E-MAIL: editor@true-faith.co.uk WEBSITE: www.true-faith.co.uk EDITOR: Michael Martin DEPUTY EDITOR: Gareth Harrison PHOTOGRAPHY: Matt Flynn, Colin Ferguson & Carl Haynes COPYRIGHT: All items(c) true faith. Not to be reproduced without the prior permission of true faith. STATEMENT: This is NOT an official product of Newcastle United FC. NOTICE: All views expressed are the views of the author and do not always represent the views of true faith. CONTRIBUTIONS: All
Editorial...................................................... pg4 TBAWE........................................................ pg6
Geordies in Green & the Summer of ‘58............................ pg50
contributions to true faith are welcomed, encouraged and considered
Making the cut........................................ pg10
Touching from a distance.................... pg62
‘The Good, the Bad and the Ugly..... pg14
Saturday afternoon picture show!............................................ pg64
articles, photos etc.
White noise.............................................. pg68
L.J. & M. Martin.
Postcards from the edge...................... pg72
NEXT ISSUE: TF 132.
Who would be a goalkeeper?............ pg18 Flag days.................................................... pg22 Collective strength................................. pg26
for publication - letters,
NEVER FORGOTTEN:
OUT: AUG 2017.
Geordies here, Geordies there............ pg30
60 second season................................... pg74
Going Dutch........................................... pg38
Talkin’ Italian............................................ pg76
Geordies here, Geordies there......... pg42
Men only.................................................... pg84
END OF JULY 2017.
We need to talk about Bruno......... pg46
The end....................................................... pg88
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editorial
Welcome to tf 131. Newcastle United is back where it belongs in the Premier League at the first time of asking. Rafa Benitez has done everything asked of him and built a team that has been the best in the division. The club from Mike Ashley to all the boys and girls in the stands owe him a debt of gratitude. Its my view we have won the lottery having Rafa as manager and up until now all of the indications are that Ashley wants to support him. As ever, the proof is in the pudding but even a bruised cynic such as myself feels optimistic for the future with Rafa at Newcastle United. The immediate task for everyone at United is to build a squad that can consolidate its position in the Premier League. In twelve months time we should be looking at a season where we have tf 4
tf 131 June 2017 editor@true-faith.co.uk
settled back in to the Premier League, been free of any relegation worries and be looking forward to progressing again. If that is the objective, it is one I am very happy to get behind and support. I’m sure most of you reading this feel the same way too.
Both the training infrastructure and the academy need a new strategy and Rafa is the man to lead it. It may need investment and this is where United has to step up as well as providing money for player investment in the here and now.
I do want to see Rafa’s influence be felt in other parts of the club’s operation too. Benitez has a rich experience of working across the continent. Rafa will have knowledge of the best training facilities and the good practice around infrastructure to support a modern, progressive European football club. Rafa should be encouraged to be the man to oversee a root and branch reform of United behind the scenes to give us the most professional and advanced facilities possible.
The demise of Boro and Sunderland coinciding with our rise and renewed sense of purpose should be one to galvanise everyone at United into becoming the Club of the North. The appeal of United has to extend into those areas of the region which we might have thought unfriendly to our just and righteous cause. The same applies to corporate business opportunities. United really has to be on this. This is a massive opportunity for us.
I’d like to see Rafa’s influence extend to the academy teams which for too long have been moribund.
Its likely we will have north of 40,000 season ticket holders next season. The appeal of Newcastle United remains as strong as ever.
@tfeditor1892
SJP will be full for most games next season and I’m firmly of the belief the club is nowhere near to meeting its huge potential. Newcastle United under Rafa Benitez should be ready to realise its immense potential. We should accept a plan over 3-5 years to see United grow, cope with the inevitable set-backs but stay full square behind Rafa. There are remaining questions of course – Ashley’s enthusiasm for the club is always a serious question as is the capability of the people charged with taking us forward – namely Lee Charnley. We will all wonder where the HMRC interest in United will go as well. Overall though, for the first time in a very long while we are looking forward to the new season with optimism and realism. This will be my last editorial in the fanzine. I’m stepping www.true-faith.co.uk
back from providing the leadership for true faith and that is now going to be the responsibility of Alex Hurst. Alex has done brilliantly in establishing the true faith podcast as the biggest and best of its type on the United scene and through his writing is clearly someone with a deep understanding and passion for the club. He’s a clever lad and he’ll bring a renewed energy and direction for Newcastle United’s biggest and best fanzine. Thank you for supporting me as editor, its been an honour and a privilege to be in the box seat of this great publication since 1999. Our first 20 years are in view but with Alex I expect another couple of decades at least of true faith being as awkward, independent, honest and passionate as we’ve been on my watch. I’ll still be writing for true faith and contributing of course but from now Alex sets the course. Please support him. Keep On, Keepin’ On… Alex - Editorial I’m fortunate to be taking the lead at true faith at an incredible time for Newcastle United and true faith. The manager has again forsaken a summer break and continues to work meticulously behind the scenes to improve the football club. As Michael quite rightly states the fan
base heads into the new season expectant and excited. It’s been a while. At the same time true faith is bigger and better than ever. This fanzine is more widely read than it’s ever been. The true faith website continues to produce content that should make certain members of the regional press blush. Our podcast has grown season on season and is wellrespected and listened to by Mags around the world. Our social media channels will continue to grow. It’s therefore a privilege to be able to take on the editorial role at true faith at a time when the football club and fanzine are going so strong. Michael isn’t going anywhere and will still be writing and contributing to everything tf. Which is crucial. It’s important that true faith continues to be the ‘alternative view’. We’re not the press. We’re not searching for clicks or paid internet advertising spam to make a few quid. Absolutely all revenue true faith generates goes back into true faith. Any merchandise true faith sells is not for profit. We don’t want a blue tick on twitter and we’re not interested in making money from youtube or podcasts. I’m of the opinion true faith has established itself since 1999
for precisely these reasons. true faith will continue to provide a diversity of opinion in the fanzine and produce high quality fan written content on the website. Our move into video blogs through youtube will be as far away as possible from ‘Arsenal fan TV’ as you can get. At a time when the mainstream football media descends further more into clickbait shite, or football phone ins are deigned to con people into ringing a premium rate phone numbers to get shouted at – I’ll do my very best to keep true faith grounded and representative of ordinary men, women and children who just love football and Newcastle United. We rely on all of you reading
this to spread the word for us and let other Mags know what we’re putting out. So thank you to all the people who recommend true faith, share and RT us to help us spread the word. We also have a massive following on Wearside who’ll we continue to educate in the areas the local media won’t touch. The message remains the same. If you want to write or talk about Newcastle United – we want to hear from you. You can write for the fanzine, come on the podcast or go on camera to let Mags know what’s what. true faith is nothing without it’s array of talented men and women who knock up genuine Newcastle United content and have done for almost eighteen years. Can’t wait to get started. Alex Hurst Editor FOLLOW @tfalex1892
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thru black & white eyes 05 April - The main talking point will be the antics of Keith Stroud and his team but the real story is yet another win for United and promotion is all but secured. The manager of course says no such thing but we have 84 points with 6 games to play, We need a point a game to get to 90. I think it will take one more win for promotion, maybe not even that. Matt Ritchie though. Some player. 06 April - More fallout from the game last night
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and it looks like Stroud may never take another game at this level. We often forget in football that we’re all pretty clued up on the rules, so to be utterly helpless like that was a strange one. 48k people in a football ground unable to pinpoint what went wrong as it’s just assumed the referee knows his rules. Whatever happens, referees this season have been a disgrace and actively damaged the team’s chances of winning games. There are the obvious
examples but there are so many more. I can’t wait to get out of this league. We go to Sheffield Wednesday looking at a tricky fixture. Still 2,700 away fans will be in great spirits after these two massive wins. For some pathetic reason Sheff Wed have charged us £42 a ticket and given us a significantly lower allocation that choir boys Leeds United and Aston Villa due to ‘safety concerns.’ 09 April - United were shocking in Sheffield.
Bizzarely Sheff Wed failed to score in a first half they dominated and then got their two goals when we were finally in the game. Shelvey nearly scored the goal of the century from his own half. The referee for the second time this season gave the players absolutely no protection against a thuggish Sheffield side. I don’t blame them for playing like they do – if the referees are happy with two footed aerial challenges that effectively put players out of games,
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you’ll tend to see them happen. Still, poor from United and a fuming Rafa matched my own mood driving back from the game. Reading lost 7 (seven) 1 to Norwich City. They aren’t going to catch us. 10 April - Leeds at home this week and people are treating Mitrovic’s cameo at the end of the Sheff Wed game as the second coming. He did okay when he came on and caused a few problems. He didn’t score. This is the bar that’s been set. Rafa is hinting at him getting a game at Leeds as two games in a week is a bit much for Daryl Murphy. Leeds, Friday night and a www.true-faith.co.uk
bank holiday. Can’t wait. We’re off to East Anglia three days later and mags have the calculator out determining when we’ll get promoted. I’d rather it was at home. United haven’t been promoted at home since 1457 or something, so it’d be nice. I’ll not turn down the chance of seeing it at Ipswich first though. 18 April - What a draining few days. Leeds – played mint and threw it away. Ipswich – rubbish again. It’s still happening. I don’t care about Huddersfield’s draw at Derby. We will see it through. The reaction has been predictable. When we get promoted I hope those that spout
abuse at the club and players have a little think to themselves about their behaviour. The referee, again, against Leeds was disgraceful but that had nothing to do with their best player being unmarked in the box in the 94th minute. It felt like a defeat, but it wasn’t. 85 points should be enough, looking at the other sides. Leeds’ bench celebrate in front of our own. Classless. Garry Monk was classless, as usual. It’s annoying. Ipswich though we were all over the place. No excuse again for that performance. Darlow was very poor. 21 April - There’ll be a lot of people looking at
the fixtures next weekend ahead of the Preston game on Monday. Brighton are at Norwich, tough game and Huddersfield host the divisions form team, Fulham. If results go to plan then United could be promoted at home to Preston in front of the nation. Fingers crossed. 22 April - It’s well and truly on. Huddersfield capitulate at home to Fulham and their recent form is shocking. It’s United’s for the taking on Monday. Rafa is talking of calm and of a game to win the celebrations and back slapping can wait. There’s a game of football to win. Preston are probably the divisions tf 7
thru black & white eyes most ‘Championship side’. Can beat anyone in the league. Will lose to anyone in the league. Let’s hope it’s us on Monday. 24 April - Job well and truly done. What a feeling. 25 April - Is there much to say about the game? Not really. It followed the script. Started okay – scored a great goal. Ropey 15 mins with questionable defending and in the end you wondered why all of the moaning and groaning from what turned out to be an utterly joyous home crowd. Great scenes at
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full time with Rafa lauding the Gallowgate. What a manager. What a man. 27 April - Plenty going on in the world of NUFC despite the sole aim of the season being emphatically achieved. First of all you’ve political Rafa convincing people of a nervous disposition that he’s about to walk away from the club. He won’t if backed of course. That’ll rumble on. Talksport reckon the season has been a failure as we’ve not won the league and the nationals are generally fuming at our resurgence.
The hysterical aspect of the fanbase (and some journalists who should know better) are wetting themselves that we’ll go straight back down as we’re ‘not good enough’ and Rafa needs at least £150m to spend (only Man City spent more last season). Then there’s the small matter of United’s offices being raided by HMRC officers and Lee Charnley taken in for questioning and then released without charge. Newcastle United eh! How to celebrate promotion. 28 April - One of the
best ever days following United as we go to Cardiff and enjoy ourselves. It’s up there with Leeds for best away of the season for me. 4,200 of us singing through the day and into the night. A great night to be a mag. 29 April - There’ll be no Tyne Wear derby next season as Sunderland are relegated in front of basically no one at their home ground. Ten years in the Premier League and all they have to show for it is one tenth placed finish and even then they didn’t like that as Steve
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Bruce is a mag. It would have been really nice for Rafa to get to work on them next season but for the good of football and the league they had to go. What a job David Moyes has done. All on the same day Brighton mess up and lose to lowly Bristol. The title is back on! 04 May - Rafa seems hungry for the title. Yours truly has been saying it doesn’t matter for weeks – but Rafa isn’t any of the characters whove sat in his office before him. Tenth won’t be good enough for him next season, and he wants 1st this season. In fairness, we comfortably beat Brighton twice and www.true-faith.co.uk
I think we’re the better team. The twist is that we need Aston Villa – who loads of us hate, to do us a favour. Either way this side deserve all of the plaudits in the world. No side has ever sold as much talent as we have and gone back up like this. So few relegated sides go up for a simple reason – they are losers. They’re used to losing games and have a massive inability to win games. Look at Villa – they still don’t know how to win and they’ve spent £75 million. It’s not easy. In the end we’ve made it look easy. 07 May - Champions!!!!!!
09 May - Utterly deserved. There were scenes as well. Scenes for the kids to tell their mates about at school. Men and women to tell their colleagues. Not everyone likes footy but everyone is into Rafa’s United the next day at work. ‘What was it like?’, ‘it was absolutely mint.’ United wiped the floor with Barnsley and as Dwight Goal gets back in the action and achieves cult status with his celebration. What a lad. Only played 50% of available minutes this season you know as we still won it. Hed have got 40-50 goals injury free. I love him. Anyway
Dwight’s doing his thing and Villa score. A few minutes after the our game finishes we’re crowned champions. Rafa to meet Ashley soon and start the next chapter of the modern history of Newcastle United. Don’t cock up it up, Mike. We’d never forgive you. 10 May - The news we all needed. It arrived quickly and effectively. Rafa’s not going on holiday again to get us ready for next season. We’ll be back and we’ll not be aiming for seventeenth. What a club. ALEX HURST - FOLLOW ALEX ON @tfalex1892 tf 9
Custodians Matz Sels 3. Never really got this signing. Having watched him regularly, as Rafa persevered like most of you I got it even less. He has shown a great propensity to flap at crosses & spill easy shots. Canny kicker, mind. Tim Krul 3. He’s had his day. Been out forever with injury & appears to have crisp paper packet strength wrists when speculative shots come in from further than 15 yards. Karl Darlow 1. Our current No 1 has gone from strength to strength. He has a decent command of the box & is a great shot stopper. His kicking is dodge mind. Needs work on that. He also has very special hair. tf 10
Rob Elliot 1. I heard the TF podcast boys dissing him & got a bit cross. I normally sit nodding sagely at Alex et al, but their Rob savaging was just wrong in my book. I rate him. Prefer KD, but would be ok if he took over. We need him around for cover, at least. Defenders of the Faith. DeandreYedlin 2. This kid is as rapid as the Road Runner. Going forward & tracking back are high on his list of achievements. However, defensively & positionally, he is often struggling. Needs a lot of training on to cut it in the Prem. Jamaal Lascelles 2. I’m so 50/50 on this kid. I loved his ballsy attitude about the time Rafa came in. He’d apparently told the Sissoko
snake society to foxtrot oscar & looked like a leader in the making. These days, he has some great games & then some less so. He looks a bit petulant & sulky at times. Just not sure... Ciaran Clark 1. In the mix for player of the year. He came to us off the back of a disastrous season for the Vile, both personally & ........ before that, I’d always liked the look of him. After a slightly shaky start he’s made the left CB slot his own. He reads the game well, has a decent pass in him & wins most in the air. Has a chance of becoming an NUFC legend. And has an especially mint surname. Paul Dummett 1. Overall, Paul has had a very decent season. I’ve already written www.true-faith.co.uk
a TF article bemoaning the situation where he is given short shrift from decent sized chunks of the SJP faithful. He has improved defensively, is better going forward but unfortunately, he’s never going to get any faster. He will be needed as an important squad member going forward.
the AFCON. The last time I remember him was having the King of all stinkers v wolves at home. Hard to judge at present.
Achraf Lazaar 2. From the little I’ve seen of this kid, he reminds me a little of Yedlin on the other flank. However, he’s clearly not as advanced as Deandre & the juries already out on our American friend. Lazaar is well away from being a Prem player, currently. However, he’s young and has time to improve.
Jesus Gamez 2 bordering on 3. Hard to call, as we haven’t seen a great deal of him.What I have seen hasn’t turned too many heads. His age is also against him.
Chancel Mbemba 2. One of our better performers pre our lethargic demotion, he’s been in a Rafa enforced wilderness for most of this campaign. Did very well as a Defensive midfielder at
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Grant Hanley 3. A good, honest pro. Decent in the air but is not much faster than me & reeks of the Championship.
Massadio Haidara 3. Our perma crocked French wonder has never really pulled up any trees. Just don’t really see the point in him. Jamie Sterry 2. To be honest, I don’t know a great deal about this kid. However, his brief appearances made me think that he looked half decent. Possibly keep
him & send out on loan again? The Engine Room Jonjo Shelvey 1. On his day, a midfielder who could grace the upper echelons of the Premiership. However, he can also be a slope shouldered, twisty faced bairn when things aren’t going his way. A penchant for a card & a worrying lack of pace do not help his cause. Currently, when he turns up, so do United. He’s that important. And therefore, must be kept. He needs more legs & quality around him though. Jack Colback 3. Wearside Jack had a decent first season at SJP. Since then, he has drifted very alarmingly. Offers little going forward & has a knack of giving away needless free kicks in dangerous areas. Remember Blackburn away? To be fair to him, he always gives it a
Currently, when he turns up, so do United. He’s that important. And therefore, must be kept. He needs more legs & quality around him though.
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go & gets stuck in, but the Ginger Pirlo he ain’t. Matt Ritchie 1. I like this lad a lot. He plays with a great deal of desire. He’s creative & has popped up with a decent amount of goals for us this term. His downsides are that he sometimes tries too hard. He can get himself into a proper radge & when this happens he loses his effectiveness, twisting at team mates & officials alike. I’d like to think he has the talent to kick on though. Isaac Hayden 1 with a hint of 2. This kid definitely has talent. As he is so young & has pedigree I would keep him, however I worry about his pace & occasionally his temperament. He could go on to be a top player or drift around the lower prem / championship. Can’t make my mind up. tf 12
Vurnon Anita 3. Big Vurn has done ok this term, both in the middle and as a RB. However, I never felt he did much for us in the Prem. I wouldn’t be averse to seeing him as a squad player, but it’s probably best for both parties if he ends up elsewhere.
be worth keeping. However, he has done really well this season & I’d edge towards keeping him. His main attribute is that he always puts a shift in. Is he a Prem starter? No. Is he Prem quality? Hmm. However, I wouldn’t mind seeing him on the bench.
Cristian Atsu 2. Our Chelsea loanee is a player who has caught the eye a number of times this season. He’s fast & direct but you are more likely to endure the profligacy of his final ball than the exquisite piece of skill which saw him set up Ayoze for the killer 3rd v Brighton. He has talent, no doubt. Is he up to the Prem? Jury’s out, for me.
Mo Diame 2. When he signed him, I asked a Hull season ticket holding pal of mine what he thought. He was unequivocal. On his day, a proper player. Inventive, decent movement & with an eye for a goal. Unfortunately, his ‘day’ is about 1 in every 5/6. From what I’ve seen, I think he was just about right!
