Tag: Champions League

Magpie Moments Episode 4.

Being a Toon fan means that there’s never a dull moment…unless you had the misfortune to sit through much of Steve Bruce’s football. But our football club has provided its fair share of memorable moments over the years. So, welcome to Magpie Moments, episode 4!

Griffin Conquers Juve! It’s October 2002 and Newcastle United have lost their first three Champions League group matches. Next up is the mighty Juventus at St. James’ Park under the lights. A classic European night. Memory tells me that we were getting a bit of a chasing for most of the game, but won a free kick over by the corner flag on the East Stand side of the Leazes just after the hour. With the box loaded with the likes of Shearer, Speed and er… Titus Bramble, Laurent Robert shaped to cross it before slipping it short to the edge of the box for Andy Griffin. He then went round a defender before a heavy touch took him almost to the line. Faced with the chance to cross it he just hammered it across the box where Gianluigi Buffon’s attempt to stop it just diverted it into the net. Cue delirium and the start of a great escape from the group that no one could have seen coming! Sir Bobby Robson called it “one of my greatest Newcastle victories”. I was sitting next to a group of Italians in the Leazes that night and even they went mad. I never found out who they really supported!

Matty Longstaff’s debut screamer. Everything about this made for a magical moment. The game had seen both sides have good chances to score, but going into the final 20 minutes things were deadlocked at 0-0. Suddenly, Newcastle broke. Alain Saint-Maximin ran forward and surrounded by defenders, fed the ball wide to Jetro Willems who still had little in the way of options in the box. Sensibly he held it up and then laid the ball off to the edge of the area where Longstaff was steaming in. Without breaking stride he belted a grasscutter into the bottom left hand corner as St. James’ went crazy. Matty had started the game, making his Premier League debut alongside his older brother Sean; a moment in itself. And for me, the best thing after the goal itself was seeing brother Sean delightedly celebrating with Matty at the Gallowgate end. The winning goal on debut against Man Utd, under the lights at the Gallowgate with your brother. The stuff that dreams are made of!

Takeover Take Off! As the recent anniversary of the takeover shows, we can all remember where we were and how we reacted to the news that Amanda Staveley had finally done the deal and freed us from Mike Ashley. For me though, it didn’t feel real until the first post takeover game. There were a few big moments on the day. The Wor Flags display and the line from Big River on the banner in the Gallowgate was pretty spine tingling. Then there was the sight of Staveley, Mehrdad Ghodoussi, Jamie Rueben and Yasir Al-Rumayyan in the director’s box that confirmed that this was really happening. But the biggest moment of the day for me was the moment when Callum Wilson put us ahead inside two minutes. The noise, the relief, the expressions on the faces of everyone involved. The result didn’t matter a jot. Newcastle United were finally on the up again!

Three more fantastic Magpie Moments. I hope you enjoyed reading about them as much as I did writing about and reliving them!

Victory over Benfica with a little help from Wor Flags, Joe Harvey and Nick Pope.

Once again Wor Flags managed to get it just right last night. On another big European night at St. James’ Park they remembered the biggest with an inspirational display dedicated to the Fairs Cup heroes of 1969.

I was born a few years after that Fairs Cup win and spent my formative years thinking that another success was probably just around the corner. It wasn’t. And so Joe Harvey’s boys became the stuff of legend to me. A group of players that any Newcastle side would need to live up to.

At half time last night, the words of Joe Harvey in Budapest drifted through my mind. Two nil down at half time in the second leg of the final all those years ago, Harvey told his players not to worry. “Get a goal and they’ll fold like a pack of cards.”

It was apt last night too, I thought. We were 1-0 up, but in need of a goal. With the game ticking over the hour mark, Benfica were having a lot of possession and it felt like we needed to weather the storm. If we could get a goal though, they’d fold.

Ten minutes later, Nick Pope collected a corner and went looking for options. Still in his own box, Harvey Barnes was one of a few players who started running as Pope carried the ball forward. And then it happened – Pope channelled his inner Tom Brady and launched a Hail Mary up field and into the path of Barnes who had sprinted into Benfica’s half. The covering defender couldn’t quite get there and Barnes was in, although a little wide. The rest is history.

