Howay you old Newcastle United codgers… ‘Your Club Needs You!’ | OneFootball

After a wonderful couple of days away, I’m now back hyem and recuperating, feeling physically and emotionally drained.

I had been away to attend my daughter Joeli’s graduation, after she had achieved her Master of Arts in Comparative Literature at Glasgow University.

I was accompanied by my ex Missus Sandra, Wor Carly (Joeli’s eldest sister), her best friend Olivia, and my brother in law, Uncle Mick.

I have spoken on The Mag before about some of my experiences in Kelvingrove and Finnieston in Glasgows West End. I really like the place and the locals are sound.

On Sunday afternoon shortly after arriving and checking in at our hotel, we met up with Joeli and her boyfriend Rory for a gargle and then a bite to eat.

First up was the Old School House and when I went for my second pint a middle aged bloke heard my accent. “Geordie aye?” was his introduction and he wanted to talk about the team he adored.

William was a Newcastle United fan, but still supports and watches his local team Partick Thistle at Fir Park, he has visited St James’ Park on about thirty occasions down the years.

He told me that he had fell in love with United during the 1993/94 season, our first ever in the EPL.

Cole and Beardsley were obviously mentioned, but he told me his two favourite players from the time were Scott Sellars and Rob Lee.

This lad certainly seemed to know what he was talking about and I was interested to find out about how he currently felt about our current team and recent success.

William told me that he thought Eddie Howe was the perfect fit for the Toon, that he was over the moon at winning the League Cup at Wembley.

He expected us to be an established force in the Premier League within the next five years and I couldn’t find anything in his rational reasoning as to why that wouldn’t be the case.

My new mate accepted the invitation to join us when we headed to the Doublet around the corner and I’m going to meet up with him next time I’m up. It doesn’t matter where I go, I always seem to meet someone who likes Newcastle.

As a lot of you have noticed, the 1980s mullet has made an unexpected comeback. England cricket captain Ben Stokes is the latest to join the craze.

What I have also noticed is that some younger men are now sporting moustaches. This was evident at the recent European Under 21s finals, especially amongst them big German lads.

On the train on the way up to Glasgow there were a group of lads with just taches and no beards. When I was in the Wunderbar nightspot after the graduation a young-un with a tache actually came up to me and said “are you alright and enjoying yourself Daddy?”

This got me thinking about a pretty bizarre potential scenario, where Eddie gets his aspiring Toon team to grow their own taches, as a form of new club identity.

I have in the past been accused of wanting a siege mentality, having an ‘everyone is against us’ attitude.

I cannot argue with that, I definitely do think we are deliberately and continually being dealt a bum hand by the corrupt rules and regulations of the EPL.

Our supporters may or may not want to follow suit, but I’m all in favour of a Kitchener style recruitment campaign, for Geordies to reclaim the Moustache as part of our regional and football identity.

Remembering the men that have served on the coalface, the shipyards, the railways etc, but especially the heroes in the glorious Edwardian era, and on the terraces in the 1970s and 80s.

Let all of the lazy summer transfer talk in the media pass you by, because by August, I am confident that Eddie Howe and the Newcastle United boys will be ready on all fronts for the challenges that lie ahead. Some of the team, if not clean cut Eddie himself, may even have taches (Tino’s already started).

As for the more mature male followers of the famous Newcastle United, will you be giving the tache another blast after forty or fifty years?