Youann Gouffran 2. A year ago, I’d have been laughed out of Town for even suggesting he might
A year ago, I’d have been laughed out of Town for even suggesting he might be worth keeping.
Sammy Ameobi 1. I know at least one pal who will probably unfriend me for not casting him into the abyss, but I still think there is a player in there www.true-faith.co.uk
somewhere. A charlatan like Pardew wouldn’t have a chance but possibly Rafa could get something out of him? Plus, like the Rooks & the Tower of London - there must be an Ameobi at SJP. It’s the Law! Rolando Aarons 1. This was a bit of a tricky one. His injury record is massively against him, but if he can stay fit, I think he looks a real talent. He is possibly nearing ‘last chance saloon’ but I reckon he’s worth persevering with at this point. Up top Dwight Gayle 1. He’s just about my biggest ‘keep’. He reminds me a lot of Defoe & already has a decent goals per game record in the Prem. If Rafa stays, a decent number 10 is required to play alongside him. If he exits, then definitely
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another centre forward to complement him. Daryl Murphy 1. Ok, he’s cracking on, but has no pace to lose. He is mint in the air, technically decent & always gives it a right go. I wouldn’t see him as a starter in the top flight, but he’d be great to have on the bench. Aleksander Mitrovic 3. For me, he’s flattered to deceive since day one. His odd decent performance does not make up for the fact that most of the time he just doesn’t do it. I’m sick of seeing him lumbering around, twisting at refs whilst being bullied by trundling centre halves. I know he’s got passion, but that’s not enough. Ayoze Perez 1. For a kid with so much talent, he has had a strange season, so far. From minute one at Craven
Cottage he has played in such a laconic manner, it makes you want to scream. However, his previous form in the top flight & the recent reminder of his superbly taken goal at Brighton make him worth keeping at this juncture. He really needs to train on, though.
I know he’s got passion, but that’s not enough.
So, there you have it. The cognoscenti amongst you will be no doubt, nodding and chin rubbing whilst reading my words. Those of you who disagree, fair do’s. Opinions are like bottoms. Everyone has them. *whilst the bookies have us going up as a fait accompli, this is Newcastle United. We rarely do things simply. Plus, the Footballing Gods frown upon Charlie Big Potatoes getting too big for their boots.
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Firstly, I’m writing on the premise that we’re getting promoted. However, as I type, we just shamefully lost 3-1 against Ipswich Town. EFL Championship Review ‘The Good’ ‘Rafa Stays’ In my opinion, the best thing about relegation was on May 25th last year when Rafa Benitez made the audacious decision to stay at Newcastle United. It surprised the footballing
world and gave us hope at a time when we were incredibly nervous about the club’s short-medium term future. ‘Winning Football Matches’ Although many games have not been pretty, we have racked up 26 wins from 43 (so far) compared to the abysmal 9 from
38 last season. Despite not being able to name many players from the visiting teams this year, you can’t beat that winning feeling between fixtures. A particular highlight was the 6-0 thumping of QPR at Loftus Road. We were on our biggest winning streak since Keegan’s side in the 90s and, at the time, I felt
‘The Good, the Bad and the Ugly’
EFL Championship Review and EPL Predictions
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we would stroll through the rest of the season. My favourite home game was the 7-goal thriller against Norwich. We were facing defeat in the face and probably didn’t deserve to win, but the players were tenacious in the last 10 minutes and gave the fans a battling performance to the very end. The game was pivotal in the turnaround of our fortunes. Norwich could’ve created breathing space above us, but we really pushed on after that. ‘The Bad’ ‘Poor results at home’ 5 home defeats (so far) is bitterly disappointing. Especially if you compare the statistic to our last season in the Championship where we went the whole season unbeaten at home and only suffered three www.true-faith.co.uk
defeats on the road. Some of the defeats were welldeserved: Fulham absolutely played us off the park, Sheffield Wednesday were relentless on the counter attack and Huddersfield exposed defensive frailties in August which are still evident today. ‘Recruitment and selection’ Some hit and miss signings in the summer. Very pleased with Gayle, Richie, Clarke and Murphy (who should be up front in a 4-4-2 formation with Gayle in my opinion). Still baffled by the signing of Matz Sels: unnecessary and disappointing. Strength in depth could be the only argument for the signing but he’s looked a nervous wreck in the Championship and will surely be offloaded in the summer. Mo Diame has also been disappointing.
I thought he’d be more effective with his relatively successful EFL pedigree. Grant Hanley has been a squad player and has rarely featured. The loan signing of Christian Atsu added pace and a bit of flare to the team, but lack of consistency proves why he’s been a ‘journeyman’ and will never be a Chelsea regular. Failure to secure a signing in January proved to be frustrating for everyone except the NUFC hierarchy, including our manager who was seemingly out of the loop with negotiations for Andros Townsend. Despite my adoration and appreciation for Benitez who has already achieved ‘god-like’ status with some of our fans, I do wish he’d be more positive with his tactics, especially at home. I believe we would’ve
Failure to secure a signing in January proved to be frustrating for everyone except the NUFC hierarchy, including our manager who was seemingly out of the loop with negotiations for Andros Townsend.
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secured more wins by playing two up front. We have become predictable in our build-up play and we’re lacking confidence at the back, which other teams are exploiting all too easily. I was very surprised today that Rafa decided to make five changes to the side that played so positively against Leeds United in the second half. ‘The Ugly’ I’m not normally one to complain about referees, but the standard of officiating in the EFL is below par. There have been some awful decisions this season. In particular, the 2 red cards against Nottingham Forest and the ‘encroachment’ decision against Burton Albion. Not to mention the numerous penalties we should’ve been awarded throughout the season. Jonjo Shelvey also showed the ugly side of his game on a few occasions this season, particularly his ban
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for racial abuse against Wolves earlier this season. Premier League Predictions ‘The Good’ I’m really looking forward to having top teams back at SJP. Gone are the days where we brought household names to the club, so it is nice to see some of the world’s best players grace our pitch (but only when we win!). I’m also interested to see what tactics Rafa will use in the next campaign. I guess it all depends on summer recruitment… ‘The Bad’ It’s looking increasingly likely that we aren’t going to have derby games next season, which is a massive blow. It has been hilarious at times watching Sunderland lose this year, but I will miss circling them on my calendar. ‘The Ugly’ With Mike Ashley’s track
record and the fact that he’s already frustrated Rafa in January, being frugal with the funds would cause friction with the manager. We all still feel lucky and honoured to have him at our club and we will be on tenterhooks should the disaster happen and he walks. I can’t think of anything worse than Rafa leaving, some French young ‘uns signed for a pittance and having Sports Direct sprawled across the front of our shirts. Well, maybe the only thing that could top that is if the above happens and we’re still in the Championship. In summary, we’re still on course for getting out of this division at the first time of asking and I predict a long and difficult campaign starting in August. But, providing the manager is backed in the transfer market and the fans are kept onside then we will be just fine.
I’m not normally one to complain about referees, but the standard of officiating in the EFL is below par. There have been some awful decisions this season. In particular, the 2 red cards against Nottingham Forest and the ‘encroachment’ decision against Burton Albion.
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The title conveys a striking headline. Who indeed would be a goalkeeper? Well such a specialised position needs someone to fill goal; week after week, game upon game. From non-league to the World Cup final. Both sides competing on the pitch both need keepers; the more garish and florescent a goalkeeper’s jersey the better!
WHO WOULD BE A
SAM WILSON
GOALKEEPER?
I’ve often heard the phrase being coined; by managers and supporters alike: “You need to be a bit mad to play in goals”. There is in a sense some truth to that.... any player who is diving in-front of players feet, and putting their body on
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the line with the ball flying from all angles towards goal surely needs their head examined!
I’ve found the position one that is fascinating; and within the modern game seemingly more specialised
as each season passes. It appears now more than ever that managers and coaches are looking for their keeper to be experts with the ball at their feet and Manuel Neur has now redefined the position as a “sweeper keeper”. It’s
been apparent that Neur has often been seen on television collecting the ball on the half way line, re-starting an attack, whilst being the very last line of defence. What ever happened to being judged on your ability to keep the ball out of the net with any part of your limb? Collecting an in-swinging corner with umpteen players clattering into you under the upmost pressure. Your team incidentally are still one goal ahead going into injury time. I personally, never played at any competitive level or for a local club side, however I often enjoyed five-aside games with my close friends from school. It allowed close control and a strong team spirit to be fostered within a tighter environment; no I in team was never truer, with fewer players a real collective effort was required to www.true-faith.co.uk
achieve success. My side had rotated the goal-keeper role, it was left for me to take my turn in goal: A crossroads had started to unfold in my mind. I took my spell in goals, from that point I had found my place, a specific role that I felt comfortable in. Before that I had defined myself as a modern defensive midfielder; break up the attacking threats, pass the ball onwards to the more skillful players; who would rarely pass to you anyway, at times even if you were in a more advanced, scoring position! Regular readers of my previous articles will know both my football sides are defined by black and white stripes: Dunfermline Athletic and Newcastle United, purely coincidental that they both have the same colours! I’d like to focus on two
brilliant servants for Newcastle in Shay Given and the late, great, Pavel Srnicek . Both keepers were outstanding, and for me as a fan they’re two that are most memorable and stick out in my memory. Stevie Harper also was slightly unlucky in that Given’s sensational form meant Stevie was warming the bench until the 1999 FA Cup final. Ever the professional Stevie maintained a superb attitude and kept working hard. The 2009-2010 Championship winning season, “Harps” was a mainstay and saved the team on countless o cc a s i o n s . All three mentioned were great ambassadors for the club and the wider North East region.
I’d like to focus on two brilliant servants for Newcastle in Shay Given and the late, great, Pavel Srnicek
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Srnicek of course developed a unique rapport with the supporters; Pavel’s passing on 29th December 2015 was a tragic shock to all in football, more so for someone who was one of the fittest individuals, and a meticulous trainer. Given and Srnicek were two superb shot stoppers; an essential component to becoming an effective goalkeeper. Harper for me organised a defence well, I’d regularly observe the bellowing shouts at an ever ragged Magpies defence; lets be frank it has always been our Achilles heel! The effective communication from Stevie ensured all of the backline knew their roles, I always found the way he commanded his area from crosses to be a calming influence especially from the upper section of the Gallowgate! Sharp reflexes and anticipation are critical to be a successful keeper; the ability to claw the ball tf 20
away from the net, when the reality is opposition fans are acclaiming a goal cannot be coached. It’s either there instinctively or not at all. Claiming crosses under pressure and distribution can be worked on however, a regular strive to improve on a routine basis is the minimum for any professional footballer. Shay Given was not the tallest, but his agility was breathtaking, that save from Kevin Phillips at the Stadium of Light was beyond belief and defied the laws of physics, to save the shot was heroic in itself, but to tip the shot over the bar , potentially match winning. Mistakes for a goal-keeper, alas the other end of the spectrum. A keeper may have an outstanding match, save after save, strikers becoming increasingly frustrated, muttered cursing, and then a mistake leads to a winning goal for the opposition.....inconsolable. All three keepers I’ve referenced made some, I’m
sure of that, what defines a keeper is their ability to put all the mistakes to the memory bank, and come back a stronger person. It was a real pity, that none of the three goal-keepers mentioned won any domestic honours. I feel as a fan, their contribution was immense to the club. Stevie Harper had a thoroughly deserved testimonial, Given moved onto Manchester City. Perhaps If Shay had stayed at St James’, he may well have held the most appearances for the Magpies in the modern era.
Perhaps If Shay had stayed at St James’, he may well have held the most appearances for the Magpies in the modern era
Pav of course had a unique chant on the terraces, the popular autobiography captured the player,as well as that infectious personality. It’s no coincidence, that so many ex team mates and players of all clubs had such wonderful tributes towards the gentle giant. A huge miss to the local area and life in general. Alas I digress; the life of a keeper is touching, eccentric and dynamic! www.true-faith.co.uk
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Last time we touched base with the Gallowgate Flags project was in October’s issue (tf127) of this fanzine where the story of how it all began was told. From it’s inception in pre-season, to the inaugural display at home to Huddersfield and on to Legends Day which was due to take place at the end of that month. We were all amazed with how far it had gone and how successful the whole movement had been so far.
SIMON CAMPBELL Follow @simoncampbell11 Here we are again, just five months later reflecting on how much more has been achieved since October. Legends Day was of course a huge success. No fewer than twelve giant flags bearing the image of twelve legends spanning over a hundred years of NUFC history were unveiled to a full SJP on Bonfire night. The
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crowd and players reacted brilliantly as the display set the tone for the evening. A goal within the first three minutes and three points by the end and it was a job well done by all involved. This is the whole purpose of Gallowgate Flags. To once again make St James’ Park a bear pit where away sides come in fear. A home crowd
that creates the kind of noise and atmosphere that will influence the game. It’s the best way to a successful football club and the man in charge knows it. Rafa Benitez has both inspired this movement and given it his full backing. That’s all the reason anybody should need to get involved and continue to make it bigger
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and better. The Surfer After the success of Legends Day, the group got together and started planning ways to outdo ourselves for the next one. Funding would be needed and the winter weather was imminent so it was decided to take our time to refresh the coffers and come up with something really spectacular for the next display. This prompted the first (but not last!) Gallowgate Flags quiz night in late December. We were once again overwhelmed by the support received for this event. From all of those that bought tickets to sell out the event to the amazing prizes donated by a number of local businesses, writers, artists and the Club itself. We were also treated to guest www.true-faith.co.uk
appearances from Matt Ritchie & Paul Dummett as well as journalists like Martin Hardy and BBC commentator Matthew Raisebeck who kindly took on the role of quiz master. The night was a complete success and a wonderful occasion all round which raised over £1,700, all for the flags fund. This added to continuing generous donations from supporters across the globe and we’d once again hit our target - a huge f***ing surfer to cover the Gallowgate middle tier! Designs were thrown around by the group with the help of some social media interaction and we were all unanimous in agreeing on the final design which was unveiled in all of it’s glory against vile at home on a Monday night on Sky. We hadn’t intended to do
another full display so soon given the terrible weather we’ve had this winter but on-goings at the club in January which appeared to have upset Rafa was all we needed as motivation to get everything out again and remind the world that he is our man. So the vile game was chosen to make our statement. It looked sensational and but for the slightly squeeky bum moment when it nearly got away down the east stand, it was again an undeniable success, matched by the result on the pitch. Rafa Flag Another flag made it’s debut that night and has picked up as much if not more attention than the surfer itself. That was the giant flag raised in the corner of our manager and the whole reason we are doing this, Rafa Benitez. We took the decision as a group to fund
This added to continuing generous donations from supporters across the globe and we’d once again hit our target - a huge f*****g surfer to cover the Gallowgate middle tier!
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brings with it bigger games and this can only help the atmosphere.
this one entirely ourselves as a thank you to Rafa and again, in response to the suggestions that the club aren’t doing everything to help him do his job. He’s our man. The flag itself was bigger than planned. The lad who ordered it (not going to name drop!) sneaked a couple of metres on to each side to the point we were a little unsure if we’d get it up on the poles! But we did and he looked majestic. We’re all buzzing with this one and will continue to flaunt it as long as that man is here. Again, Rafa is the reason any of this is happening. He has injected new life into our club and we are slowly trying to restore that life to the stands on a Saturday. We urge everyone there to join in and contribute to the atmosphere that we want and Rafa wants.
James’ Park to be the ground no away team wants to come to. We want a noisy, positive atmosphere that translates onto the pitch. The championship is not the perfect place to achieve this vision but we have done our bit so far and the team are very close to achieving their end of the bargain. Back in the Premier League Newcastle United, and we desperately hope that also means Rafa is still in the dugout, then the sky is the limit. We all know the Premier League
In terms of Gallowgate Flags displays, that leaves us with a few key events to mark in the coming months (assuming no disasters). Firstly, we want to mark our promotion or league title with a huge celebration. We will have all the current stock of flags out with surfer and Rafa flag all in. We of course want to continue to add to and maintain the standard of display seen at the vile game. We are therefore hosting a second quiz night at Nine Bar0. Expect plenty more special guests, excellent prizes and we are kindly joined again by Matthew Raisbeck to host the evening. The hope is to raise as much as last time and put it towards another surfer to dress the South West Corner. This coupled with the main surfer in the middle and flags ahoy in
the Strawberry corner and we’ll have one whole end of the stadium completely covered. Designs are being looked at and will be circulated on social media for feedback. There are several other projects in the early stages of development and I don’t want to give too much away just yet but rest assured that each display will continue to be better than the last. Remember, you contribute here!
can
As the displays continue to grow, we always need more volunteers to help hold, distribute and collect flags. Please get in touch here if you can help, it’s greatly appreciated - contact@ gallowgateflags.co.uk
What next? As a group, our focus has not shifted. We want St tf 24
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On October 22nd 2016 St James’ witnessed the greatest goal of NUFC’s recent history. The opening goal in the 3-0 win over Ipswich was the epitome of footballing substance - the essence of a football purist vision. Despite the goal receiving appreciation amongst fans and social media, it received little attention from the mainstream media and the aforementioned acclaim from fans has been diluted over the short period since. It has become clear that the goal will not be remembered alongside Shearer’s Everton volley or Cisse’s Chelsea wildcard, the latter being more a case of fortune than skill. Those goals have been put on a pedestal, so why is it that a moment of such a star aligning quality is not met with the same enthusiasm.
Daniel Marshall
COLLECTIVE STRENGTH tf 26
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24 passes constructed the first goal against Ipswich. All 11 players were involved in the glorious move, a systemic manipulation of space straight from the first whistle. The privilege belonged to Ayoze Perez, but a goal of this nature owes as much to every player involved as it does the scorer. The final touch is in principle another pass as it is no more important than every other pass in the sequence. Without each pass there would be no goal at all - every stroke of the ball bearing equal weight. Argentina’s second goal in their defeat of Serbia and Montenegro at World Cup 2006 is considered one of the very best team goals, yet it endures something of a lukewarm reception in comparison with great individual moments. Consider the way the media and fans alike enthuse over Maradona’s streak of inspiration that left England’s World Cup 86 team flummoxed, or a young Michael Owen’s whippet-like run through the Argentina defence at France 98. The 2006 team goal is superior to a number of great goals that receive more attention, but is not www.true-faith.co.uk
canonised with the others. 26 passes, including the final ‘pass’ into the net, constructed a divine move of collective imagination, that didn’t so much slice through the Serbia and Montenegro side, as it gradually and brutally invaded them. Argentina transitioned from defence to attack with the menace of a sniper, Esteban Cambiasso with the final lethal touch. Aesthetically, you can’t separate the merits of team goals and individual brilliance, but as an emblem for the beautiful game the collective endeavour of a team goal asserts itself. Maradona and Shearer’s fate were in their own hands. In theory less can go wrong with the chance of success going it alone – no matter how audacious the effort. When a team build a move that requires measure and patience the burden may be shared, but it relies on every player to use their brain and make the correct decisions. Anybody can run fast or hit a shot from range that might come off every once in a while, but there is no match for the artistry of a clear mind - when
and where to pass, to go backwards if needed, when to take on a man and have the vision to be aware of how play can unfold. On the occasions this is displayed throughout a team it is football in its purest form, the way it should be played. This style of play is overlooked in England because people don’t spare any time for foreplay always impatiently rushing to the money shot. Forwards is a religion. Predominantly, people will see the most direct route to goal only and discredit players that don’t share that view, Vernon Anita or David Batty for example. Similarly, retaining the ball is the best possible form of defence, but a last ditch tackle is held in higher esteem. This attitude is not exclusive to football as a spectator sport either and it has hindered England for generations – from the national team down to grass roots. If Perez had fluffed his volley into the Leazes End and the spell of possession had come to nothing more than keeping the ball for a passage of time the move would be forgotten altogether. This style of play should
24 passes constructed the first goal against Ipswich. All 11 players were involved in the glorious move, a systemic manipulation of space straight from the first whistle.
