Why ‘Towel Gate’ Made Newcastle Look Small-Time in Defeat

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·01 de outubro de 2025

Why ‘Towel Gate’ Made Newcastle Look Small-Time in Defeat

With questionable penalty decisions, Gabriel avoiding a red card and our late winner at St James’ Park, it is easy to forget a bizarre moment in the first half when Calafiori was booed by the crowd and eventually warned not to use Nick Pope’s towel to dry the ball before a throw-in.

The Italian noticed the towel between the goal and the corner flag and thought, as everyone on the pitch is a grown adult, his opponents would not be so petty as to complain that the 23-year-old had taken something that was not his. Maybe he should have asked first.

Vídeos OneFootball

Twenty-four hours earlier at Selhurst Park, before taking a throw-in that set up Crystal Palace’s winner against Liverpool, Jefferson Lerma was allowed to use a towel in stoppage time. Our defender was not allowed to do so in the first half on Sunday. Some say Calafiori was attempting to waste time, but it is worth stressing that it was goalless at the time and Arsenal were on top.

Some Gooners already think that one rule exists for the rest while the Gunners get treated differently. Of course, if officials really were corrupt and had an agenda to cost us the title, why not send Gabriel off for what many thought was an obvious red-card offence.

Towels and the Rules

I can confirm that towels not being used at St James’ Park this weekend, but at other grounds, is not part of a conspiracy to hurt us. The actual protocol is similar to the multi-ball system: both teams must agree before kick-off if they want access to towels on the sidelines. They would then be evenly distributed on both sides of the pitch.

Even if they had been, our player would still have been breaking protocol as you are not allowed to bring towels back from other areas, you are only meant to use what has been put out on your side. That is why any team coached by Sam Allardyce or Tony Pulis would have the ball boy or girl waiting with a towel in hand.

That the only towel visible on Sunday was the keeper’s suggests that Newcastle had not agreed or Arsenal forgot to ask. There is no protocol that every set of manager and captain must have that conversation before kick-off because it is quite trivial.

Calafiori is a professional and he clearly did not realise he was doing anything wrong because it seemed so harmless.

Calafiori (Photo by George Wood/Getty Images)

The Spirit of the Game

The referee was technically following the letter of the law but he would not have interjected had it not been pointed out to him. It just makes Newcastle look bad and is another example of the Magpies not being the club they were in the 1990s when they were everyone’s second team.

In his final year in North London, Arsène Wenger warned that a section of our fanbase was in danger of jeopardising the proud values Arsenal stood for. When Mikel Arteta returned to the Emirates, one of the first things he stressed was about having principles on and off the pitch and not tolerating anyone who does not meet that ethos.

Not all managers, owners or supporters care about that. I grew up with Kevin Keegan wanting to entertain the Geordies. Now Eddie Howe orders his squad to find every conceivable way to get under our skin and unsettle us.

Across the division, long throws seem to be popular. Maybe there is a sports scientist who will tell you the advantage of the ball not being dried properly. I accept that football is a multi-million-pound business with thousands on the line in matches. If you can get an advantage you are going to take it, but it is not a great look.

If I were part of the Toon Army I would want my team worrying about being better than us on the pitch, not telling tales because someone stole a towel. A bad weekend for Newcastle in many ways.

Dan Smith

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