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1. Why you were looking
forward to going to the ground (or not as the case may be):
For a
long time I have wanted to go to St James Park. It was one of my
faviourite grounds, the tradition of the stadium, the club, and their fans
which I'd heard so much about, so the moment the fixtures come out, this
was the first away fixture I looked out for, seeing as we had no local
rivals in the league this season!
2. How easy was your
journey/finding the ground/car parking?
We hired out our own coach
with about 30 other boys from the Holmesdale Fanatics, and left from the
site of the orginal Crystal Palace, were we took a photo of us all infront
of the HF banner. Luckily, we was allowed beer on the coach, so it was a
banter filled journey up to the toon! Although it was a good 7 hours to
the ground, the excitement I was feeling of going to one of my all time
favourite football league grounds sort of made up for the long
journey!
3. What you did before the game pub/chippy.... home fans
friendly?
Once we got to the ground there was a lot of pubs to
choose from, many with strict doormen on, but most of them were pretty
friendly, with a few police checking round the pubs as you do. The
Newcastle fans were actually genuinley nice and helpful, invloved with
good friendly banter, we even met a bloke wearing a Sunderland shirt in a
pub near the station, which I wasnt expecting! We ended up going in "
Idols " which was sort of a nightclub, but it was amazingly quiet when we
went in, and there wasnt a person in sight, so we had the whole place to
ourselves. Plus buying a pint there were only around £2 which was
surprisingly cheap. Good build up and sing-song before the game, and once
we finished a few pints we headed towards the stadium.
4. What you
thought on seeing the ground, first impressions of away end then other
sides of the ground?
One of the best things about St James Park, is
that its situated practically right in the middle of the city, which makes
it very easy to get to from the station, pubs etc. The ground looks
amazing from outside, and really does tower over Newcastle. There's a
lot of stairs to climb, to get right up to the away section though, but it
was worth it as the views from the top were brilliant, not only a good
view of the pitch but a good view of the Newcastle city as well. Mind you,
if you have a problem with heights, I would suggest trying to sneak
in to the lower tiers of the Home section as its a long olde way up!
5. Comment on the game itself, atmosphere, stewards, pies, toilets
etc..
The game was fairly good, and the players were giving a lot
of passion considering it was only hours before the game we was put in
administation, but it sort of bonded the players together more, and our
fans were amazing, over 1,000 fans on a Wednesday night in the middle of
January is pretty impressive and we certainly made up for it with
noise! Surprisingly, I'd expected so much more from the Newcastle fans, as
they only belted out a couple songs all game, but I was told it was one of
there worst atmospheres from the home fans that season
At half
time, it was clear the bar staff weren't prepared for such a large away
following, as they ran out of stock extremely quickly, which was a
disappointment. The toilets were fine as well, even if a bit crowded! The
game ended in 2-0 to Newcastle, but the players did themselves proud,
and deserved so much more.
6. Comment on getting away from the
ground after the game:
As it was a Wednesday we decided to stay
over for the night, and walking away from the ground was fine as we made
it back to our hotel, got changed and hit the clubs! The nightlife is
Newcastle is as good as it sounds, and it was a pretty amazing night, the
people in Newcastle are extremely friendly, had a good few drunken chats
with a couple of geordies, but it was a night to remember and I'd
absoloutely love to do it again one day!
7. Summary of overall
thoughts of the day out:
Well what can I say, possibly the best
away trip of my footballing life, great day out with the lads, great
stadium, great atmosphere, and great nightlife. Would absolutely recommend
this away trip to anyone, And I hope to vist there again one
day! |
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