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always be encouraged and appreciated with knowledge of what it can produce, but St James’ would ordinarily groan with disapproval at the backwards and sideways passing. Conceivably the team would have been excused on this occasion simply because the move was put together directly from kick off, but at virtually any other point in the 90 minutes a disapproving cacophony would have risen from the stands. Later in the very same game, impatience was growing at Karl Darlow for continuing to play out from the back – as if nothing had been learnt. If Cambiasso stretched any more than he already had and the ball cleared the crossbar, there would have been no compliments paid to Argentina for their style of play in the media other than a momentary acknowledgment at the end of the move. Patient would
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become slow, lacklustre and ponderous. The problem is that possession based team goals are appreciated less than spectacular solo efforts because of an institutionalised scepticism towards the philosophy that produces them. A constructed team move only receives its congratulations if it comes to fruition, but it is never broadly commended for its intentions as a style of play if there is no goal at the end of it. Goals of individual brilliance should always be merited and receive the attention they deserve. David Ginola’s volley that put Fencvaros to the sword is a picturesque moment of genius, but the gradual build of team goal does not grab people as obviously as the sudden punch of a long–range shot or vicious volley. The obviously spectacular, or the goal scorer at the
end of a move receive the plaudits, but moments of beauty occur all over the pitch. It’s about how Argentina bide their time, the way Juan Pablo Sorin nonchalantly brings down a high-bouncing ball before playing it backward to change the angle of attack, or the flick of the outside of Riquelme’s boot in a quick one-two. During the fifth goal in the famous trawling of Manchester United there is a quick exchange of passes between David Batty and Rob Lee that contain as much creativity as Albert’s arc. Lee is retreating before he slips the ball to Batty with the outside of his foot, Batty stabs the ball back with a touch of backspin on the greased turf, and on receiving the return Lee is able to work the ball out to Albert. All three passes go backwards – evidently, how you get there is as important as the destination.
The obviously spectacular, or the goal scorer at the end of a move receive the plaudits, but moments of beauty occur all over the pitch.
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GEORDIES HERE, GEORDIES THERE... Northern Ireland 2 Norway 0 Sunday 26th March 2017 ,7:45pm, Windsor Park, Belfast (Att: 18,161) In 1921 Ireland was politically split into the 26 counties Free State and the 6 counties state of Northern Ireland but before then there was only one Irish football team, in which a few United players, like Belfast born Bill McCracken, represented. McCracken was a bit of a footballing maverick and played for United for almost twenty years, he is legendary for perfecting the off-side game so well that the football powers-that-be were compelled to change the offside rule in 1925. Down the years many
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others have worn the green of Northern Ireland, in fact three United players represented them in perhaps their most successful team ever. In 1958 Alf McMichael, Tommy Casey and Dick Keith were all part of their World Cup squad in Sweden. Only Portsmouth, who also had 3 players in Sweden, had as many representatives in that squad. The Northern Irish pulled off one of the biggest upsets in World Cup Finals history by qualifying for the quarter-finals, drawing with the World Champions, West Germany, along the way. They eventually went
out 4-0 to France. Since then, a succession of United players have been capped for Northern Ireland, among them 1969 Fairs Cup winners Ian McFaul and David Craig, later came Tommy Cassidy, David McCreery, Ian Stewart, Tommy Wright, Keith Gillespie, Michael O’Neill, Aaron Hughes and Shane Ferguson. The last three in that list are still involved with the team, O’Neill is the manager, veteran Hughes is the second highest capped player and Ferguson is a regular in the starting eleven. The history of international football on the island of Ireland is quite a
Since then, a succession of United players have been capped for Northern Ireland, among them 1969 Fairs Cup winners Ian McFaul and David Craig, later came Tommy Cassidy, David McCreery, Ian Stewart, Tommy Wright, Keith Gillespie, Michael O’Neill, Aaron Hughes and Shane Ferguson
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complicated story but basically the sport started in the north with the Irish Football Association, based in Belfast, in 1880s. The north of Ireland, especially Belfast, was the original hotbed of Irish football, due to the fact that there was a lot of heavy industry and with that came the game usually with workers from Scotland or England and occasionally with British soldiers. However, British soldiers were more commonly responsible for bringing the game to the south of Ireland more so than in the north. For example, in 1884 the first recorded game of football in Kerry involved the Durham Light Infantry Regiment, stationed in Tralee. It’s a well-known fact, that in some of the more rural towns of the south, Gaelic sports were (and maybe still www.true-faith.co.uk
are) favoured above football, which was seen as a foreign game as was the case with cricket and rugby. To this day there is still big rivalries between the followers of Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) sports and football, usually called soccer in the Republic of Ireland. When the Irish Free State was created, in 1921, a new body called the Football Association of Ireland was formed in Dublin. This created a huge power struggle between the two associations on both a national league level and an international level. This in turn led to a situation where Ireland was represented by two international teams, and where some players represented both. Obviously this state of affairs couldn’t continue and eventually, in 1954, this situation was resolved when the
international teams the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland were formally recognised as two separate countries/teams by FIFA. Northern Ireland only being able to choose players from the six counties of the north whilst the Republic could only choose from the 26 counties of the south. Of course, because of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, this situation has changed to some extent again, but more of that later. If you want to go into more detail about the Irish football power struggle, I suggest you read the excellent book The Irish soccer split by Cormac Moore. Of course many people ask why can’t there be a United Ireland team as is the case in Rugby Union. However, although brought up on numerous occasions in the past (apparently George tf 31
Best was an advocate) this seemingly could not happen because of FIFA rules regarding two political separate states playing as one. It seems that only the political unification of Ireland into a 32 county state could make a united football team likely. Due to Brexit some political commentators are saying Irish political unification could soon be a possibility because it could cause a hard border between the north and south but that is all conjecture at the moment. Unquestionably, whilst the political/religious situation is much better in Northern Ireland than it was a few years ago, it’s age old divisions still play a major role when it comes to football and its supporters. In 2006 an Irish journalist Paul Doyle claimed that the Irish football community would object to a united national team because fans on both sides of the border were “hate-filled fools”. He claimed that Northern tf 32
Ireland supporters were “bent by bigotry” while the average Republic fan would “rather play football with his own head” than watch a combined side. It’s undeniable that the vast majority of Catholics in the North support the Republic and it is obvious that the vast majority who follow the Northern Irish team are from the Protestant community. Subsequently since the Good Friday agreement citizens of Northern Ireland can have both a British and/or an Irish passport, which now means that footballers in the north can choose between the two teams. This has led to some Northern Irish players, like James McLean, choosing to play for the Republic. There is a genuine fear at the IFA that they could lose some talented individuals to the Republic and that something needs to be done. Of course in the past many Catholics have had an important role to play in the Northern Irish football team,
like the most capped player Pat Jennings and Gerry Armstrong who scored that iconic goal, against Spain, during the World Cup in 1982 which also featured former Celtic manager Martin O’Neill and United midfielder David McCreery – both Roman Catholics. Whilst in the current team the manager is a Catholic as is fans favourite Niall McGinn. Off the pitch a lot has been done through people like Michael Boyd (the IFA’s Community Relations Officer) and the Football for All campaign. Boyd in the past has commented on the bygone sectarian problems, “In the 1980s and ‘90s you’d hear The Billy Boys and monkey noises, racist chants and sectarian abuse at games. So what should have been a fantastic celebration wasn’t a positive experience. I was at the match and I remember being disgusted at some of the stuff that was going on,” he explained. Nowadays things have moved on and are much better but nevertheless
Unquestionably, whilst the political/ religious situation is much better in Northern Ireland than it was a few years ago, it’s age old divisions still play a major role when it comes to football and its supporters
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as an outsider looking in, I personally believe that Catholics will always feel alienated at Winsor Park whilst the team use the anthem God Save the Queen and the official team flag is the Ulster Banner. This is also a view held by many including some people I know personally and former players like Gerry Armstrong and Paul McVeigh. In my opinion, I reckon a much better option for an anthem would be The Minstrel Boy, a patriotic Irish song written by Thomas Moore, in remembrance of his friends killed in the 1798 United Irishmen uprising, but also used by Irish regiments of the British Army. The tune is played at the London Cenotaph every year and was even performed at the Queen Mother’s funeral, therefore it’s a tune that crosses communities. As for a flag, a three bar horizontal green white and blue with the red hand of Ulster (without crown) in the middle seems more appropriate. Many attribute the red hand only to Unionist/Loyalist Protestants, which isn’t true as the legend of the red hand is a cross culture ancient Irish folktale but this fact remains largely unknown. As far as the current team is concerned they are presently undergoing an upsurge in fortunes since qualification and participation in Euro 2016. They are hopeful of www.true-faith.co.uk
securing a World Cup playoff place and this home match, versus Norway, was to be a pivotal game, with the Norwegians sitting in 5th place and the Northern Irish in 2nd spot, 5 points behind Group C leaders and current World Champions, Germany. However more importantly before this game they were on joint points with 3rd placed Azerbaijan. The game was a Sunday evening kick off and we arrived in Belfast on Sunday afternoon, where we were staying in reasonably priced digs in south Belfast and that were only a short walk to Windsor Park. The three local bars around the digs, The Royal, Lavery’s and the Benedict’s Hotel are all well-known watering holes for Norn Iron fans and they were all very lively to say the least, with many fans drinking both inside and outside in the Spring sunshine. The Royal was a favourite bar of the late snooker player (my namesake) Alex Hurricane Higgins and his murals adorn the outside and the inside of the bar. Fans on way to match:
My youngest lad and me had been invited into the press area for this game, so we had to make our way up to the ground relatively early. The walk up Tate Avenue leads to a railway bridge and from this bridge the newly revamped ground comes into view. Under one of the bridge abutments there was a prematch private party going on, which turned out to be run by a group called the
Rat Trap Loyal. All the lads seemed to be in their thirties and had all bought carry out beers to enjoy in their impromptu HQ. I had to ask what the craic was and was told by a few friendly lads, on the fringes of the group, that this has been part of their pre-match ritual for some years. In fact, this venue under the bridge is a relatively new setting, as the group has been moved
In my opinion, I reckon a much better option for an anthem would be The Minstrel Boy, a patriotic Irish song written by Thomas Moore, in remembrance of his friends killed in the 1798 United Irishmen uprising, but also used by Irish regiments of the British Army
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on, by the PSNI, from a previous location due to a confrontation with Poland fans in 2009. According to one of the Rat Trap members the Poles came looking for trouble and ended up biting off more than they could chew when they ended up in the Village area of south Belfast, a wellknown stronghold of some of the Loyalist Paramilitary groups. My new confidante told me that in reality none of the lads were interested in hooliganism but on that day Poland had come looking for it. He also told me that the vast majority of the group had moved on from quote “all that sectarian bollocks…” I had no reason to disbelieve what I was being told and we were made to feel very welcome for the ten minutes or so that it took to drink the cans that we had kindly been given.
should have been moved to a more neutral part of town. The place is certainly steeped in football history and whilst nonetheless some of it is of the unsavoury kind, I can kind of see where the traditionalists are coming from to be honest.
NI and Poland fans clash 2009:
We finally arrived at the media suite and this was always going to be a slightly different match day experience for me. Once in there we were treated to pre-match burgers and endless cups of tea and other niceties. Furthermore, it was interesting to watch
From our spontaneous gate-crashing we made the short journey to the ground, which is situated in one of the most staunchly loyalist parts of the city. Many have said that instead of revamping Windsor Park the international stadium
the press lads preparing for the game and the view from the press area was awesome, maybe the best seats in the house? As well as the great view of the pitch, you could look out of the ground at the surrounding mountains and
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the Rise Peace Ball, a globeshaped, white and silver steel sculpture, which is supposed to represent a new sun rising in celebration of a new chapter in the history of Belfast. The monument has the backdrop of the prominently Nationalist/ Catholic Falls area and I couldn’t help wonder how many people from that area would be in the ground for this game. Eventually, the two teams emerged from the tunnel into a fantastic atmosphere - in fact the atmosphere throughout the game was brilliant, probably better than any Premiership/ Championship game I’ve witnessed in recent years. Before kick-off there was a minute’s applause for Derry City FC captain Ryan McBride, who tragically died at the young age of 27, the week before this game. This was a particularly profound tribute, due to the fact that McBride, a Catholic, played for a club based in Northern Ireland but who have opted to join the League of Ireland in the Republic.
Eventually, the two teams emerged from the tunnel into a fantastic atmosphere - in fact the atmosphere throughout the game was brilliant, probably better than any Premiership/ Championship game I’ve witnessed in recent years
The game soon burst into life and within two minutes www.true-faith.co.uk tf 34
Nottingham Forest’s Jamie Ward had put the home team in front. The visitors, to be honest, never really looked to be in this one and the only real chance that I remember was a speculative shot in the first half that crashed against the bar. Of course that is taking nothing away from O’Neill’s well drilled team who put in a professional and workmanlike performance. Indeed, the team come over as a group that all know their jobs and who are playing for the shirt, bear in mind the squad only boasts five Premiership players. The manager is renowned for being meticulous in his preparation and it can only be a matter of time before he is tempted into club management, personally I hope that is after he has guided his current team to the next World Cup Finals. The second goal came in the 33rd minute after another good piece of play. Captain Steven Davis spotted Washington and slid the ball through to the QPR striker, who fired home through the legs of Norway goalkeeper. These two first half goals were enough to seal victory and another clean sheet was kept, in fact only Germany have scored against Northern Ireland so far in Group 3. The next day we were booked into the Northern Ireland Football Heritage and Education Centre. The tour included a look at some of the most important footballing historical moments of the www.true-faith.co.uk
country dating back to the inception of the IFA in 1882 through to the 1958, 1982 World Cups and the Euros of 2016. Perhaps, and understandably so, the exhibits don’t go in depth with relation to some of the more turbulent times of Northern Irish football history. Nonetheless, there are short accounts of the history of Belfast Celtic, who disbanded in 1949 because they found it impossible to continue playing games as they were usually marred by sectarian violence. Although it must be said that some people dispute the sectarianism angle and say a much more mundane reason was behind their demise - the filthy lucre. But that’s another article. History of Belfast Celtic:
club was founded by John McAlery in 1879. McAlery was also actively involved in the setting up of the IFA and the international team and in fact he captained Ireland’s firstever international match,
Also, there is a similar section dedicated to the oldest club on the Island of Ireland, Clintonville, who by default have nowadays become the only club to have a predominantly nationalist/ Catholic following. This has come about due to the migration of Catholics into the area where the club is based, in north Belfast, but this wasn’t always the case, especially when the
against England, which ended in a 13-0 defeat. He also refereed some British Championship International Matches. As you enter the museum you can see the original minutes from the first meeting of the Irish FA, that took place on 18th November 1880 at Queen’s Hotel, Belfast and which McAlery was an integral part of. The British Home Championship trophy also takes place of honour in
The tour included a look at some of the most important footballing historical moments of the country dating back to the inception of the IFA in 1882 through to the 1958, 1982 World Cups and the Euros of 2016 tf 35
the reception, as Northern Ireland was the last team to win that tournament in 1984. Of course Linfield FC, the country’s most successful club, gets a mention, including a reference to Wor Jackie Milburn. Milburn was the clubs’ player manager in the 1950s and he won 9 trophies, including an Irish League title and Irish Cup win. He also finished the Irish league’s top goal scorer in both the 1957–58 and 1958–59 seasons, becoming the first non-Irishman to do so. Jackie Milburn (Linfield):
ex-Manchester United and Belfast Celtic player (Ed: and Blyth Spartans) who ended up managing Barcelona, Real Betis and Ashington. O’Connell, who had a colourful life and career, is famed for having saved FC Barcelona during the Spanish Civil War years and the mural is on the junction of White Rock Road and the Falls Road. Speaking of the Spanish Civil War we also visited a plaque in the Shankill Road library which is dedicated to the memory of people from that area who went to fight for Spanish democracy. This again was particularly
In reality the museum and tour is probably more aimed at school groups and it certainly brought the little kid out in me as we visited the dressing rooms, tunnel and benches. Of course I had to sit in Michael O’Neill’s seat and stand in the technical area imagining that I was giving instructions to the team. After that, we did a whistle stop taxi tour of the famous political murals and peace walls, something I have done before, but this time I was especially interested in seeing the mural dedicated to Patrick O’Connell, the tf 36
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poignant because this type of memorial is usually connected to the nationalist community as opposed to the loyalist one. Other monuments to the Spanish Civil War include the impressive stained glass window in the Belfast City Hall, again another symbol of how Protestants and Catholics came together to fight fascism. In fact, beside Windsor Park there is a training/youth pitch called Midgeley Park. This is named after Harry Midgley, who was a Socialist from a unionist/loyalist background and who was also a huge supporter of the Spanish Republic. Midgley, a World War 1 veteran, was also involved in the management of Linfield FC for a period of time. Add to that, the monument www.true-faith.co.uk
in Writer’s Square, which is part of the Cathedral Quarter, and the plaque across the road in John Hewitt’s bar, means that Belfast has plenty of links to the 1930s conflict in Spain. Actually, the Hewitt family took in refugees from the Basque Country during the conflict. As an aside they sell a great pint of Yardsman Double Stout in Hewitt’s, a local craft beer brewed in the city. On the way back to the airport it seemed only right and fitting that we called into Clintonville’s ground, Solitude, as it is the oldest football stadium in all of Ireland and the home of the club that did so much to help pioneer football on the island. The little ground has had some renovation done to it but
the historic main stand is soon to be demolished and replaced. Whilst I am a lover of football history, in reality the stand has seen better days and does need replacing. Personally, I have always found Belfast and Ulster generally a really interesting place to visit and I always seem to keep discovering little gems of information that always make me want to return sooner rather than later. So here’s to the next time! Montage Clintonville FC:
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As a Geordie living in the Netherlands, I have noticed some things that our beloved club can learn from and others that I am thankful the club and fans do not entertain.