Pope gets some stick for his distribution and rightly so at times. However, he was a hero last night with that throw as well as the customary crucial saves that we’ve come to expect!

In the shadow of the great Joe Harvey, Eddie Howe’s Mags made it another fantastic European night with a resounding 3-0 win. Here’s to another European adventure. Howay the lads!

Newcastle v Barcelona; can we talk about last night?

So, after the hype and the weeks long build up, some will say that Newcastle United came crashing back down to Earth following the latest Champions League tie. Going into it with memories of the 4-1 mauling of PSG, Mbappe et al, you could have been forgiven for getting carried away. We had a formula, right? Not quite.

Despite the result, for me there’s a number of positives to be taken from the Barcelona game. I mean, we don’t have to play them away for starters! And while we’re being just a little bit daft, there’s no shame in losing to a side who we all witnessed are just so, so good.

Personally, I didn’t think that there was a great deal wrong with our performance. We started well and with a little bit of luck and admittedly better finishing we would have at least taken the lead. And then it becomes a whole different game. If Barnes or Gordon put away one of those chances maybe the team and the crowd become just a bit too much for Barca and we end up with another PSG style performance. But maybes don’t win football matches.

So…positives. It would be remiss of me to mention positives and not start with Wor Flags and in turn, the atmosphere. What I love about Wor Flags is their ability to come up with something different and creative on a regular basis. The tributes to players, the poignant quotes and the cultural references all give St. James’ Park that little bit something different. Last night’s AC/DC themed effort was stunning and can’t have failed to inspire players and fans alike. Keep them coming lads and lasses!

As expected, the atmosphere was raucous and intimidating; a wall of noise that inspired the quick start made by the team. An early breakthrough might well have ramped that up a notch and then who knows what we’d all be talking about this morning.

I thought there were a number of players that did well. Tino Livramento put in his usual shift against the excellent Raphina as well as covering across the backline when we’d over committed. Sandro Tonali more than held his own in midfield with some clever touches and the usual ridiculous amount of ground covered. Anthony Elanga looked sharp and at times provided Barcelona with a real worry. His searing pace cut Barca open on a couple of occasions and he provided crosses that deserved far better than the end products. A player that, if we can get right, will prove to be a genuine threat this season. Not many will think that he should have been subbed. And I though Malick Thiaw looked superb when he came on. Pace, power and enough class to take time on the ball when others might have panicked. With an ageing back line it’s good to see that the future looks good.

The fact that we created genuine chances last night is of course another positive. There are winnable games to come, our defence is doing well and so if we continue to create chances we should start to put them away. Nick Woltemade will gain fitness and appear more, Yoane Wissa will be available…someone, hopefully can start finishing those chances!

With 6 more games to go it’s reasonably certain that we won’t see a challenge as big as Barcelona until that last game at PSG. Everything in between now and then becomes hugely important. Yes, we need wins, points and better performances, but there’s plenty more time to make that happen. Howay the lads!

NUFC: Why we shouldn’t fear Sunday.

Following the result at Arsenal there seems to have been a bit of an outbreak of fear with some of our supporters. And while I understand that it would have been far more comfortable to have a Champions League spot sewn up before now, I also don’t think we should be too worried about Sunday’s game. Your worry or even misplaced anger won’t change anything, after all.

Sunday is without doubt a huge game. A massive occasion that could bring massive rewards for the club in terms of not only financial gain, but also the kinds of trips and occasions that Europe’s top competition brings. Over the years, trips to places like Dortmund, Barcelona and Paris have helped make memories that will last a lifetime for those lucky enough to get there.

So, without doubt, there is a lot at stake this Sunday. But for a number of reasons – while not underestimating Everton at all – I don’t think we should be too fearful. We’re third in the league for a good reason, for goodness sakes!

