’t supporting the team or the regime (*). I saw it as doing my bit for change and along with many other supporters it was the ultimate sacrifice.

For 30 years, I had missed 1 home game and 2 away games, through illness, but I thought this was a sacrifice worth making, surely many more will follow suit and Ashley would be gone in a year or two maximum.

The first 2 seasons ‘boycotting’ were very painful ( in many ways following Newcastle United was what defined me / it was my passion).

Sadly, Ashley stayed and bled the club for another 8 years. When he ended up giving away 10,000 free season tickets, this was the sign his days were truly numbered, but it should have happened earlier in my opinion. Our fanbase is not for forcing change, sadly.

I went back to stand outside St James’ for an occasional protest, but it was largely pointless and just depressed me further. Apathy all round.

My wife and son kept going to games and I reluctantly took in 2 games in that period, again it was an absolutely depressing / apathetic experience.

As soon as he was gone, my intention was always to go back. After 8 years, Ashley was gone and the Saudi takeover was completed in 2021 – the new ownership resulted in a swing entirely the other way, on the face of it, the club would be awash with money (not quite the case as it turned out) and be able to compete on every level.

Acquiring the occasional ticket via the club membership (though I’ve been unsuccessful for last and this season so far) let me with an imposter feeling despite having really “done the hard yards”.

I remember in the League Cup semi-final (home leg) v Southampton, 3 young lads sitting next to me waved scarfs when the players emerged, then sat down and started looking at their phones. Little changed until I “suggested” they stood up and joined in a song or two as the team clearly needed their support after Bruno was sent off .

The fanbase feels really different and I know I will be in the minority when I say I am not keen on all this ‘flags stuff’, I much prefer a vociferous ground – from what I have seen/heard I think Leeds United’s Elland Road has the best atmosphere, no real need for flags there, albeit I’m sure that’ll change as their ground expands and there’s any hint of success.

The Sunderland away fixture was a game no Newcastle United fan needed any help getting up for. In my view for the recent FA Cup fixture at the SoL, the fact that free scarfs were given out and then raised at the end of the game (Liverpool-esque) was in some respects ‘mind blowing’ – that end should just have been bouncing, mental and vociferous.

Going to a match is becoming a must do ‘experience’ for some, I work with so many people who were never interested in football, never mind Newcastle United, and are getting tickets. It’s up there on the list, like going to the cinema, a fun park, ‘Go Ape’ etc.

My wife, who attended many home and away games since 1990, has decided against renewing her membership this year, Her reasons included;

• VAR – completely spoiling the game; • Kick off times / days are all over the place; • Fixture saturation; • The devalued domestic cup competitions; • The game feels more corrupt and favouring the ‘cartel’ clubs; • The commercial greed – 3 strips a season – what happened to individuality/casual; (I personally can’t get my head round adults wearing shirts with players names on) • The Stack with its nauseating choreographed flag waving sessions – support our proper city centre pubs; • European competitions were much more exciting, knock out competitions in the main, but the Corporate machine (Sony, Heineken et al) want the odds stacked against the underdog and a Barcelona v Real Madrid type final; • The number of so-called experts (‘pundits’) at the money trough is truly gross (i.e. 4 in the studio, 3 pitch side and 2 on the gantry……why? • Modern day footballers – now on par with TV celebrities (which isn’t saying much) / being paid seriously obscene amounts of money. Incredible when you look at the average working man/family income!

I keep asking myself if the opportunity arose to go back as a season ticket holder what would I do i.e. an increased capacity, a new/bigger ground– I genuinely don’t know.

We are entering a newer phase with greater billionaire and state ownership. The reality of a European league / games in foreign countries is a step closer.

I can see changes coming i.e. having an app to order food and drink to your seat and almost reference to “going to the ball game”, we are getting closer to more American owners in the top flight. Football is moving further away than ever from its roots and trying to create a “perfect game”.

I appreciate times change, but it’s not always for the better. Guess if I am being honest, it’s simply not the game I really fell in love with.

I’ve read so many excellent articles on similar topics, this one from a Stockport County fan / journalist being one of the best; “men like Crystal Palace chairman, Steve Parish, supplied the most obvious example of that myopia 5 years ago when talked about top flight clubs as ‘supermarkets and lower league clubs as ‘corner shops’ and found it strange when it was suggested one should help the other. But in the last decade, a wonderful thing has happened. Attendances at lower league clubs have enjoyed a spectacular renaissance. It is as if supporters realised they were on the verge of losing something that was dear to them and important to their communities, as if they didn’t like what the top flight had become, and they stepped in before it was too late. And actually, it is our Premier League clubs are being stolen in plain sight, with many becoming something that we do not recognise. They are being repurposed as tourist attractions, because tourists pay more, and taken away from the fans who helped build them.”

Until I get to see a home game at St James’ Park, my football fix will have to come from the simplicity of standing on the terrace under the main stand across at Carlisle Utd or new ventures over the border i.e. Spartans FC, Kelty Hearts.

It could of course all go the other way, the money dries up, billionaire / state owners become disinterested, , the novelty value fades for many, football returns to something like it was….I can only hope, but won’t be holding my breath.

In the meantime, Howay the Lads, a tiny pilot light still burns, maybe one day…