Going Dutch The Netherlands is similar to the UK being a real hotbed of football, filled with passionate fans who would die for their respective clubs. My local team is ADO Den Haag, where a certain Tim Krul started his career, a team that has some similarities with Newcastle United. Despite being from one of the three traditional large Dutch cities, ADO Den Haag are not able to match the likes of Ajax, Feyenoord and PSV Eindhoven in terms of success in the league or European competition. Den Haag however, do have a strong rivalry with Feyenoord and Ajax. ADO have strong links with Swansea City, flags of the respective clubs are tf 38
flown at the matches of the other club. ADO also share strong supporter links with Juventus, Club Brugge and Legia Warszawa. Rivalries with fellow Dutch clubs are a lot less friendly, there have been a number of unsavoury incidents, including forms of racism. After ADO beat Ajax in 2011, anti-Semitic were sung not only by ADO supporters but also by their midfielder Lex Immers, as a result the midfielder was suspended for five games. In 2004, a game between ADO and PSV was abandoned after 80 minutes due to racist chanting from the crowd. Â Although Tyne-Wear derbies can get quite distasteful, I am thankful it has never
reached that kind of level. While every club has their troublemakers, Newcastle United included. Our loyal fans are famous for our friendly hospitality from away fans. This season especially, there have been countless occasions where away fans have praised the warm welcome from Newcastle fans.
My local team is ADO Den Haag, where a certain Tim Krul started his career
As we all know, Newcastle United are the heartbeat of the city. If Newcastle do not have a good weekend, you can feel it in the city the following week. It is different over here, football does not seem to be as important as it is to the Geordie faithful or other fans in the UK. For us it is almost like a tradition to go to www.true-faith.co.uk
the pub for a few prematch pints to settle the nerves. When walking to St James’ Park there is a sea of black and white shirts. In the Netherlands the pre-match pints are not as common as they are for us. The Netherlands go football crazy when the national side is involved in the World Cup or European Championships, everywhere is a sea of orange. One thing that should never be in doubt is the support of the national team in the Netherlands, it really is a sight to behold. The difference between the national sides are massive, England fans seem to dread the international break nowadays, mainly
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due to the England games being very dull. Despite their recent failings the Dutch are on the opposite end of the scale. Ticket Pricing Ticket pricing here in the Netherlands is very affordable. While Newcastle’s ticket prices are reasonable, the same cannot be said of a number of clubs in the Premier League. At ADO Den Haag, match tickets range from €20 - €45 for an adult (£16 – £37). For a season ticket ADO offer a price range of €185 - €295 (£155 - £247). A price strategy you can’t really argue with. Obviously, bigger clubs such as Ajax have higher prices. For an Ajax season ticket the price range is
anywhere from €150 €700 (£125 - £587). Emphasis on Youth In the Netherlands, teams have an emphasis on younger players. For example, a young English player at a Premier League club, faces an extremely tough challenge in battling for a place in the senior side. Around 377 foreign players ply their trade in England’s top flight compared to 160 in the Netherlands. It has long been mentioned that the amount of foreign players in the English game has a detrimental effect on the national side. The difference between the Premier League and the Dutch Eredivisie, is illustrated most simply by comparing the average
Ticket pricing here in the Netherlands is very affordable. While Newcastle’s ticket prices are reasonable, the same cannot be said of a number of clubs in the Premier League
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ages of squads in the division. PSV retained their league title last season. They did so with a number of players that have been with the club since a very young age, such as Jetro Willems and Jorrit Hendrix. PSV’s title winning side had the average age of 24, the Dutch champions have a squad over three years younger than that of Leicester City. Talented youngsters are given every chance to shine in the Netherlands, they are given greater responsibility than their English counterparts. Although the Dutch national side missed out on the Euros last year and are struggling to qualify for next year’s World Cup, the in-depth tf 40
structure of their youth systems will ensure that more Bergkamp’s and Van Basten’s are produced. The standard may have dropped in the Eredivisie in recent years, however, the division offers the best young players a chance to develop and learn the game at a senior level. The Premier League might well be thriving, though as ever it seems to hurt the national side. Whereas in the Netherlands, the Eredivisie does the opposite. The Club is a Part of Our DNA The atmosphere of a bouncing St James’ Park is a truly unique experience, one that you would struggle to better. Over recent seasons though,
St James’ Park has not been what it once was, the efforts of ‘Gallowgate Flags’ are certainly helping to bring back the noise to our church. With a capacity of 15,000 ADO Den Haag’s stadium (Kyocera Stadium) cannot match the noise of St James’ Park, however their fans may well be just as passionate. The feeling of football just does not strike me as the same, however, maybe my feelings will change the longer I live here. Newcastle United means everything to a Geordie, it defines us in many ways.
With a capacity of 15,000 ADO Den Haag’s stadium (Kyocera Stadium) cannot match the noise of St James’ Park, however their fans may well be just as passionate
The longer I am away from Newcastle United , the more I realise what a unique and remarkable club we support. www.true-faith.co.uk
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Messrs Neymar, Suarez and Messi cast a long shadow over football mad Catalan capital. Between the mouths of the Rivers Llobregat and Besos to the peaks of the Serra de Coliserola mountain range their names and images pepper shop fronts, billboards and are splashed across everything red (maroon) and blue in this football mad city. The ‘Blaugrana’ are the dominant force.
NEIL GATENBY
GEORDIES HERE, GEORDIES THERE... Espanyol 3 Sevilla 1 La Liga, RCDE Stadium, 29/Jan/2017, KO: 3:15pm Att: 22,280 I’ve been a fan of this magnificent city for many a year and make a regular pilgrimage with my better half to revel in all things Spanish. In a city where you can eat patatas bravas and drink ice cold Estrella for breakfast you know you’ve got to be on to a good thing. These ‘romantic’ breaks seem to have a habit of coinciding with a home match for the local team (strange that) and the last two visits to Barcelona have
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taken in games against Valencia and Celta Vigo at the Nou Camp (prior visits to the Bernabau and the Olympic Stadium in Berlin have also been terrible sacrifices in the name of love). However on my last two visits to the Catalan capital I’ve experienced two defeats for Barca. The first of which in February 2014 was their first home defeat in almost 2 years, the second was Suarez’ home debut. Couple that with
spiralling costs of tickets and the dizzying heights of the seating, I get very bad vertigo, I decided on my most recent visit that it was time for a change. Queue the underdog. Forever in the shadow of their global neighbours ‘little’ Espanyol play at the Estadi Cornella el-Prat (RCD Stadium), a fairly new ground situated some way outside of the city centre on the way to the airport. Currently managed by former Watford boss Quique Sanchez Flores, the “Periquitos” (Budgerigars) as they are fondly known, last won a major trophy in 2006
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when they won the Copa Del Rey. The following year they remained unbeaten in the UEFA Cup, losing to fellow compatriots Sevilla on penalties in the final at Hampden Park. On my visit it was, again, a bouyant Sevilla who would be the opposition. Sevilla sat second top of La Liga at the time, two weeks after beating the mighty Galactico’s and I was expecting an easy away victory. Espanyol, floating around mid-table had most recently beaten Granada 3-1 at home. Although my leanings were more towards the ‘glamorous’ Sevilla I couldn’t quite bring myself to cheer on anything in red and white…so la Periquitos it was. The match was due to kick off at 4.15pm so a lazy sunday in the city was in order. Sun beaming down and Estrella flowing you can’t beat an afternoon rolling around the tapas bars of Barcelona and our original plan to get the Metro to the ground with the fans was postponed... then postponed again. As Newcastle fans we are really fortunate to have our majestic ground slap bang in the middle of the city. I can’t stand a stadium plonked on some bland retail estate on the fringes of the city. Unfortunately the Cornella El-Prat stadium fits that bill and a taxi was called for. I enjoy the excitement of walking up the side streets to a historic old ground, dipping in pubs with home www.true-faith.co.uk
and away fans mingling but this was all very clinical. The ground is dominated by a shopping centre, a massive Primark and not a lot else. However, once we got past the retail zone, the stadium itself was pretty impressive and the Espanyol fans were having a lively pregame parade involving some excellent drums and 8 ft plastic rooster being wheeled around the turnstiles to celebrate the incoming Chinese New Year. There seemed to be pretty large crowds of home fans with a smattering of Sevilla fans...a number of whom had plastic cups of lager. Try as I might I couldn’t, unfortunately, find the source of said lubrication and so we headed in to the stadium in search of refreshment but to no avail. I should have known after my three previous La Liga experiences that the chances of getting a beer in Spanish Stadium is about as likely as a David Moyes
releasing a motivational DVD. After a slight glimmer of hope and ending up 4 euros lighter I found myself hoying a rotten ‘alcohol free’ lager in the bin and gave up. Our seats were high in the Upper Left Corner of the ground and the stadium and pitch were a pretty grand site. The Sevilla fans, about 400 in number but pretty noisy, were also high in the gods at the opposite corner. We had a great view of the core of around 300 – 400 Espanyol Ultra’s just behind the goal and as kick off approached there was a lot of noise for a crowd of only 23,000 in a 40,000 seater stadium with the travelling fans making their presence known.
We had a great view of the core of around 300 – 400 Espanyol Ultra’s just behind the goal and as kick off approached there was a lot of noise for a crowd of only 23,000 in a 40,000 seater stadium with the travelling fans making their presence known
I was really looking forward to seeing how N’zonzi and Nasri were fairing in La Liga...despite Samir’s ridiculous bleached barnet. Sevilla also had Adil Rami partnered with Nicola tf 43
Pareja in central defence and I expected them to start with a swagger, however within 2 minutes of kick off Sevilla fell foul of a great through ball to Reyes who was clumsily felled in the box by Pareja. Red card, penalty. Following Pereja’s slow walk off Reyes calmly stepped up and slammed home the spot kick, game on and the Espanyol Ultras pumped up the volume, choreographed by a fan with megaphone at the front. The Sevilla fans were in stunned silence and their exciting top scorer Wasim Ben Yedder was sacrificed for central defender Clement Lenglet by Jorge Sampoali. The game kicked off again and Sevilla started to dominate the play with Espanyol trying to catch them on a quick counter attacks. N’zonzi sat very deep and seemed to struggle to play the ball forward, instead going sideways and backwards. Eventually Nasri started to pull the strings and delivered an assist to Jovetic in the 20th minute. The game level at 1-1 the Espanyol fans turned up the volume again and I couldn’t help but be impressed with their efforts considering their small numbers. I also spotted a smattering of Rangers flags and shirts in the Ultras numbers, an affinity which has been nurtured over recent years and some suggest is linked back to the loyalist stance of each set of supporters. The rest of the first half tf 44
ebbed and flowed with Reyes, Moreno, Piatti and Jurado all impressing for Espanyol as they continued to make the most of the extra man, soaking up pressure and countering quickly. Two minutes into added on time in the first half, Reyes provided and assist for Navarro to finish and the blue and whites went in 2-1 up. As the sun started to set over Montjuc and the cold drew in our lass “rested her eyes” and the game sputtered. A flurry of substitutions for both sides saw the talented Vietto and Iborra come on for Sevilla but Espanyol struck again through the gifted Gerard Moreno in the 71st minute. The game was effectively over. Queue the homes fans doing a ‘Poznan’ as Espanyol claimed an improbable win over their
opponents who, despite dominating possession, could only muster 4 shots to the home sides 8. I don’t doubt the early sending off went a significant way to dictating the outcome of the game but as they say, you can only beat what is put in front of you. As we left the ‘retail park’ ground we rushed to grab a taxi back to the city centre but there were plenty to be found. I left El Prat concerned I had missed out on a fantastic little local supporters bar where we could have sat and devoured pinchos late into the night. Once back to the city centre a night sampling the many (and brilliant) watering holes of Raval soon put pay to that.
I also spotted a smattering of Rangers flags and shirts in the Ultras numbers, an affinity which has been nurtured over recent years and some suggest is linked back to the loyalist stance of each set of supporters
Y Viva Espana...for those of you old enough to know. www.true-faith.co.uk
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Remember the good old days when your average footy player hit the front pages for all that ‘lad-about-town’ carry on? Drink driving, drunk and disorderly or illegal high jinks with his mates? All very serious stuff, don’t get me wrong – especially the drink driving. But when you opened the papers to discover your club’s starlet midfielder had been caught doing twice the speed limit, you’d roll your eyes, tut, maybes mumble something about stupid rich kids not knowing they were born, then you’d move on. Today’s news is tomorrow’s chip wrapping and all that.
Precisamos Falar Sobre o Bruno...
the boy from brazil JOHN MILTON Follow @ Geordioca
Sometimes a player would shine a light on the darker corners of the human psyche… addictions like alcoholism and gambling would come to light but were seen as ‘men’s issues’ and the ‘men’ who played our game had to deal with them.
the road). Bruno would go on to make almost 350 appearances between 2006 and 2012, scoring 4 goals in the process. He was the established No.1 in the 2009 title-winning team, was a huge fan favourite and was looking like a deadcert to be involved with the national team in the 2014 World Cup.
We Need to Talk about Bruno...
We also have the brawlers. The violent lads who happened to be handy with a footy but, on occasion, slip into their old selves. Barton, Bowyer, Woodgate, tf 46
Bellamy… Thugs, or at the very least, guilty of engaging in thuggish behaviour. And, when mental health issues are compounded by the crushing pressure of life in the public eye, we get a glimpse into the darkest corners of the human psyche: our very own, beloved, Gazza, guilty of domestic abuse. It doesn’t get much worse than that, does it? Well, it does if you’re in Brazil.
Bruno Fernandes das Dores de Souza, known simply as Bruno, was going places. The goalkeeper got his break playing for his hometown club, Atlético Mineiro in 2005 shortly after which Paulista giants Corinthians attempted to sign him. Due to contractual wranglings he never got a game for them and so Rio’s own giants, Flamengo, swooped in and signed him up (a bit like when we snatched Given from under the noses of that lot down
Unfortunately, his private life wasn’t running quite as smoothly as his career. In 2010, with the Brazilian www.true-faith.co.uk
title in his pocket and an eye on the 2014 WC, Bruno was in the midst of a possible lucrative transfer to Italian giants AC Milan. Unfortunately, his girlfriend, Eliza Samudio informed him that she was pregnant and he was the father. He refused to acknowledge that he was the father for two reasons: a) it could have seriously damaged the prospects of his transfer to Italy because, b) his wife, Dayane, would have been livid. To help paint a picture of Bruno the man, in an infamous post-match interview where he tried to defend his friend and team mate, Adriano (who had been charged with beating his girlfriend), he had the audacity to ask the gaggle of journalists surrounding him, “Who here hasn’t had problems with their wives? Which of you hasn’t argued with your wife? Or fought with your wife? Or even hit your
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wife? Marital problems are normal and aren’t anybody else’s concern.” What a charmer. Even by Brazil’s standards theinterview sent shockwaves through the country. Eliza’s son was born and she named him Bruninho (literally ‘Little Bruno’) and she pressed for child support. Bruno refused on the grounds that he was not the father, although Eliza insisted she could prove he was. Not paying child support is a very serious crime in this catholic country, a one for which you can, and men regularly do, go to jail for. Having given up on Bruno doing the right thing Eliza hired a lawyer and sued him. In June she disappeared. When their child appeared out of the blue at Bruno’s wife’s house, he was quickly named as a suspect in the case and, credit to them, Flamengo terminated his contract immediately. As the investigation went on
the public were treated to glimpses into exactly what kind of man this Bruno was – recordings of telephone calls between Bruno and Eliza were released to the press and his fans were shocked to hear such pearls from their number 1 stopper like, “I’m from the f***ing favela! You don’t know what I’m capable of!” His famous charm shining through again… But he was right. When Bruno was 12 his mother was charged with shooting a woman 5 times after snorting a load of cocaine. He had pedigree! The police picked Bruno up along with his 17 year old cousin, Fernandes de Souza, and other associates such as Bruno’s wife, Dayane, and a known assassin, Marcus Aparecido dos Santos. His young cousin told the police that Eliza was dead, but he couldn’t, or wouldn’t, say how or where the body was. Eventually Bruno and Fernandes confessed to
being involved in the crime. As we learnt more about the case the more gruesome it got. I’m sure you’ve all read about it by now. The charges are nothing short of disturbing. Kidnap of Eliza and her young son, imprisonment, torture and murder. Then, straight from a mafia film, the means by which they hid the body – cut into small pieces, some buried and some fed to Bruno’s dogs. No part of Eliza’s remains have been found to this day. Bruno received a 22 year
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jail sentence for planning this heinous crime whilst Marcus Aparecido dos Santos received the same punishment for the actual killing of Eliza. And there the sorry story should have ended, but last month saw another twist (or 3). Firstly, Bruno’s lawyer has been going through the process of appealing the judgement but the appeal process is painfully slow in Brazil. So slow, in fact, that some defendants are awarded ‘habeas corpus’ – a motion to request a prisoner’s release on grounds of unjust imprisonment, such as having to rot in jail while an appeal goes through the system. Surely Bruno wouldn’t get it, right? Wrong. He was released in February having served not even 7 years of his sentence. Secondly, being obviously mentally deranged and unmentionably sick, Bruno has petitioned for custody tf 48
of the child he refused to acknowledge and whose mother he had chopped up. He’ll probably get it, too. Imagine that conversation: “Dad, tell me about Mam.”…! And finally, and what has sparked huge debate down here, is that when it became clear he was going to be released Bruno released a statement saying that 5 clubs had expressed interest in signing him, two of which were in the top flight. On release from prison he signed a contract with Boa Esporte (which, ironically, translates as, ‘Good Sport’) In the aftermath of his signing 5 sponsors ended their associations with the club, but the club has held firm and Bruno is a Boa Esporte player. What message does this send? There is no denying we live in a misogynistic world. Whether you agree
or not that we live in what has been termed a ‘rape culture’, you cannot escape the fact that cases like this – that you can beat, abuse, ‘grab them by the pussies’, and even torture and murder a woman will not stop a man from fulfilling his dreams. The fact that there is even a modicum of hand-wringing over Bruno’s contract is proof enough. The man is a murderer. He took advantage of his status to dominate, dismiss and bully a woman, and when she showed the balls to have the temerity to stand up to him he had her killed. How do we explain this to our children? How do the fans of Boa Esporte explain this to their wives, mothers and daughters?
Secondly, being obviously mentally deranged and unmentionably sick, Bruno has petitioned for custody of the child he refused to acknowledge and whose mother he had chopped up. He’ll probably get it, too.
Football, and society as a whole, needs to talk very seriously about Bruno. #HappyWomensDay www.true-faith.co.uk
Long standing true faith writer, Tony Higgins who regular readers will recognise from his Real Spain articles has his first book out now. Travel with Tony through the und ergrowt h of Spanish football and life for only ÂŁ4:99. Only in digital format.
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Svergie Juni 1958 read the official FIFA World Cup Logo for the World Cup of 1958. Sixteen teams from three confederations qualified for the finals; included in that sixteen were Northern Ireland. The provinces first World Cup managed by the great Peter Doherty featuring names like Gregg, Bingham, McIlroy and McParland. After the 1994 World Cup
Jack
Charlton
former Newcastle United manager then Republic of Ireland manager gave voice to the thought: ‘that the most attacking player on a pitch is a full back’.
In 1958 two Geordies manned the full back roles for Northern Ireland they being Dick Keith and Alf McMichael.
of £8,000 with a further £1,000 in the kitty for Linfield once Keith had played a certain amount of games.