A quick look at our team is reason enough not to panic. The nucleus of the side has been together since Eddie first arrived and have faced big games on big stages on many occasions. Those who have arrived since have never shied away from those occasions either. The squad is full of quality, big game players. Bruno, Isak (if he’s fit), Sandro, Fabian Schar, Dan Burn, Anthony Gordon…I could go on. Every member of that team is capable of a big game performance and have proved it on multiple occasions in the past couple of seasons. From crucial relegation scraps to cup finals, they’ve been there.

Remember when we worried about how Dan Burn might cope with Kylian Mbappe? Well, he did, pocketing the now Real Madrid star, scoring and leaving him looking a little bit perplexed by his trip to Tyneside as his team were absolutely walloped. And of course, this year it was BDB who scored the first goal at Wembley as we won our first trophy since 1969. He also won the Man of The Match that day today. It feels like he enjoys a big occasion, eh?

In the middle of the park Bruno Guimaraes and Sandro Tonali have the quality to run any game they play in and have done for much of the season. Even on Sunday against Arsenal they bossed the game for the first half. Both are capable of moments of absolute magic and both are clearly Champions League standard players, so with three more points needed, I feel sure that we can trust our midfield, whoever the third member is this weekend. I’ve followed Newcastle for over 40 years and can’t remember many better than those two in the heart of our midfield.

Then there’s Isak up top, a doubt at the moment, but a player that, if fit, is capable of moments of magic as Everton have found out in the past. The lad is world class, simple as that. Failing that, there’s Callum Wilson who while he’s struggling for form a little at the moment is always capable of that moment of brilliance that’s always needed from a top striker.

Without a doubt, our crowd has a part to play on Sunday. And again, we’ve done it before on countless occasions. Without banging on about the noise, the effects of yet another incredible Wor Flags display and all the rest, I would just echo what’s already been said on Magpie 24/7 and various other places on social media – make it a bear pit, a horrible seething mass of black and white, backing the lads to the hilt and letting the opposition know that this is St. James’ Park, where next season we’ll be hosting Champions League games.

I’ve heard that Everton will be ‘on the beach’ but I don’t agree. Needless to say, Pickford will be having sleepless nights at the prospect of spoiling the day, but I think whatever eleven they put out will be out there to spoil things and gain at least a point. We need to make sure that they have no say in matters and we’re perfectly capable of doing just that.

When asked about the game and the prospect of gaining another Champions League spot Eddie simply said- “You want it to be in your own hands”. Well, it is and I genuinely believe that we won’t let that slip.

NUFC – We can’t do right for doing wrong?

Newcastle United fans, eh? What are we like? With our bloody flags, our songs and our attempts to support our team and help them to win football matches. But that’s not all. What about the club and the team? Buying success, celebrating goals and wins and inventing ‘shithousery’ being the tip of the iceberg. Who do we think we are, eh?

Having supported Newcastle United for over 40 years, I can’t say that we’ve always been popular. The Keegan years aside when we were everyone’s second team, apparently, someone’s always had a problem with Newcastle United. Oddly enough, that problem has grown exponentially over the last two years…I can’t think why.

Do I care what fans of other clubs think? No, of course not. I’m very much with Eddie Howe on this one; we’re not here to be popular, we’re here to compete.

That said, I do find the amount of complaints about us and the amount of moaning from other fans, really, really funny. So, I thought I’d go through a few things that spring to mind, especially as the attention on us seems to have ramped up significantly this season.

Eddie Howe is the master protagonist in all of this. As soon as he joined the club in November 2021, he set about winding up fans of other clubs. And how did he do it? The Lap of Appreciation. Win, lose or draw, our team and staff would stay on the pitch and walk round clapping. Clapping! I mean, straight away you can see how that would irk fans of other clubs. Who does he think he is getting 30 odd men and women to amble round a load of grass clapping at folk? God forbid, if I supported anyone else I’d be understandably livid at all that clapping!