Keith had arrived at St. James Park from Linfield F.C. in Sept. 1956 for a fee
At Linfield Keith made his debut at age 17 and was Ulster player of the year
Alf McMichael
Geordies in Green & the Summer of ‘58
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in 1956 attracting the attention of the Tynesiders then in the English first division. Keith was recommended to the club by McMichael and was made club captain in 1962 and made in total 223 appearances scoring twice. Alf McMichael had began his career as an amateur with Cliftonville F.C. and then became a professional like Keith at Linfield F.C. McMichael achieved both league and cup success with Linfield in seasons 1947/48 & 1948/49. In 1949 he joined Newcastle United for a fee of £11,500 and went on to make 433 appearances scoring once. The early 1950’s saw Newcastle win back to back FA Cup finals with Milburn scoring twice in the 1951 final versus Blackpool and McMichael starred at full back for the Geordies as www.true-faith.co.uk
they disposed of Arsenal one nil to retain the title in 1952. McMichael captained both club and country and it is stated he was one of the best full backs of his era. In the summer of 1958 both Keith and McMichael had the world at their feet as they boarded the plane for Sweden. The pair were inseparable starring for club and country and roomed together whilst on Northern Ireland duty. Northern Ireland’s qualifying for the tournament had not gone without incident. In 1957 Italy came to Belfast searching for one point which would take them to Sweden;the Hungarian referee Istvan Zolt found himself fogbound at an airport in London due to pick up a flight to Belfast after coming from Budapest. The IFA tried to replace him with English referee Arthur Ellis and in a
last gasp effort a local referee but the Italian FA declined. FIFA then declared the match would go ahead but as a friendly with the qualifier to be re-staged a month later. In the first game both boots and fists flew in front of a partizan Windsor Park crowd not best pleased by FIFA’s decision, the game ended in a 2-2 draw. The decider a month later saw Northern Ireland edge out the Italians 2-1 with Wilbur Cush and Jimmy McIlroy netting for the North.
In the summer of 1958 both Keith and McMichael had the world at their feet as they boarded the plane for Sweden. The pair were inseparable starring for club and country and roomed together whilst on Northern Ireland duty
And so it was the green of Northern Ireland that went to Sweden.
Dick Keith
Keith and McMichael and the Northern Ireland team began their adventure against Czechoslovakia in the port of Halmstad in the West coast of Sweden. The game didn’t go to script with the whole of Halmstad behind them Northern Ireland struck first as Peter McParland tf 51
found Wilbur Cush with a cross that was duly headed into the back of the Czech net. Argentina provided the opposition in the second match and the North were outclassed 3-1. Which meant they went into the final game against West Germany requiring a result. Keith and McMichael and the whole Northern Ireland team rose to the occasion with a 2-2 draw against the Germans;McParland was again the star who shone brightest scoring twice. This meant Northern Ireland would play the Czechs in a play off for the right to play in a World Cup quarter final. In a tetchy affair the Czechs opened the scoring
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when Zednek Zikan struck after 18 minutes of play. Extra time loomed after McParland equalised in the first period of extra time McParland cemented himself into the Northern Ireland football history books as he scored the winner with a superb volley. Northern Ireland found themselves in the Quarter Finals of the World Cup with only Just Fontaine’s France in their way to a Semi Final berth. Sadly the Irish tired from their efforts against the Czechs ran out 4 nil losers and so for Keith and McMichael the adventure ended. McMichael went on to manage South Shields after hanging up his boots
and eventually returned home to manage local side Bangor in Northern Ireland. Keith went on to play for Bournemouth signing for £3,300 and left league football behind joining non league Weymouth. Whilst working for a builders merchant in February 1967 Keith was dismantling an automatic garage door. Keith was struck on the head by a spring loaded cantilever.The blow was fatal fracturing his skull. Richard ‘Dick’ Matthewson Keith died at the tender age of 33.
The World Cup of 1958 may be remembered for a boy from Brazil but for the men of Ulster it will always be the spirit of ‘58 that shone through.
The World Cup of 1958 may be remembered for a boy from Brazil but for the men of Ulster it will always be the spirit of ‘58 that shone through.
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NEWCASTLE UNITED 2 WIGAN ATHLETIC 1 St. James Park, Championship, Saturday 1st April, 3:00pm, Att: 51,849. What was a reasonably forgettable game also saw a pivotal shift in the race for promotion as we gained three vital points and Huddersfield contrived to lose in the last minute at home to Burton. There was a pretty nervy air around SJP despite Wigan’s lowly position and it took until shortly before half time to settle things down when Gayle was presented with an unmissable tap in from a yard out after excellent work from an improved Diame out wide. The lead didn’t last long after the break though as Wigan were allowed to advance fairly unhindered, leading to Jacobs running into the box and finishing neatly past Darlow as we stood around and watched. We then wobbled for a few minutes as they spurned a couple of good chances before Ritchie got the winner on the hour, running on to a parry from his own shot to head home in front of the Gallowgate. The same man had the chance to seal things late on but saw his shot saved and should also have had a penalty in the dying stages but we closed the game out relatively comfortably to give ourselves what now looks like an unassailable cushion over third place. Doesn’t it? Newcastle United: Darlow, Anita, Hanley, Lascelles, Dummett, Colback, Ritchie, Shelvey, Gouffran (Hayden), Diame (Atsu), Gayle (Perez). Our Fans: 6 - Good turnout, pretty nervy. Their Fans: 4 - I’ve seen them bring worse followings Media View: Magpies functional not thrilling as Ritchie heads home winner’ (Telegraph). In-Form:Ritchie’s contribution has been invaluable this season Out of Form: Colback just isn’t good enough. Rafa Watch:It didn’t need to be pretty, we just needed to win. We did.
NEWCASTLE UNITED 1 BURTON ALBION 0 St. James Park, Championship, Wednesday 5th April, 7:45pm, Att: 48,814 United won the second of their two ‘must win’ games inside a week on a night that will only be remembered for one thing. There was barely any incident at all in the game before Gayle was chopped down in the box in front of the Gallowgate on the half hour. Ritchie stepped up and duly dispatched the spot kick before the ref intervened. There was a brief pause when everyone presumed he would re-spot the ball after what must have been infringement before he unbelievably awarded a free kick to Burton. After what seemed like about ten minutes of incredulous protest from fans, players and coaching staff alike, the ref astonishingly stuck to his guns and the ball was hoofed upfield. I’ve never seen anything like it, the rest of SJP had never seen anything like it and God knows what Rafa must have thought – the refs in this division man! For a long time, it looked like we were going to be on the end of a gross misjustice but to the relief of everyone, ref no doubt included, Ritchie nabbed the winner with twenty minutes to go, planting an unstoppable drive into the roof of the net from the edge of the area. The ref apologised for his f*** up after the game and I suppose we’ll laugh about it when promotion is confirmed at the edge of the season but honestly, man!! Newcastle United: Darlow, Anita, Mbemba, Lascelles, Dummett, Ritchie, Shelvey, Diame, Atsu (Ameobi), Gayle (Murphy), Perez. Our Fans: 6 - Infuriated. Their Fans: 3 - Barely noticed them. Media View: ‘Astonishing refereeing blunder overshadows win’ (Shields Gazette). In-Form: Credit to Ritchie for getting over being robbed of his ‘goal’ to win the match for us. Out of Form: Keith ‘kin Stroud! Rafa Watch: Thought he was incredibly restrained towards Stroud in the circumstances.
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SHEFFIELD WED 2 NEWCASTLE UNITED 1 Hillsborough, Championship, Saturday 8th April, 5:30pm, Att: 28,883. A sunny (and boozy) afternoon in the fine city of Sheffield ended in disappointment on the pitch but results elsewhere meant that ironically, we ended the afternoon in a stronger position than we’d started it. In all honesty we never turned up and the hosts should have been out of sight by half time. Hooper hit the bar early on and Fletcher fluffed his lines from six yards out to convert what would have been a great goal and their front line ragged us all over, Mbemba in particular having a shocker. Bannan should have been sent off after a terrible challenge on Ritchie towards the end of the half but only saw yellow but we almost took the lead through what would have been the goal of the season – Shelvey hitting the bar from inside his own half. Having being fortunate to go in at the interval level, we finally conceded on the hour when poor defending saw Lees getting up to head past Darlow from a free kick. Fletcher added a second after more shite defending, heading in after a quick throw in was taken and we only posed a threat of any sort when Mitrovic came on and he fashioned a consolation when his shot was saved into the path of Shelvey to tap in. In the end we got what we deserved, which was nowt but if nothing else, it was a cracking weekend in a ‘proper’ city. Newcastle United: Darlow, Anita, Mbemba, Lascelles, Dummett, Ritchie (Mitrovic), Shelvey, Diame (Atsu), Gouffran, Gayle (Murphy), Perez. Our Fans: 7 - In decent spirits. Their Fans: 7 - They were alright. Media View: ‘Magpies suffering late season jitters’ (Chronicle). In-Form:The subs were the only ones to make an impression in honesty. Out of Form: Collectively poor, Mbemba the worst of the lot. Rafa Watch: Teams doing the double over us a curious anomaly of the season.
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NEWCASTLE UNITED 1 LEEDS UNITED 1 St. James Park, Championship, Friday 14th April, 7:45pm, Att: 52,301. An eagerly anticipated Good Friday fixture lived up to the expectation on the atmosphere front but fell just short on end result as we surrendered three points at the death. Newcastle United: Darlow, Anita, Mbemba, Lascelles, Dummett, Hayden (Colback), Ritchie (Yedlin), Shelvey, Gouffran, Mitrovic, Perez (Diame). Our Fans: 9 - Excellent atmosphere right up to the bubble being popped at the death. Their Fans: 7 - Dislikeable but unquestionably well supported. Media View: ‘Benitez angry at officials as last ditch equaliser dents title hopes’ (Telegraph). In-Form: Shelvey a class above. Out of Form: Colback – Lascelles switching off. Rafa Watch: As frustrated as the rest of us.
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IPSWICH TOWN 3 NEWCASTLE UNITED 1 Portman Road, Championship, Monday 17th April, 3:00pm, Att: 25,684. A disappointing week and a bit ended with our worst performance in the League this season and as we tamely rolled over at Portman Road, causing a few shoulders to be looked over with the winning line tantalisingly on the horizon. We’re not quite in Devon Loch territory yet but the manner of our defeat here is enough for concern. Rafa made five changes after the Leeds match but the team never clicked and Ipswich could have been out of sight before they finally took the lead shortly before half time. Ritchie lost the ball in the middle and despite trying to make back his lost ground, Sears found just enough on it to beat Darlow as we were relatively grateful to go in only a goal behind. Our best spell (as it was) came just after the break and we fashioned an undeserved equaliser on the hour when Murphy got on the end of an Atsu cross to score on his old stamping ground. We weren’t level for long though after Darlow made a hash of a clearance, leading to Sears squaring a ball which McGoldrick only needed to tap in to an empty net. Gamez and Mitrovic were introduced as late subs, to underline the paucity in our squad outside of the starting XI and made little difference before Ipswich finished things off just before the final whistle courtesy of Huws, who timed his arrival on to a cross perfectly to lash home past Darlow. This was a terrible performance and although things are still very much in our own hands, we just need that line now! Newcastle United: Darlow,Yedlin (Gamez), Hanley, Lascelles, Dummett, Hayden (Gouffran), Ritchie (Mitrovic), Shelvey, Diame, Atsu, Murphy. Our Fans: 6 - Concerned. Their Fans: 7 - Delighted. Media View: ‘Magpies promotion hopes hit at Portman Road’ (Mirror).
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In-Form: Very difficult to single anyone out for praise so I’ll just say Murphy as he scored! Out of Form: It was as poor a team display as we’ve put in since Oxford. Rafa Watch: Probably the first real ‘sticky patch’ of the season – needs to give them one final push over the line.
NEWCASTLE UNITED 4 PRESTON NE 1 St. James Park, Championship, Monday 24th April, 7:45pm, Att: 50,212. Relief, jubilation, take your pick – after staggering along over the past few games, the planets aligned perfectly over the weekend to leave us to seal promotion on a great night in front of our own fans. Any early nerves were settled when Perez bundled the ball home after a flick on from a corner but this being United, things are never that straightforward. Whippet like PNE winger, Barkhuizen who gave us a torrid time all night provided the cross for local lad Hugill to level on the quarter hour and in fairness, the visitors were at least the match of us if not the better side for the first half. That mattered not though when we took the lead on the stroke of half time when Hayden broke quickly through the middle to play in Mitrovic. He unselfishly squared the ball for Atsu to tap home to a collective sigh of relief. We still never looked comfortable being only a goal ahead in the second period but the decisive moment of the game came on 65 minutes when Perez saw an acrobatic effort saved from a corner before Hayden’s follow up was also saved...by the Preston defender on the line leading to a red card and a Ritchie conversion from the spot. The celebrations had barely died down when we scored yet another from a corner (three in one game must be some sort of record from us) when Shelvey’s corner was sliced against the post by a North End defender, fortuitiously rebounding back off Perez who knew little about it. From tf 57
then on it was party time and the final whistle saw jubilant scenes on the pitch and in the stands, culminating in a lump in the throat moment as Rafa finally acknowledged the crowd after congratulating every member of staff he could spot on the pitch – what a man and what a night. United are back. Newcastle United: Eliott, Anita, Clark, Lascelles, Dummett, Hayden, Ritchie, Shelvey (Colback), Atsu (Gouffran), Mitrovic, Perez (Murphy). Our Fans: 9 - Overjoyed. Their Fans: 3 - Sparse. Media View: ‘Newcastle crush Preston to seal return to Premier League’ (Guardian). In-Form: Shelvey was excellent and involved throughout. Out of Form: No-one really. Rafa Watch: Job done!
was a stroll and wrapped up an unbelievable season on the road for United. There’ve been some great trips this season and although the football and certainly officiating at times has been second rate, for me there’s no contest when it comes to days out – the Championship pisses all over the Premier League. We can’t go on and win the league...can we? Newcastle United: Eliott, Yedlin, Clark, Mbemba, Dummett, Hayden, Colback (Shelvey), Atsu, Diame, Perez (Sterry), Murphy (Mitrovic). Our Fans: 9 – Magnificent. Their Fans: 7 - Canny. Media View: ‘Huge travelling support enjoys record-breaking win’ (Shields Gazette). In-Form: Atsu was a lively lop. Out of Form: Murphy never really got going.
CARDIFF CITY 0 – NEWCASTLE UNITED 2 Cardiff City Stadium, Championship, Friday 28th April, 7:45pm, Att: 23,153.
Rafa Watch: Record number of away victories from a team that NEVER used to look like winning on the road. Genius.
With promotion in the bag, one could have forgiven the lads for taking a laid back approach to the game, but this is Rafa Benitez’ Newcastle United and with a record there to be broken, the boss put out a strong side for our final away game of the season. The first half had little of note to mention, with the away end in a jolly old mood as the game did indeed pass by like an exhibition match. With an outside chance of the title, we still had something to play for and we broke the deadlock ten minutes into the second half with a beauty – Atsu dusting himself off after being chopped down outside the box to curl a lovely free kick over the wall and into the goal in front of the massed Mag ranks. We finished things off and broke our record for most away wins in a season ten minutes later when Hayden received the ball outside the box and was given time to pick his spot with a crisp finish into the bottom corner to the delight of the away end. Shelvey’s introduction woke the home fans up, with his Swansea connections but the rest of the game tf 58
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in substitute and top scorer Dwight Gayle notching a third on 90 minutes. But then, as we made our way back to the centre circle, a huge roar started from the Milburn and spread round the ground with news of Grealish’s equaliser and after a short wait once the final whistle went the ground went up as it was confirmed that we were Champions. Such a special ending to a special afternoon and dodgy refs aside, I’ll look back on the season with a great deal of fondness. Thanks for the memories lads.
NEWCASTLE UNITED 3 BARNSLEY 0 St. James Park, Championship, Sunday 7th May, 12:00pm, Att: 52,276. A fairy tale ending, the sort of which never seems to happen to NUFC saw us clinch the title in the dying minutes of the season as we walloped Barnsley and ten man Villa came from behind to grab a draw against Brighton. Our own match was rarely in doubt as we were by far the better side and took the lead to put us top of the table in real time midway through the first half. A cracker it was too, Perez deftly backheeling in after a crisp passing move on the breakaway. Regular readers of my shite will know that I’m no fan of smartphones, especially at the match and they were ubiquitous this afternoon as people constantly tried to get reception to find out the score at Villa Park – oh for the days of trannies (not that variety) at the match on the final day. Chancel Mbemba timed the second goal perfectly to coincide with the last few bars of his trademark tune on the hour before news filtered through that Brighton had converted a penalty which had seen a Villa man sent off. The atmosphere went a bit flat for a while as we played out what was essentially an exhibition match, culminating
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Newcastle United: Eliott,Yedlin, Mbemba, Hayden (Haidara), Dummett, Gouffran, Shelvey (Diame), Colback, Atsu, Mitrovic, Perez (Gayle). Our Fans: 9 - Fantastic, a real ‘I was there’ afternoon at SJP. Their Fans: 4 - Let themselves down with the goading when Brighton scored at Villa. Media View: ‘Newcastle seal Championship title in style as they thump Tykes’ (Star). In-Form: Perez was excellent. Out of Form: No-one, it was a stroll. Rafa Watch: Just an absolute hero. Gracias senor! Gareth Harrison - Follow Gareth on @truefaith1892
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true faith has been established since 1999 as one of the most successful, influential and best-selling fanzines in the country. Its success is based upon the contributions of Newcastle United supporters. As we move into the digital age and take up the opportunities for new forms of supporter expression, true faith is at the forefront of the new fanzine culture and develops its digital fanzine (what you are reading now), its match-day e-newsletter, The Special, its Podcasts, its video-blogs and of course the website. We hope to be positioned for anything else that develops over the next few years as well.
Write for true faith true faith has always provided a platform to fans to write about their club and give their own opinions on what is currently going on at United as well as the different perspectives of our club’s history and the wider game. Oh, we love a bit nostalgia and history. There is no typical true faith writer, they come in all shapes and sizes and include home and away zealots. young lads and www.true-faith.co.uk
lasses, veteran fans, season ticket holders, exiles and whatever else you care to mention.
true faith and in fact we welcome those that are completely opposite in honesty.
You don’t need to be a previously published writer or have any fancy qualifications. All we care about is whether you have a love for Newcastle United and a will to inform and entertain your fellow supporters. We don’t care if your opinions are the same or are similar to the editorial position of
You might want to write detailed exposes of the United financial and business model or you might want to do a matchreport or you might want to do something we’ve never ever considered. We also like dipping our toes into the waters of music, film and fashion
so if that’s your forte, just drop us a line as well. Don’t forget, we welcome all cartoonists, photographers and designers to join us as well, so whatever your talent, we can put you to work with the aim of establishing true faith as the best fanzine for the best supporters in the whole world. All emails to editor@ true-faith.co.uk tf 61
Let’s get this straight. I’m a Newcastle United fan, have been since I can remember and unlike friends (looking at you Dale, f***ing Blackburn strip covered in mud, red lettered Shearer on the back, as me Mam shouted at us through the kitchen door ‘Dare come in here, look at the state of the pair of you’ allegiance switching bastard. Incidentally mate your new missus is a Man Utd supporter, don’t you dare) I had the 10 out of 10 video. The seminal piece of our promotion season of 92/93. I had the season video with the song ‘Here I go again on my own’ – Was it that? I haven’t researched it but it’s there in my head, with the New Asics strips and putting about 15 past poor, poor Premier league winners Leicester. I just about remember David Kelly knocking one in off the post from a ridiculous angle to secure promotion earlier in the season.
TOUCHING FROM A
DISTANCE
My first match was Newcastle United 5 Man Utd 0. My Dad’s friend’s son played in the reserves or youth side (Barry Gibson, he should have made it my dad said) and he got us tickets. East stand first row (Were the boxes in the east stand then? If not is
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was the Sir John Hall as it is known now. I was ten f*** it) I remember getting nearly knocked out at Darren Peacocks first goal, everyone rushed forward then the arms went up. I can’t remember anything else from that match other than my dad being
ridiculously happy. Not Ginola’s goal, Ferdinand’s, Shearer’s, or even looking for No.5’s petulant chip. Since that match other matches with my Dad include highlights of Stan Lazaridis pinging one into the top corner for West
MARK EGGLESTONE I sit here 31 years old and totally in control of my own destiny and still without a season ticket and no closer to getting one
Ham and various other debacles. My Dad’s interest (or interest in getting a season ticket, the holy grail, waned where mine peaked) I sit here 31 years old and totally in control of my own destiny and still without a season ticket and no closer to getting one. Partly due to ‘the wild years’ as my mam likes to call them where all available money went on holidays with the lads and nights out on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays and if I could squeeze them in the following four days also. Partly due to work where I ended working in bars/ restaurants, and asking for a weekend day off was met with laughter, becoming a so-called manager didn’t help, it just meant I really, really, couldn’t have a weekend off So, the easy excuse was there ‘Can’t because of work’ I Have over the course www.true-faith.co.uk
of the previous ten or so seasons been to about forty matches. That nagging doubt that I’m not a real fan, don’t go to away games, don’t attend every match and see the shitshow for myself I that can’t possibly know how shit Gouffran is or how underrated Clark is stays with me through every interaction, be it in my local or talking to people who’ve been to the game or through the #NUFC tag on twitter I’m certainly not a ‘sod that for a lark fan floating punter’ as Nick Hornby calls them. I’m a support you thick and thin fan, with a release clause of as long as it fits round my schedule. Still, I feel like I have strong opinion about my club and how it is run and because of Twitter and certainly not Facebook as it’s the ramblings of lunatics, my voice can be heard by
serious fans, fans who go to the away games, the home games and probably the reserves and under 18’s as well. Weirdos. For some of us supporting Newcastle means screaming at the Telly with no one else in the room, telling the Mrs how gutted you are that Leeds equalised and her humouring sympathetic nod, texting your dad about the useless bastards and getting on twitter and having a rant. I wish I could be a fanatic, A Newcastle United super fan, dressed in black and white at every game and singing Blaydon Races at away grounds (which gives me goose bumps when I hear it) but I can’t and unless I get a lottery win or happy change in circumstance, that everelusive season ticket, that gateway to being a real fan remains ever elusive.
For some of us supporting Newcastle means screaming at the Telly with no one else in the room, telling the Mrs how gutted you are that Leeds equalised and her humouring sympathetic nod, texting your dad about the useless bastards and getting on twitter and having a rant
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As the winter of 1994 was slowly melting away into spring, Newcastle’s Odeon cinema was doing its very best to keep the locals indoors. Flickering across the screens during March of that year were a hapless team of Jamaican bobsleigh runners in Cool Runnings, Liam Neeson putting in an Oscar winning performance in Schindler’s List, Tom Hanks delivering an impassioned attack on discrimination in Philadelphia....and winger Ruel Fox sliding in at the near post to score Newcastle United’s seventh goal against Swindon Town. In the second half of Newcastle United’s scintillating debut season in the Premiership, Newcastle’s old Odeon on Pilgrim Street had teamed up with the team’s Junior Magpie fan club to beam all home and away games on the big screen for the club’s members. Not only did this make sense commercially, but it seemed only logical and necessary. The city tf 64
had been drenched by a huge tidal wave of black and white euphoria and the cinema was providing relief for the rising flood that battered the walls of St.James’ Park. Every game had been a sell out since the start of the season. Thousands were on the waiting list for the enviable season ticket. Newcastle’s Odeon was now providing the next best thing. On
the 12th March, the same steady tributaries of black and white stripes from all over Tyneside flowed to the Gallowgate but other fans were beating against the current, fighting their way to join the ever growing queue on Pilgrim Street. High above their heads in Hollywood Glamour font were the words ‘Newcastle United V Swindon Town’. The www.true-faith.co.uk
cinema had opened its match day doors for the very first time and I was one of the lucky ones there to experience it. I was 10 years old at the time and my only live match day experiences had consisted of a defeat to Tranmere in one of Kevin Keegan’s first games in charge and a comfortable victory against Notts County a couple of years later when the Entertainers were up and running. I was now swapping the intoxicating mixture of cigarette smoke and Bovril for the heady aroma of popcorn and hotdogs. While part of me even at that age felt that this did not qualify me as a true Toon aficionado embracing the fierce winds of the terraces, there was something quite magical about reclining back in a plush velvet seat and watching your heroes projected like Hollywood icons in front
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of you. Indeed, Newcastle’s performances seemed to possess cinematic qualities that were only enhanced by the Art-Deco surroundings that the cinema provided. Beardsley was tap dancing through defences like Astaire, Cole was pulling the trigger John Wayne style and Barry Venison was wearing the hair of Sharon Stone. We poured through the doors and into the grand foyer where Odeon general manager Peter Talbot waited to greet us. Like a Geordie Willy Wonka he presided over the line of eager children and parents, pointing us all in the direction of the stairs that would take us to our amphitheatre. In an interview to the local press before the game kicked off, Talbot proclaimed that this experience was predominately for the children of Newcastle to
get to see their heroes. You could only buy a ticket if you had a Magpie Juniors membership card. However, it was already abundantly clear that many men had skilfully created passages of entry to the building through the use of any child they happened to know. When are we going to McDonald’s Uncle Paul? Granda, this isn’t the Lion King. I’ll take you to Fenwicks for a toy son, if you don’t tell mum. The Odeon experience was a precursor to watching matches on dodgy foreign channels in pubs or viewing games on laptops that intermittently freeze. It felt like we were hiding away in some 1920’s Speakeasy. Watching a 3pm kick off live on screen on a Saturday afternoon was something no one could quite believe and yet we were about to do just that. The auditorium was already heaving with fans by the
Beardsley was tap dancing through defences like Astaire, Cole was pulling the trigger John Wayne style and Barry Venison was wearing the hair of Sharon Stone
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time we reached our seats. The whole scene resembled what I imagine Saturday matinees used to look like in the 1950s where hoards of children roared on the Lone Ranger’s pursuit of a damsel in distress. And yet there was a lot not too dissimilar to what was really going on half a mile up the road. Match day programmes were being sold at the bottom of the stairs. Groups of grown men standing in their rows debated with men two or three rows behind about the possible team line-up. There was even the prematch entertainment that was provided by Ingrid Hagemann and Lee Finen from Metro Radio. They fished out children from the audience who were high on sugar rushes from syrupy drinks and wore them out in a range of ‘It’s a knockout’ style activities.
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Then, without warning, the lights went out. Stifled shrieks rippled through the rows. Auditory gasps and vociferous hushings erupted from pockets of the audience. For a moment, no one was quite sure of the etiquette of watching a match at the cinema. The screen flickered into action and all of a sudden we were there, inside the stadium, one of the thirty thousand. A BBC commentator’s voice crackled into existence. ‘Welcome to St.James’ Park for today’s match, Newcastle United versus Swindon Town. And a special welcome to those that join us from the Odeon cinema.’ That was us! He was talking to us! The match certainly lived up to the red carpet treatment it had been afforded. Swindon Town were already heading for the Premier League exit
door when they arrived at St.James’ Park but the Magpies were in no mood to show any mercy. If ever a football historian needed a game to encapsulate the essence of The Entertainers, this was it. Mazy dribbles, over-lapping full backs, clinical finishing, smiling faces. It had it all. We only had to wait until the twelfth minute for it all to begin; Beardsley expertly putting away a penalty after being felled by Swindon’s Shaun Taylor in the box. And then it was over to Robert Lee, a player who had had an amazing season up to that point and yet had failed to register a single goal. His first came five minutes after Beadsley’s. A forty yard pass from Scott Sellers was put away on the half-volley as he torpedoed into the penalty area. His second, a tamer five yard tap in just past the hour, was still greeted with volcanic roars. This was a player on the verge of breaking into the National team. This was Robert Lee starting to become the player who would terrorise defences in the forthcoming years. There was still time for more firsts in the game. Steve Watson, given the licence to roam in midfield,
If ever a football historian needed a game to encapsulate the essence of The Entertainers, this was it. Mazy dribbles, overlapping full backs, clinical finishing, smiling faces
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scored his first and second goals for the club, the first a beautiful pirouette turn and finish. Ruel Fox, signed from Norwich City only the previous month, was on hand to score his first after good work from Sellers down the wing. Remarkably, Andy Cole played the full game but failed to get on the score sheet. As if scripted, there was still room in the match for the opposition to score a soft goal, a quick John Moncur free kick catching the defence and Srnicek unaware; perhaps a forewarning of the epithet Keegan’s defence would receive by the time he left the club. It had all been mesmerising for those of us who watched it on a 50 foot screen that day. We had stood up and cheered at every goal, applauded every tackle and roared on every wave of attack. Cinema goers watching films in other screening rooms must have had a torturous afternoon trying to follow plotlines and dialogue amid the thunderous din of the stamping of feet from the room above. At 5.00pm, as we trod on strewn popcorn and kicked over family sized cups of cola, we made our way down the aisles of the auditorium and slipped back into the crowds of black and white who had come from the stadium. We talked the same talk, reflected on the same goals, rated the same players’ performances. No one would have known that we had watched it from afar. www.true-faith.co.uk
For the next few years, the Odeon became a part of my match-day afternoon. We watched every game, weekends and mid-week. When I look back on my childhood experiences of Newcastle United, I see a lot of it in magnified form. A giant Andy Cole scoring a club record goal against Aston Villa, a giant Tino Asprilla twisting and turning Middlebrough’s defence and a giant Alan Shearer making his debut away to Everton. There were frustrating moments along the way. The misery of a 3-0 defeat away to QPR was further compounded by the constant technical problems that day. The Odeon lost signal with Loftus Road throughout the game; every time the screen flickered back into life, we seemed to be another goal down.
time when performances perhaps did not merit the big screen showing. With Sky and other TV channels paying billions for television rights and St James’ Park being extended, it was perhaps only inevitable that the projector was turned off before the turn of the century. The Odeon itself closed its doors to the public in 2002 and is now being slowly pulled apart. The same crowds of fans still flow past it on their way into the centre of town. But it is sadly a shell. It is hard to believe that the crumbling walls of the building contained so many hopes and dreams of a young Geordie following.
It had all been mesmerising for those of us who watched it on a 50 foot screen that day. We had stood up and cheered at every goal, applauded every tackle and roared on every wave of attack
I can’t remember when I stopped going or indeed when the Odeon stopped showing the matches. It was sometime in the Dalglish/Guillet era, a tf 67
So there this boy, 8 years old, excited, wide eyed and ready to enter a world he’d only ever seen on TV (very occasionally). This 8 year old couldn’t sleep for days. You see he was off to this magical place he had seen from afar. He would be telling all his school mates that he was off to the match on Saturday. Kids at junior school in Gateshead played games like British Bulldog at school in the late eighties, the vast majority didn’t get to go to the match. Can you believe this 8 year olds school banned playing football in the playground?
The headteacher responsible for that ridiculous rule is a prominent figure on BBC Radio Newcastle’s Non League round up. This 8 year olds primary school never played a competitive football game in all the time he was there. They were told in 1988 it was because of Health and Safety. (If the said headteacher is reading this, of course, you have a right of reply) Instead of a ball we stamped on a can of Coke and used that as our football. There was a lad who would go on to be a superb centre forward in local junior football had his eye cut by yours truly with a wayward shot( standard!) Him and his brother chased me all over the playground. Years later we would tf 68
become team mates and his brother is still one of the best left backs I’ve ever played with. The centre forward ended up being a brilliant header of the ball with an amazing leap! I am going to take credit for that as he had to jump all over people to try and get to me haha! The left back is sadly no longer with us. Great lads and a great Gateshead family. Incase you hadn’t already guessed that 8 year old was me. As most 8 year olds who are brought up here, football and Newcastle United were the main things in our lives. Too young to fully understand the relegation of 89 but old enough a few years later to still be awestruck by Kevin Keegan’s arrival. It was a brilliant time. Certain people and other teams
Supporters accuse people of my age being ‘a 92er’, ‘Keeganite’ and all sorts of other things. As an 8 to 12 year old playing football and getting to the odd was our life. It just so happens KK came at the right time in our football supporting lives and united communities North and South of the Tyne. As young Gateshead kids we had no idea there were people from exotic places like Walker, Wallsend, Blyth, North Shields and beyond who had the same outlook and to some extent the same life as us. The Chronicle was the main source of our news. That’s the physical paper by the way. Oliver & Gibson were the main fellas! The Pink (RIP) and it’s letter page on a Saturday tea time was my www.true-faith.co.uk
first experience of ‘Social Media’. People from all over places I mentioned above writing in and putting their opinion across. Some I agreed with and some I didn’t. That’s football eh? As teenagers we discovered fanzines. The Number 9, Talk Of the Tyne, The Mag and (very) late into my teens True Faith amongst others. I’m not sure what happened to the others but most lads will agree the main sources of craic were The Chronicle, Pink, True Faith and The Mag. Around this time a website you may of heard of sprung up called nufc.com nufc.com was a game changer for us all. Proper information, proper Mags, home and away lads. Not every 4-6 weeks but real time (well as much real time dial up Internet gave us) Throughout our twenties nufc.com and the internet is where we got our information. The savvy supporter didn’t pay for www.true-faith.co.uk
newspapers we read them online.The savvy newspaper executives realised they were losing a fortune to this thing called the internet. All of a sudden there was Niall and Biffa reporting on a game they had actually seen and newspapers reporting on a game they had not even been to. The papers had to make their money up. Who would you believe? Someone at the game or someone not? From time to time newspapers wrote match reports from games they had not been to. Fancy that eh? Anyway, fast forward to 2017. Social media has exploded. Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and God knows what else. The 8 year old lad mentioned earlier has turned into a 37 year old bloke who is still as excited to go to the match. He has met lads from all over the North East and beyond. I sit beside lads from Worksop in the Gallowgate End on a home match day. Some are my age, some are older and some are younger. I’ve even
been to aways with them. Great lads and proper Mags! Lads from Exotic places like North Shields, Walker, Wallsend and Alnwick have become friends. Proper Mags and I’m lucky to have made some made great mates. None, to my knowledge, want a huge social media following for their views on football. The world has changed now. There is no number 9 or talkofthetyne fanzine and no more Pink. In my opinion, Social media and the Internet has scuppered The Chronicle and it does not seem to know what it wants to be. Currently it is click bait fodder amongst some canny writing. The Mag was a brilliant fanzine. Sweet left foot, Colin Whittle et al. A must for the match going Mag. I personally don’t know the people who were originally involved and I respect anyone who wants to write about our club. However it’s a shell of its former self. Times change and the world changes but The Mag and
The Mag was a brilliant fanzine. Sweet left foot, Colin Whittle et al. A must for the match going Mag. I personally don’t know the people who were originally involved and I respect anyone who wants to write about our club
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The Chronicle are the kings of click bait. A writer from The Mag last month suggested supporters should be refunded for a poor result and performance. Really? Football is a sport, 11v11 playing a game we all love. Sometimes you have to accept that a team were better than you. Accept defeat with grace. Click bait, for those who don’t know, is an advertisers dream. They tease you in with a question pertinent to what is currently going on with a situation and suggest they have an answer to said question. More often than not they don’t have an answer but as soon as you have clicked you are confronted by various advertisements. Social media can cause a hissy fit when we lose and an overreaction when we win. Social Media has its place but it’s now become a money making tool for some. Newspapers have Declining revenues and reduced numbers of people reading papers with yesterdays news. Today’s society wants instant tf 70
reactions and news. The Chronicle needs to make money otherwise it will go the way of The Pink. Sadly, I cannot see a rosy future for it. Most savvy people actually know what is going on at their clubs without the need for clickbait. The Chronicle and The Mag are the worst offenders by posting ‘questions’ to which most already know the answer. The Chronicle and some of its journalists, through social media, pose teasers around 10pm for (sometimes) nothing articles that are published later that night! Why? Answers on a postcard....... I am gutted about the way Social Media divides our support. When we were kids growing up you hung on every word of older lads that had been to the match, The Pink and the Chronicle. No-one else’s option mattered. Now it seems everyone has an opinion because of TV, Sky Sports, Twitter and Facebook. I fully agree everyone is entitled to their
opinion. However, I would never give an opinion on a film I’ve never seen but read about, a beer or wine I’ve not drank but read or heard about or book I’ve never read but everyone is entitled to an opinion on our club, how it’s run their thoughts and feelings etc as after all it’s what we do. Going back to being a kid. The lad whose eye I cut now has two kids who play football. No doubt they are on social media and no doubt they will be black and white through and through. I dont know the young lads in person but I bet they have the same belief in Rafa as me and their Dad had in Kevin Keegan. I doubt they walk to the paper shop for The Chronicle or even care what is written however I just know they are proper Mags like us 30, 40, 50 something’s. In twenty years time click bait will be the norm and their dad, uncle and their old mates will still be talking about KK and the Pink with a wry smile on their face.
The Chronicle and the mag are the kings of click bait. A writer from The Mag last month suggested supporters should be refunded for a poor result and performance. Really?
For Ian. RIP Kidda. www.true-faith.co.uk
In latter years, the true faith Podcasts have become one of the most popular elements of our content. Now led by Pod-Father, Alex Hurst and his PodSquad we are now putting out regular episodes to an ever-growing band of listeners across the Black & White planet. They are becoming MASSIF.
T S A C D O P Y L TF WEEK W O H S O I D A R D AN We’re on Radio Tyneside every Friday 6:30-7:00pm and prematch every Saturday match at 13:30 listen on 1575 MW or online here.
Listen here The Podcasts regularly include guests and special
features.
Like everything true faith does, they are absolutely FREE.
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Our listeners tell us they variously listen to the true faith Podcasts via their smartphones on the way to and from matches via public transport, in the car, or
just as anyone would listening to the radio in the house etc The Podcasts aren’t a closed shop and if you would like to
join the podcasts as a contributor, just get in touch with Alex via the TF Weekly Podcast Twitter account and we’ll see what we can do.