The main problem here, according to fans of other clubs is that we haven’t won a trophy. So, of course we’re not allowed to celebrate anything, ever. In fact it’s possible that within a few months the Premier League will ask clubs to vote on whether clubs in black and white stripes can celebrate goals. Maybe, we can even expect a subsection about getting excited or something like that. That’s before we even get onto the crowd roaring at a tackle being made or a player enjoying the same, which has a seismic influence on the mood of other fans. More evidence of what a small club we are, apparently…

The point in all of this – and I truly hope we all got the sarcasm – is that it’s absolutely ridiculous and more than just a little bit pathetic. Two years of whingeing, moaning, bleating on and the crying of gallons of salty tears and all because what was once dubbed ‘a wee club in the north’ are challenging the status quo again. But the ridiculousness doesn’t stop there.

Probably most famously, Eddie then brought in the celebration photo. That’s right, a photo of people celebrating! So, when we win a match the whole squad, staff and even injured players have a photo in the dressing room. Personally, I love it. It’s a brilliant illustration of the spirit and the togetherness in the squad and coming after watching teams with fractured dressing rooms and very little spirit for years and years, it’s a welcome addition to the way we do things.

Other fans loathe that photo, which is hilarious! When we’ve won, social media is just a wonderful illustration of how much we’ve upset what some fans see as being the natural order of things. And of course, it was even funnier when Jason Tindall organised the squad and staff into formation in front of the away fans at the end of our derby win at the Stadium of Shite recently. The irony of being told that we showed a lack of respect is amazing, given the neanderthal taunts of the opposition over the years!

The re-birth of Wor Flags was something else that got on the nerves of non Mags. While it only requires possession of a pair of functioning eyes to admire the sheer brilliance of some of the displays, apparently if you don’t support Newcastle, they’re anything from ‘pathetic’ to ’embarrassing’. Not as embarrassing as the 17 grand Tunnocks appreciation display that we were subjected to at the weekend, mind. But again, we’re in the wrong for supporting our team, especially if you believe the old opposition fan favourite that it’s all funded by the Saudis anyway, which is obviously bollocks. But why let the truth get in the way of your salty tears and another ridiculous conspiracy theory?

As well as that we’ve also invented something called ‘shithousery’. Previously known as ‘game management’ when certain other clubs did it, it’s been rebranded seemingly because we did it better. Fans of Premier League clubs have been up in arms in stadiums, online and on radio talk ins about how we’re ruining the game with our two balls on the pitch shenanigans and conveniently faked injuries. And the mention of Jason Tindall is like a red rag to a bull!

It’s been amusing to watch the sheer amount of people tearing their hair out over the last couple of years and it’s particularly hilarious to watch the complaints from the so called ‘Big 6’. They really don’t like any attempt to level the playing field, do they?

One of the funniest things I’ve read from opposition fans though, is the one about 5.30 kick offs on a Saturday night. If you haven’t heard it, you’ll love it. The conspiracy theory goes that we get given this kick off time ‘every week’ meaning that we’re on TV. And of course, the reason for that is because it’s prime time in Saudi Arabia, meaning that our legions of fans out there and more appropriately, our ownership can watch the games. This is of course because our owners are bribing Sky…

The mind boggles! No thought to the fact that it actually puts our travelling support out, just a blind belief that kicking off at 5.30 on a Saturday somehow gives us an ill gotten advantage. Once again, it’s good to see we’re at the forefront of so many people’s minds, even if literally none of it makes any sense whatsoever. God forbid that our fans sing and cheers the lads on at those games. And Heaven help anyone who brings a bloody flag!

And then we had the sheer temerity to qualify for a place in the Champions League. Again, there was outrage. The Champions League, it seems was a closed shop where only the clubs who wanted to leave it and the Premier League to form their own EuroMegaSuperDoopa league were allowed to play and make money from. A strange logic, but one that we should have accepted, apparently. Thus, the fume was very much real when poor old Liverpool could only finish in 5th and super club Spurs only just made the top 10.

And so, when the Champions League draw was made and we ended up in our ‘Group of Death’ it must’ve felt like Christmas morning in certain parts of the country! The come down after we hammered PSG on the second matchday would have really, really hurt though! Apparently, us being in the competition was futile and our place would have been much better filled by a ‘big club’. Well, it’s hard to see how any of those ‘big clubs’ other than Man City would have coped a great deal better in the group we’ve got. And the fact that we were still in with a chance of qualifying for the next stage of the competition until the last seconds of the group stage is huge and it’s the kind of thing that would have been eating away at fans of certain clubs. It’s been borne out by the reaction to us going out of the competition. It’s funny how we matter so much!

The last moan, and one of the funniest, is the one that seems to suggest that we’ve found a way to influence the PGMOL and VAR officials. It’s an idea that’s been floated more or less every time we’ve got a decision, but the home game against Arsenal caused a little bit of a stir to say the least. I won’t go too far into it, but our winning goal was checked, checked and checked again and still ruled legitimate. They even reviewed the whole thing independently a couple of days later and it was still a goal.

None of this stopped the crying though, with yet more allegations about our owners having some mysterious influence over officials. Mikel Arteta also went into meltdown not once but twice which was pretty hysterical. I must admit, this didn’t really bother me. I could kind of see the point. If that goal had been given against us, I’d have questioned it as well. I wouldn’t have blamed Arsenal’s ownership or fans though. Sadly, they’re probably still banging on about it even as I type.

So what happened next – 4 weeks on from that game and goal – was pretty funny, really. And predictable, I suppose. When we were on the the wrong end of a VAR shocker with the PSG penalty there was more vitriol, desperation and petty jealousy. The word that seemed to be most prevalent on social media was karma. Now karma is a concept I have a bit of belief in, as it goes. But the next morning, when the assistant VAR who recommended that the ref go to the screen was stood down from his next game and then UEFA clarified and updated the handball rule, it was just obvious that it had been a shocking decision against us. Less karma, more drama it seemed.

It’s been a funny old couple of years as a Toon fan. No one likes us, but as the song goes, we don’t care. This was always going to be the way. Having been bought by an organisation worth hundreds of billions, the green eyed monster was bound to surface at some point. It was probably just a bit quicker than any of us might have expected and definitely from lots of unexpected fanbases. I mean, Crystal Palace? Who knew they were such human rights activists? And let’s not get started on our friends down the road and their sudden penchant for shouting about blood on people’s hands.

For such a ‘small club’, we’ve come a long way in a very short space of time, eh?

Group of Death or Just Another Reason to be Cheerful?

It was inevitable wasn’t it? If anyone was going to be drawn in anything that might lend itself to being labelled the group ‘The Group of Death’, it was Newcastle United. Throw in the fact that Sandro Tonali is granted a swift return to his boyhood club and this one can rightfully take its place on the ever increasing list of ‘most Newcastle United things ever’.

Obviously, there’s been a huge amount of attention on us since the draw. The media seems split; some rubbing their hands with glee at the prospect of us getting dumped out of the competition early, while others have spoken up and declared that we’ll qualify from the group.

It’s been pretty one-sided where opposition fans are concerned. That loathing that the likes of Sunderland, Manchester United, Liverpool and others have has been well and truly fed and their fans are everywhere with their crying laughing emojis, salivating at the prospect of our impending Euro-downfall. Strange really, but there you go.

But should we be going along with the ‘Group of Death’ narrative and fearing our Champions League campaign? Or should we just be lapping it up?

I’ll be honest, when I watched the draw, I was reduced to a kind of well rehearsed sigh when we were placed in Group F alongside AC Milan, PSG and Borussia Dortmund. It made me laugh because it was so predictable. In a way, we all kind of knew that we’d end up in this sort of group.

Group F is undoubtedly a tough one. But is it tough in terms of being a group we’ll struggle to get a point out of? Or is it just a challenge? We’re in against three European giants, that’s for sure. Two of our group are previous Champions League winners, Dortmund with one and AC with 3 as well as 4 European Cups. All have made it to a semi final in the last 4 years. And AC Milan have had 13 Champions League campaigns since ’02/03, having gone past the group stages in all but one of those. Meanwhile, PSG have made it to at least the last 16 every year since the ’12/13 season and were runners up in the 2019/20 season.