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Postcards F rom The Edge Paully
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It just goes to show that you should never fart in church until the fat lady (whoever she is) belts out a few classical tunes. There is a reason why the word ‘ass’ is in ‘assume’. I suppose at least those “Brighton – 201617 Champions” scarves are going to be collector’s items... Those 40 seconds from Gayle scoring and then celebrating with the ‘going down, going up’ actions to news of Villa equalising followed by complete pandemonium breaking out will live forever with everyone inside of SJP. I think virtually everybody had written the title off after hearing that Brighton had went ahead via their 34278th penalty of the season whilst Villa were also reduced to 10 men. Promotion was always the main priority but of course winning trophies is always nice no matter what they are and to do so in the manner we did was simply beautiful. Brighton will be gutted having been seven points clear with only three matches to play. Their arses dropped quicker than the knickers of a Jarra lass when she is presented with a bottle of Hooch. “Look who is bottling it now”; uttered their rather annoying goalkeeper Stockdale with one bollock draped over the Championship trophy. He then went on to score two own goals and allowed Grealish to meg him with an effort from 25 yards that even a tortoise would have comfortably smothered. You could not make it up. The scenes in SJP when we were confirmed as champions were
superb and similar scenes were mirrored in numerous boozers in NE1 throughout the day. I dread to think of how we would react to winning even a League Cup but if this beautiful Spaniard is managing us for a lengthy period of time then I think that we will find out. The ‘Rafaoke’ performed by our friends down the road (you know, those supporters of a former Premier League club) has been hilarious; “Rafa will not join you lot” “Rafa will not stay with you lot in the Championship” “Rafa will struggle in the Championship” “Erm, erm, erm; six in a row” Their bitterness towards him is wonderful and it cuts them deep knowing that we have a manager who is rather good at winning trophies. I’ve said it since day one that we are extremely lucky to have him. How many other elite managers would have taken on our basket case of a club rooted in the relegation zone just a few months after managing Ronaldo, Bale, Modric et all and then stuck with us in the Championship? It could quite easily have been career suicide for him if we had www.true-faith.co.uk
Similar to recent seasons, it has been very hard to pick a player of the season but for the complete opposite reason. We’ve gone from trying to find the least smelly lump of shit in a cow toilet to trying to find the brightest diamond in Rihanna’s jewellery box.
of endured a similar season to the other two relegated clubs. He has broken a club record that I can never see even being matched and he has won a trophy in his first full season. He’s not too bad, is he? “Rafa has bought the title” bellow many sets of supporters especially those of that nonce-harbouring club which is complete and utter horse-plop. We lost a boatload of players from last year’s squad of which 13 were full internationals. Did these imbeciles expect us to simply carry on as we were and not buy anybody? Also, you have to look at net spend rather than just spend for a true reflection of a club’s transfer business. Rafa’s net spend over two transfers windows was MINUS £30 million pound. Over that same period, Villa’s net spend was £55 million pound so if we apparently bought the title then God knows what those horrible claret and blue pigs sorry those lovely claret and blue football friends did. He assembled a squad to get us out of the league at the first attempt and he well and truly romped it. So the season finished and once the final day booze wore off and euphoria evaporated, many of us feared that Rafa
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would not be in our dugout come the opening day of 2017-18. The club’s failure to back him in January and bring in Townsend and a CM clearly extremely narked him off and we all know that Mike Ashley doesn’t seem to follow any logical kind of sense in the world of football. Then, just 72 hours after we clinched the title, Ashley released this statement; “I’ve confirmed to Rafa and Lee that they can have every last penny that the club generates through promotion, player sales and other means in order to build for next season”. He must have still been on one from Sunday when he sanctioned this. Rafa added to the statement by telling us to enjoy our summer and stated that he would be in charge next season. Jesus Christ on a bike even. Simply, the best NUFC news of the summer and I will standby that view even if we sign Ronaldo and Messi and also hire Emily Ratajkowski and Michelle Keegan as naked cheerleaders who will also dish out blowers during every half time (a few seconds will only be required and not the full 15 minutes) to anyone wearing loud clobber called Paully. The future is bright; the future is Rafa. Similar to recent seasons, it
has been very hard to pick a player of the season but for the complete opposite reason. We’ve gone from trying to find the least smelly lump of shit in a cow toilet to trying to find the brightest diamond in Rihanna’s jewellery box. I’d rather look for that in her other box but that is another story. For me, Ritchie just pips Clark. The corner flag-kicking loon has carried us at times especially in the second half of the season. 16 Goals, 7 assists with a superb never-say-die attitude and he has proven to be a great signing as most of us predicted which is the complete opposite of Clark. Those lovely claret and blue fans were rather scathing of him after his transfer but he has been Mr Consistent all season. If Gayle had of stayed fit for all or even for the majority of the season then he would probably be my choice. 23 goals in 27 starts which works out at a goal every 93 minutes is superb and that figure would have been even better if he had of converted the penalty in our first home match of the season and carried on to be our nominated taker. 2016-17 has been an absolutely delightful season for the elite Tyne and Wear football clubs. ‘Get the rave on’, indeed. Enjoy the four days of sunshine along with the two weeks of ‘Come on Andy” bollocks. See you all next season. tf 73
60 SECOND
CHRIS LAws
SEASON Manager: As usual, it was the directors committee.
Players: Wilson, Maitland, Hudspeth, MacKenzie, Spencer, Harris, Urwin, McKay, Gallacher, McDonald, Seymour, Little, Lang, Burns,Curry,Low,Park,Clark, Wilkinson, Boyd, Halliday, Carlton, Evans, Gibson, Gillespie, McCurley, Barber, Bradley, Chalmers. Division:FirstDivision.Sadly, it was a hell of a drop-off from last year’s title winning campaign, as the black and whites dropped to 9th in the table, finishing on 43 points. This was some ten points off title winning Everton, and 13 points off last season’s title winning tally of 56. A mediocre season all round.
Trainer/Coach: James McPherson continued in his role this season, and was joined by a new face at the club in Andy McCombie. Highest Attendance: The biggest crowd of the season packed into SJP in the middle of September to see us take on an Everton side that would eventually win the league. 50,359 packed onto the terraces of NE1 to see a 2-2 draw, with goals from McDonald and McKay. The draw kept us top of the league as we started the season well, sadly it wouldn’t last.. Lowest Attendance: A very low turnout flocked to
Gallowgate, just a month after the Everton game, as 12,376 saw United beat Sheffield United 1-0, with a goal from Hughie Gallacher. On the road, a trip down to Burnley saw our lowest crowd, 12,454 with the majority of the home fans going home happy, as we were tonked 5-1 in March. United’s season was on the verge of imploding at this point, but we managed to haul ourselves up to midtable safety by season’s end.
Right back Alf Maitland
Average Attendance: Quite a big drop in attendance this year, back around the 30k mark after a spike in last season’s title winning triumph. The official figure of the average attendance at SJP was 30,195 from 21 home games. We didn’t play a cup game at home this season so that figure remained untouched including cups.
Going to Old Trafford to play ManchesterUnited,theblack and whites came away with a phenomenal 7-1 victory at the start of September. Plenty of players got on the scoresheet, Seymour bagging a brace, McDonald, Gallacher, Urwin and Harris on target for United, along with an own goal.
Biggest Win: After winning the title last year, we started the season very well, during which we nabbed our biggest win of the campaign.
Worst Defeat: Just as our best result of the season came during our best run, our (two) worst results came during a terrible stage of the campaign when relegation remained a real possibility. We travelled to Burnley at the end of March and we on the wrong end of a 1-5 scoreline that left us 12th in the table. Think things couldn’t get any worse? We followed that up the next weekend with a 1-5 defeat at home to Leicester which rooted us to 18th place in the league. Thankfully, that really was the worse it got.. Something of Interest: A disappointing headscratcher of a season, this. As so often happens to league
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A disappointing head-scratcher of a season, this. As so often happens to league champions, United just couldn’t muster the same effort and quality the next season, and finished in 9th place champions, United just couldn’t muster the same effort and quality the next season, and finished in 9th place. At one point it looked really dicey for NUFC, sitting down in 18th place after a home defeat to Leicester, but we managed to climb up to mid-table security. Hughie Gallacher, now a star in the footballing world given his exploits of last season, didn’t waste much time this time around, notching a hat-trick on the opening day of the seasondownatHuddersfield. Things didn’t go so smoothly in the return match with the Terriers for Gallacher, however. He was involved in a fracas with officials in the game at SJP on New Years’ Eve, and was given a hefty two-month suspension from football. He’d still finish top goalscorer at the club,with 21 of United’s 80 goals this season down to Hughie. Mentioned in Dispatches: An astonishing game took www.true-faith.co.uk
place in NE1 in the middle of March this season, as Aston Villa came to town. In conditions that could only be described as a ‘snowstorm’, United flew out of the blocks, going 4-0 up in double-quick time. In the 77th minute, we grabbed our seventh goal of the game to extend our lead to a mental 7-2. The scoring wasn’t over however, as the visitors came back with three quick goals to make it 7-5 before the final whistle put a cap on an amazing game in the snow. National Interest: In January, Frederick Griffith reports the results of the Griffith’s experiment,this experiment indirectly proves the existence of DNA. River Thames floods in London in the same month, 14 drown. GB & NI compete in the Winter Olympics in Switzerland in February of this year, winning one bronze medal. An underground explosion at Haig Pit in
Whitehaven kills 13 miners. Heavy hailstorms incredibly kill 11 people in England after one of the harshest winters on record. The Oxford English Dictionary is completed in February of this year, after 70 years of work to make the book.. Dixie Dean finishes the football season in May this year with a Football League record of 60 (SIXTY!) goals for Champions Everton. Over the summer, GB & NI compete in the Olympics in Amsterdam, amassing a solid total of 3 golds, 10 silver and 7 bronze. In November this year, for
the first time in the UK, notes from the Bank of England will be printed in colour on both sides. Just before Christmas, the first Harry Ramsden’s Fish and Chip shop opens in Yorkshire. Bruce Forsyth is born this year, as is fellow TV personality Bob Monkhouse. Jimmy Hill was born in July this year. Regional Interest: On 10 October, 1928, the Tyne Bridge, connecting Newcastle and Gateshead, is opened. Chris Laws. Follow @tflawsy1892
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The pressure was on to deliver the goods. “Resume” -arrange a long weekend to a number of Italian football matches for two first time attending Mackem mates, Phil and Mike. The weekend of the 29th January 2017 was designated, it being week 22 of the Serie A season. TV scheduling dictates that in Italy date and times of fixtures are released, in some cases 2/3 weeks beforehand making long term planning problematic.
PETER EMBLETON FOllow @PEFIORENTINA I decided to take in as our featured matches Saturday night, Inter v Pescara, which had a 20.45 kickoff. Then off to Genoa for Sunday afternoon’s match, Sampdoria v Roma, 15.00 kick off. Flights secured for £28 return, Manchester to Milan Bergamo. Great hotel in Milan the Starhotels Echo. £88 twin-room, located 200 yards from Milano Centrale railway station, tf 76
perfect for the metro and onward travel. Flight arrived bang on time, jumped on bus to Milan Centrale €9 return, a journey time of 50mins. Hotel just perfect, a recommended local watering hole(bar) “Mogamo” 100 yards from the hotel was our place of residence for the night. Arrived just in time for “aperitivo”, which included a lovely red craft beer and a free platter of more www.true-faith.co.uk
than decent food. The beer flowed to the background of brilliant chilled out music, our Italian hosts making us more than welcome happy days. Don’t know what the strength of that craft beer was but woke up with minging headache. I only had three halves! On a cold blue sky Saturday morning it was sight seeing for the lads to all the usual Milano suspects, the Duomo, Galleria Vittoria Emanuele etc (Ed: insert own Mackems in Milan joke here) . I suggested an addition to our plans a trip to see a Serie B fixture Pro Vercelli v Trapani the kick off being 15.00. The lads were well up for that. Who are Pro Vercelli and where do they play? Pro Vercelli was one of the most successful early twentieth teams winning the Italian championship seven times between 1908-1920. As their name suggests they are based in Vercelli which was a 50 mins train journey on the Milan -Turin line. They play www.true-faith.co.uk
their games at the Stadio Silvio Poli, named after Serie A’s highest every goal scorer (274), one of the best Italian players of all time, an Italian legend, who started his career with Pro. We emerge from Vercelli station at 14.30 with a decision to be made either walk to ground or get a taxi. As we were running short of time, it was the latter. As we approaching the taxi rank, the driver, before we had time to speak, says “Stadio for Calcio” We weren’t that obvious were we? His car inside is decked out with Black & White scarves of Pro Vercelli. I for one felt right at home!! We were dropped off at the end of a blocked off road about 100m from the Stadio near to the ticket office, which literally was 3 windows in the wall. Tickets ranged from €12 – 80. What you get for the higher price, god only knows, a game for the team perhaps? We opt for the home Curva, which was at the opposite end to the ticket office (€12).
I know I’m sad but I get an absolutely amazing buzz when visiting a ground I haven’t visited before. As we approached the Curva turnstiles in front of us were trestle tables covered with the wares of the Pro Vercelli supporters club, hats scarves, badges and other paraphernalia. I buy a Black & White beanie and in doing so immediately engaged with the lads manning the table, 1 of whom was the President of the supporters club, we hit it off with immediately, conversing in the usual football speak Where you from? Who do you support? Why are you here? As every Italian I have ever met, Newcastle United equates to Shearer. Blank looks when my mates mentioned they supported Sunderland. Pictures taken, hands shaken, then on through, the obligatory security!
I suggested an addition to our plans a trip to see a Serie B fixture Pro Vercelli v Trapani the kick off being 15.00. The lads were well up for that
I have to say the Stadio Silvio Pioli, is a cracking little ground, recently re-developed, it has a capacity of 8000. Unusually the pitch was 4G. tf 77
We have seats in the home Curva. To our right is an impressive main-stand, which has hanging from it, shields of their seven Italian Championships, in year sequence. Very impressive. To our left is an open sided terrace of seating. We are sat next to the local ultra contingent of a 100 led by 2 Capos, who are facing the congregated tifosi (a microcosm of the larger Curvas seen in Serie A). To give them their due even though small in number they were very vocal throughout the game with constant chanting and swirling of the giant flags. On the back wall of their Curva, was a giant mural celebrating their Championship successes. It was an amazing game Pro Vercelli totally dominated the first half going in at tf 78
HT 1-0 up. For the first 15m of the second half the match proceeded along the same lines before the amazing Trapani scored a goal against the run of play, to the delight of what looked like 150 travelling tifosi. I was amazed there were even that many, given Trapani lies at the western tip of Sicily, so those who were there, were either working in the northern cities or had made a return trip of some 2060 miles I assume by air, train or road to witness their team who were bottom of Serie B playing Pro Vercelli who were fourth bottom. What about the logistics and travel arrangements for a mid week fixture? Doesn’t bare thinking about does it. All I would say is to those who attended is “Respect”.
Trapani incredible went on to win 3-1. Football, is a funny game at times. I’d have given you any odds on them doing that at half time. So then back to Milan, for the night match, at the San Siro, which my Mackem mates, were really looking forward to! Quick beers and bite to eat before the Metro to the San Siro. The Metro line M5 now terminates at the San Siro station, 400m from the Stadio itself (Ed: we know, we’ve been, sniff).
Trapani incredible went on to win 3-1. Football, is a funny game at times. I’d have given you any odds on them doing that at half time
Despite the number of times I’ve been there, the sight of the Meazza lit up on a clear cloudless night, like a gigantic space ship, never ever ceases to amaze me. www.true-faith.co.uk
Our seats were in first level opposite the main stand next to the Curva Sud, where our fans were located for the CL match against Inter Milan. It is also home to the A.C. Milan ultras. Before the match started Pescara were in the last place in Serie A, as result the stadium was only half full, a sad sight really, with some 40,000 empty seats. Pescara played some neat football up to Inter’s 18 yard line however their final ball was shocking. Inter cruised to a 3-0 win in the process brushing a sorry Pescara aside in a match they never looked liked losing. Two goals in the first half from D’Ambrosio and Joao Mario and a goal from Eder in the second half ensured a seventh straight win for Inter. The sight and sounds of the Curva Nord despite the low crowd was as impressive
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as ever, with full on 90min support.
and a half KMs from the city-centre.
Again credit has to be given to the Pescara travelling tifosi of which they must have been a couple of thousand (not easy to get from there to Milan) who never let up in their support of the team.
We approached its rectangular shaped structure, heading in a direction, following the Bisagno dry riverbed, towards the Curva Sud or in local terms the Gradinata Sud, the home of the Sampdoria Ultras and hardcore faithful. The nearer we get the throng of I Blucerchiati (blue-white and red-black) clad tifosi increased, men and women teenage boys and girls mingling around waiting for the gates to open or congregating around their favourite bars or cafes.
Back to our local bar and a few nightcaps. Up, bright and early, Sunday morning for our train to Genoa, (€25 return), a journey of one and a half hours. We arrived in Genoa to clear blue skies, some 15 degrees warmer than Milan. Our Hotel, the Savoia was only 100 yards from the train station. We decided to walk to the Stadio Luigi Ferraris, which is universally known as “the Marassi” after the local neighbourhood, in which it is located, it is about one
Our seats were in the stand opposite the players’ tunnel, to get there involved a convoluted walk around the perimeter of the Stadio. As, is the case, at all Italian Stadio, the designated away sections are police/military cordoned off, for at least
Before the match started Pescara were in the last place in Serie A, as result the stadium was only half full, a sad sight really, with some 40,000 empty seats
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two blocks back for security purposes. Four security checks cleared, we began the ascent of the stands, which by the way appear not to have been modernized, since the 90 World Cup. This involved some of the steepest steps I have ever climbed and a maze of corridors that were confusing to say the least. It seemed as if we asked every available steward the location of our seat, each one pointed ever upwards We finally emerged to this fantastic view of the pitch and surrounding hills and city, seated 3 rows from the top, in a near vertical position, kept in place by a metal rail running parallel to our seat. The players emerge from the tunnel in the opposite stand and walk across the pitch to the technical area pitch-side, adjacent to our stand. To our right lies the Gradinata Sud the heartbeat of the Sampdoria support. It is spilt into two levels, the upper section houses the fans group known as the Ultras Tito Cucchiaroni, who claim to be the first in Italy to have differentiated themselves as ultras, evidenced they claim in the writings on the walls around Genoa “Uniti Lagneremo Tutti I Rossoblu A Sangue (United, we will beat the red and blues (Genoa) till they bleed”) the acronym of which spells ULTRAS. Women are very prominent amongst the tf 80
Tito Cucciaroni’s hierarchy, Sampdoria were, said to be the first, to have a group of female ultras. The lower level houses mainly, the Fedelissimi 1961. The two main ultra groups position in the Gradinata Sud, was as a result of a disagreement over the sale of Roberto Mancini to Lazio in the 1990s and the general malaise of the club. The fallout resulted in a split Curva, the Cucchiaroni taking with them the San Fruttuoso 1987 to the upper level. Whilst the Fedelissimi 1961 and other groups remained in the lower level. This two level support can be witnessed on match days helping to make the Marassi one of the most eye-catching venues in Calcio. Samps Ultras were among the few supporters in Italy who refused to use banners during their match-day displays, largely in protest against specific legislation within the Decreto Antiviolenza, a
decree aimed at tackling football hooliganism. This legislation had seen drums and megaphones banned in stadiums, while the use of flags and banners were strictly regulated. Supporters have to seek police permission for the paraphernalia they intend to bring into the stadium seven days in advance. According to many fans across Italy, this legislation is systematically destroying the phenomenon of organised support and limits their freedom of expression. Having said that the amount of flares set off at this match and the number of flags waved around brings into question how effective this is being enforced both by the Ultras and the authorities themselves.
Women are very prominent amongst the Tito Cucciaroni’s hierarchy, Sampdoria were, said to be the first, to have a group of female ultras
When it comes to violence and politics (Samp Ultras are apolitical), it appears that they take a philosophical viewpoint, as revealed by this quote from one of their fanzines: www.true-faith.co.uk
“Above all, it’s wrong to go to the stadium with the intention of causing havoc. As much as possible, we try to behave. However, it’s almost impossible not to react when opposition fans pass the Gradinata and start launching objects at people: it’s wrong, this is true, but we try to limit our retaliation… Luckily we have managed to expel the delinquents and political troublemakers from our ranks.” To our left is the Curva Nord, which on Genoa match days is the home of the Ultras known as the Fossa dei Griffoni. Today it is occupied by other Sampdoria tifosi. To our immediate left in the end section of our stand, housed, behind a gigantic Perspex divider, the Roma Ultras/tifosi (2-3 thousand in number) We take our seats 30 mins before kickoff, they are all there, in position giving full vocal to their chants, with load singing and vigorous flag waving. Out come the players preceded by the substitutes who include the great Francesco Totti, who goes over to the Roma faithful to acknowledge their magnificent support. Well what a match we were treated to La Samp being a goal down to a 5th min Bruno Peres goal, Il Doria equalized in the 21st min through Denis Praet, we were being treated to a cracking game of attack/ counter attacking football www.true-faith.co.uk
played at a terrific pace. The intensity of action on the pitch was accompanied by the noise generated by the Gradinata Sud which was amplified by the close proximity of pitch to stands which rise almost vertically from pitch level making for at times an almost claustrophobic, extremely intense atmosphere aided and abetted in this instance by the 90 min support of the great Roma following. “Saluti” to both sets of supporters who never relented in their chanting, singing and flag waving. Both my mates said they spent more time watching the Curva Ultras and tifosi in action than they did the match. What intrigues me is how organized the Capos are, they orchestrate the
chanting/singing, facing the assembled tifosi/ultras (never watching the match) perched precariously on the railings at all levels of the Curva, physically supported by fellow ultras they lead their Ultra sections in a constant stream of chants and songs raising and lowering the level of noise generated like an Orchestral conductor. The second half took on a similar course with Roma again taking a lead in the 66th min with a Dzeko tap in, Samp equlised almost immediately through Schlick’s 71st min angled drive across the goal-keeper, practically his first touch. 2 mins later Samp were ahead for the first time, a Muriel free-kick taking a wicked deflection off Naingolan into the net.
Well what a match we were treated to La Samp being a goal down to a 5th min Bruno Peres goal, Il Doria equalized in the 21st min through Denis Praet, we were being treated to a cracking game of attack/ counter attacking football played at a terrific pace tf 81
There was still time for a cameo Totti appearance. He touched the ball 7 times each one was a sublime pass of creativity and imagination. Worth the attendance money alone to see. Roma were denied a last minute pen when Dzeko was brought down in the box but was flagged for offside incorrectly. All in all what a win for Sampdoria, who were well down the league against a Roma team who were second. We descended the steps underneath the stand to meet up with Mike at a predestined spot. Well what was their take on the current state of SerieA. They both were blown away with the high tempo that games were played at and the technical tf 82
quality on show. What they couldn’t get over, they both said, was the continual support all teams enjoyed Non-stop singing, chanting for the FULL 90 mins (they likened it to pre PL grounds) and the flag displays on show during the match complemented by the obligatory flares which contribute to the unique atmosphere on show in Italian Stadio. I liken it to what the Leazes End used to be like in the 60s/70s. I would advise anybody thinking of a Serie A match that the Marassi is a must visit. That English ground atmosphere of the pre PL is there for all to see. I have penciled in The Genoa Derby (the Derby della Lanterna) as a future visit, apparently it is a sight to behold, with both Curvas, demonstrating their support
through some incredible choreography whilst the noise and passion is they say ear splittingly loud, leading to a riot of noise and colour. It is Marcello Lippi’s greatest Derby in Italy for atmosphere and intensity. We finished the day off with a night on the town in Genoa and a number of well-earned beers.
All in all what a win for Sampdoria, who were well down the league against a Roma team who were second
Will my mates come back for more Italian matches? Most definitely. Let the planning begin. If anyone needs information about organizing their own Italian Calcio trips I would be more than willing to share my experiences of flights, rail travel, hotels and match day tickets with them. Just contact me on my Twitter feed www.true-faith.co.uk
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In the Great British* film, ‘Withnail and I’, there is a scene in the ds farmhouse where Uncle Monty takes Marwood and Withnail’s han and proclaims... “Oh, my boys, my boys, we’re at the end of an age. We live in a land of weather forecasts and breakfasts that set in. Shat on by Tories, shovelled up by Labour. And here we are, we three, perhaps the last island of beauty in the world.” Monty is right, of course. And prophetic. We live in an age of utter idiocy, when merely repeating something for long enough, is enough. The postwar age of mass entertainment is drawing to a close. Orwell’s sheep chorus has come back with a vengeance, pushing McCartney’s frog chorus into the grey lands of dust and bone that house Ajax and Achilles and Yootha Joyce; somewhere in the back of our minds, just out of reach.
write this, contemplating the Strong and Stable (and Very, Very Long) future steered by that modern day Boudica/ Head of Netball, Mrs May, I think: “Richard, old lad, what, what could be worse than seeing the nation of my birth rip itself up; often at the behest of non-dom newspaper barons; seemingly unable to feed or better itself, or even sort out the dogshit problem in Saltwell Park?”
I’ll tell you what’s worse. Infinitely worse.The following list of names is far, far worse ir despa A leaden pall of than your paying for those hangs over us. Wirral poets nice new blue passports. Half Man Half Biscuit’s song k Barclay. Tim Lovejoy. ‘National Shite Day’ seems Patric Piers Morgan.Paul Merson. to be all day every day. As I McKenzie. Kelvin Charlie Nicholas. Chris Sutton. Ian Wright.
RICHARRD FOSTE ry Incendzia Maga ine
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Dan Walker. Stan Collymore. Jim White. David Prutton. Alan Green. DJ Spoony. Alan Brazil. Danny Mills. George Riley. Robbie Savage. Guy Mowbray. Jonathan Pearce. Dennis Wise. Ian Wright. Connor McNamara. Craig Bellamy. Jamie Redknapp. Gary Lineker. Richard Keys. John Inverdale. Niall Quinn. Ian Wright. The bloke who says Blud on the Arsenal podcast. Graeme Sourness. Danny Murphy. Andy Gray. Steve Stone. Jon Champion. Michael Owen. Ian Wright. YoooTewb Podcast blokes in general. Sports Media Blokes. Blokes making money talking about fitba’. Blokes making money out of football from questionable
media sources. Which means, sadly, Mr Shearer, my alltime hero. So: (Mr Shearer apart), I say to all of you and the countless wannabes who swarm around you, as did the lesser demons round Satan in Milton’s depiction of Hell: “Toads and lackeys most loathsome! A curse upon your Houses! May your Banter be Most Rancid and Poisonous and untimely ripp’d from a Sow’s anus! May your sports-casual sweaters and personalised headphones be forever infested with the fleas of a thousand camels!
Men Only www.true-faith.co.uk
You have to wonder, are these people picked because they are clinically mad? Or irretrievably thick? Or did they spend too much on that conservatory extension and need the folding stuff? May your trippes to your pox-ridden, cash/pishNandos and the like be splashed, Male Groomingèd piss-talk that is demanded unsatisfactory!” by your perma-scowling And I continue (in my best Overseas Overlords (who ME Smith voice): proffer fool’s gold to HRMC “Hey, you! Bloke gobshites and liveth in islands off ye on my screens and on coaste of this fair Isle, and the airwaves-ah! Sofa do watcheth most boring chipmunks and Mouths of Terry and June repeates on ye channel, Dayve)!” Sauron Sports-ah! I don’t care about your pass The reason for all of the completion rate knowledge. above invective is that with our glorious ascent to I don’t need to know the Great British* Premier ANYTHING about League - we must prepare Tottenham’s games in and psychically arm Europe. ourselves for the lair of the I don’t worry about “what Bloke Expert. Where “man goes on in the dressing of the world” gobshittery is the Law and football fans’ room”. views are there to pander to I don’t want to hear you Great Eternal Themes, such say “Pep” all the time as if as the sainthood of ‘Arry “Pep” will be at your next Redknapp, or the sisyphean barbeque in Chelmsford tribulations of Arsenal (with Oasis on the stereo).” Wenger. Or, in our case, our And I conclude (in my best deluded expectations of winning everything in sight Charles II voice): and our appalling personal And note ye, ye denizens treatment of Alan Pardew, of instant disgust and fake horses, “Uncle” Mike Ashley waffle! Get thee to the Dark, (our saviour), Graeme Fearfulle, sticky-poison Sourness and Sir Bobby Land of Hopkins and stay Robson. We are cannon there! And do Not taketh fodder and there to be ye Names of Newcastle hustled into line and spout United or Raphael Benítez in the answers to these, their Vaiyne, or subjecte them to prompts. And note: these www.true-faith.co.uk
prompts to our (repeated) spiritual wounding will never change. The buggers just won’t give up. During the 5Live broadcast of the home match against Preston for example, Ian Dennis must have mentioned the word “expectations” of Newcastle fans at least 20 times. Or the recent “deluded fans” kerfuffle on BeIn sports or whatever the thing is called out there in Uzbekistan,or Myanmar. (Incidentally I thought a BeIn or Be-in (or whatever) was something from the 1960s where bearded baldy professors with pot bellies performed wild acts of coitus with goats, paint, flour and smoke bombs.
But no, it’s a remote corner of the football empire, apparently.) And even out there, NUFC fans get told what’s good for them. You have to wonder, are these people picked because they are clinically mad? Or irretrievably thick? Or did they spend too much on that conservatory extension and need the folding stuff? And don’t these preening divs ever feel a moment’s reflection? Is there a remote corner of, say, Tim Sherwood’s damaged soul that craves (just like Charles) to appear on the front of the Daily Heil, dressed in his mother’s bridal veil?
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Are we witnessing an eternal Ragnarok when all male football pundits (aside, perhaps, from the thoughtful John Murray and George Caulkin) throw themselves into the fires prepared for them by Meeja? Or are they just reaching the end of their shelf-life and breaking down? Has their hardwiring somehow suffered a major, irretrievable malfunction, leaving them unable to progress beyond a default mode? Imagine this “imaginary” scenario; Paul Merson, whilst in town getting some cheese, or replacing a Hoover extension, being unable to say anything AT ALL to the checkout help, except proffering a 2048368 pound note with a picture of Terry Venables on it and spouting the implanted code which runs thus:“them Geordies, they expect too much!! If they don’t get their expectations, they’ll turn on Rafa and chase him aaaht the claaahhhhb!”
should have a total boycoutt. TOTAL BOYCOUTT. Let the airwaves be dominated by Sheleb fans like Brian Blessed or John McCririck.
If I had one wish for 201718 it’s not worrying about the atmosphere, or whether Rafa has a “war chest” [sic]. It’s that our fans, ALL of them, EVERYWHERE, do NOT ring ANY phone in, or have “your say” on any mainstream media platform, or in any“fanzone” or on any “message ANYW HERE , board ” WHATSOEVER. I’ve put this in caps in true C21st stylee because I want to show you I mean it. We tf 86
Because remember, fans of this famous and most established northern club, Newcastle United. The bloke meeja gobshites’ patron saint is a comedy character. A piss take that got all too real. That character is Alan Partridge; who (some say, allegedly) was himself based on a sports reporter of yore; Elton Wellesley, the 10th Duke of Wellington. Remember this when you are feeling aspirational and reach for any man-creams. And, as a peep into the psyche of the Bloke Football Expert, we can turn to a very early Alan Partridge radio show, where Alan is meeting Janey Katz, a hypnotherapist. During the course of an hypn otherapy” “on-a ir session Alan is asked to describe a happy memory from his childhood (to divert from the terrible memory of bullied on a cross country run and being called “smelly Alan Fartridge”). Alan (using his squeaky voice) recalls a moment in class when the headmaster walks in. “Someone’s won an essay on sport and it’s won a prize. Is there an Alan Partridge in the class? Would Alan Partridge identify himself? [...] And I’m standing up, and they’re all applauding me!” When Janey Katz asks him what he says at this juncture, Alan suddenly reverts to
The Moonlandigz - Black Hanz his adult voice... “I am Alan Partridge. I am Alan Partridge. I’ve won the essay writing competition, of that there’s NO DOUBT! No longer will I be called infantile names because I won the essay.” Remember fellow Mags, they, the pundits, won the essay on sport. And they won’t let you ever forget it. But on a defiant note, as we go back to scraping crumbs from the top table, I will leave the last word to that master of chateau-bottled piss-talk, the POTUS. He has a way with words as we all know. Especially on Twitter. And what could be better than to borrow from such an exalted source? EPL FOOTBALL PUNDITS! FAKE NEWS! SAD!
*One of the future decrees from the Head of Netball is that everything British, of course, is Great. And Achieving on a World stage. From Carpet Warehouse to AFC Bournemouth to Richard Bacon. All achieving. On a World stage. But not in nasty, foppish, nonce-laden Europe, with its stupid uneatable cheeses and swarms of dusky-skinned migrants desperate to go to hang out in Teesdale Industrial Estate, you know, those ones, the ones who have managed to escape war zones and are supposed to be poor, but still have expensive sports pumps and look much older than they should be what’s all that about innit.
Hunter Complex - New Arrival on The Island
www.true-faith.co.uk
Rip Rig + Panic - Peel Session 1981
“Main Theme” for Possession - Andrzej Korzynski
Section 25 - Looking from a Hilltop WOLVON - ease
Space Echo - The Cosmic Sound of Cabo Verde Sylvia - Sylvia EP
Mekanik Kommando - Birds www.true-faith.co.uk
Al Bowlly (Ray Noble Orchestra) - The Very Thought of You tf 87
Thomas Joseph NO HOLDING BACK Well, that’s it, we did it! Not only promoted but we’ve made it as Champions. Talk about drama. Last game, last minute, and an equaliser by a team who it’s fair to say we don’t share a great deal of love with. Personally I wasn’t bothered about how we got promoted…. but I must say it did put the icing on the cake. Thanks to Rafa and the lads for a great season.
every team treating a game against NUFC as their own personal Cup Final does not make for the ‘walkover’ people were suggesting it would be. It’s naïve to think teams would roll over because they were playing NUFC and you have to have the right commitment, dedication and attitude to succeed. We certainly showed we had all of those qualities over the season!
HEAT TREATMENT Whilst many might say that the Championship is short on quality-and personally I’m not sure I entirely agree, we’ve come across some quality players -it’s a difficult division to get out of. A long hard season with
BACK TO SCHOOLDAYS We’ve felt like a football club this season. After a few years when it’s fair to say it’s been a bit of a ‘chore’ going to the match I personally feel I’ve got my club back. It’s down to one man in my view-Rafa, who has revitalised the
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club in so many ways. He’s taken it by the scruff of the neck and given it a good shake. He’s made us feel UNITED. I’m encouraged by the fact that we are hearing positive noises about meetings with the owner so soon after the season has ended. My guess is that Rafa wanted everything ‘sorted’ swiftly to avoid post season speculation about his own and the club’s future. THE BEATING OF ANOTHER HEART Off the pitch our fans have certainly bought into this feeling of being United again. I can’t give enough praise to two fans initiatives in particular. Gallowgate Flags has helped ramp up the atmosphere and visually
I personally feel I’ve got my club back. It’s down to one man in my view-Rafa, who has revitalised the club in so many ways. He’s taken it by the scruff of the neck and given it a good shake. He’s made us feel UNITED
www.true-faith.co.uk
they look mint…the surfer flag is top class…. and NUFC Fans Foodbank is a great example of Geordies helping our own. Congratulations to everyone involved. SILLY THING The only downside to things happening at the club at the moment is the proposed development of the car park behind the Gallowgate. At a time when clubs such as Spurs/ Liverpool are extending their ground capacity it seems a strange decision to restrict development of our own ground.51K average last season in the Championship…. imagine if we took off! DON’T ASK ME QUESTIONS The relegation of Boro / Mackems and Hull, with Swansea and Palace staying up and Brighton, possibly Reading, being promoted means that regular away fans will have some travelling to do next season. Whilst I can’t shed a tear about the Mackems …hopefully they will continue to experience difficult times…. unfortunately, the way things are working out it doesn’t make it easier for regular travellers. At least there’s an away ticket price cap! TEAR YOUR PLAYHOUSE DOWN Talking of the Mackems I have to confess to never looking forward to a local derby. A fear of defeat in the week or so www.true-faith.co.uk
beforehand is always, for me, greater than any short lived celebration following victory. I much prefer to see them in another division, preferable languishing. Given their lack of quality and their difficult financial position I suspect they will not find it easy next season. WATCH THE MOON COMEDOWN Further down the leagues, I must say I was sad that Hartlepool got relegated. Many years ago my mates brother in law played for them and he used to get us tickets when United were without a fixture. We’d get the train down and have a couple of pints at the pub next to the ground…not quite the Strawberry but welcoming nonetheless. A small but loyal following, you have to feel for them.
DEVILS SIDEWALK I see we’ve a new shirt sponsor…. good riddance to W*ng* I say! Our association with that particular payday lender never felt comfortable. Added to the way they linked the sponsorship with the re-naming of the ground left a sour taste in a particular toxic time for the club. Whilst I’m not a fan of on-line gambling it’s certainly a step up! and it has to be said the shirt itself is mint…although they never seem to fit my ‘slimline’ figure very well. NOBODY HURTS YOU I know there have been some people complaining about our performances this season…and they are in the minority and you’ll never satisfy everyone…. but if you look at the stats they are outstanding.
Most away wins in our history, number of goals scored, number of goals conceded, number of clean sheets and most importantly points earned-all excellent. PASSION IS NO ORDINARY WORD Over the years Its fair to say that our supporters have been prepared to stand up for themselves. Whether it was Malcolm Dix leading in the 70’s, United for Change in the 80’s, save our Seats in the 90’s and more recently Pardew /Ashley Out or more subtle NUST.’Be careful what you wish for’ has been the cry from pundits in recent times…. well hopefully we’ve now got it in the shape of Rafa Benitez…. onwards and upwards! See you next season. tf 89
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