Then you can add in just some of the names that our lads will come up against. Reus, Adeyemi, Sule and Schlotterbeck at Dortmund, Leao, Musah and Giroud at Milan and then just the likes of Donnarumma, Hakimi, Muani and Mbappe at PSG! But don’t forget players like Botman, Bruno, Joelinton, Tonali, Isak and Wilson who’ll all be desperate to pit themselves against such illustrious opposition.

There can be no doubt that we’re in illustrious company! It would be nice to put our record over the last 10 or so years up in contrast, but it makes the stats above even scarier reading!

However, maybe we should look to Eddie Howe in all of this. When we were putting several noses out of joint last season Eddie famously said the following; “We’re not here to be popular and to get other teams to like us. We’re here to compete.” What better time to remember that mantra?

We can either fear this campaign or relish it. I mentioned some of our ‘star’ players earlier and it can’t be denied that we’ve got some squad of players! So, even as a naturally pessimistic football fan, I choose to relish our Champions League campaign. It excites me to see Newcastle United mixing it with the best like this and I can’t wait for it to start.

It can be viewed as a bit of a free hit, where everyone else is expecting us to fail and indeed hoping for it as they follow the recent trend of Geordie hate, simultaneously denying rivalry or even interest, while rabidly informing various social media formats of their hatred for this small club. So what better way to get even further up the noses of those often misinformed idiots than going to places like the San Siro and the Parc des Princes and having a right old go.

However, the free hit theory could also be viewed as a bit of an insult to what Eddie Howe and his team have built over the past 2 years. While we might not have started quite as well as we would have liked this year, we still have one hell of a team. And then thinking back to last year, there were so many games where we just battered teams. We mixed it with the best that our league had to offer and finished up with a Cup Final appearance and a Champions League spot. And if we’d converted one or two of those draws into wins, we’d have been top 3! Make no mistake about it, Newcastle United can get out of this group, however ‘deathly’ it might be viewed. It’s no good doubting ourselves!

It’s a well known fact that we’ve waited two decades for some more Champions League action and while there have been some UEFA Cup games in between, life at the very top level has been sorely missed. Even the Intertoto Cup win in 2006 and Scott Parker’s clear delight at lifting the ‘trophy’ couldn’t really satisfy the thirst for success! (That’s sarcasm by the way, for anyone who missed it).

Whether it’s a difficult group or not, this is an opportunity not to be missed for several reasons. For starters, it puts us firmly in the spotlight. A harsh spotlight, but something of an opportunity all the same. Kieran Trippier talks of pressure as a privilege; well we’ve got loads of that privilege coming our way now and it has to be viewed as an opportunity to let the rest of Europe and to some extent the world, know what Newcastle United is all about.

Being in the spotlight opens up much needed revenue streams too. It’s the kind of money that will help us to keep moving forward and you can bet your life that those in charge will be working hard to maximise the potential that’s on offer.

Let’s not forget also that their are players watching too. So, when we approach top European talent in the future we can point to this campaign – and hopefully more – as a reason to join the club. We can show anyone watching the passion of European nights under the lights at St. James’ Park and you’d hope that there can’t be many players who wouldn’t fancy sampling the kind of atmosphere that we’ll create.

And then there’s us, the fans. I still vividly remember watching Andy Griffin conquer Juventus in 2002, Bellamy scoring at the death against Feyenoord, Shola in the Nou Camp and of course Tino. Now, we get to do it all again, heading to some of the finest cities and stadiums in world football. Dortmund with Signal Iduna Park, 81,000 fans and the famed Yellow Wall, the Parc des Princes in Paris and the famous San Siro where we once took over 10,000 fans on a night when we probably should have beaten Inter as well.

So, yes, the Group of Death represents a scary prospect. But if our players aren’t excited by these games, then you’d have to ask why not. I fully expect them to be completely up for the challenges ahead. And if we thought we’d get an easy ride in the biggest club tournament in the world, then we were kidding ourselves.

At times, you’ll be on the edge of your seat, both physically and metaphorically. At others you might be utterly euphoric and there’ll be moments where you might well be watching it through your fingers or chewing your nails down to your elbow. However you watch it and whatever you expect from the Group of Death, let’s just enjoy it!

Howay The Lads!

NUFC: We only went and did it!

The morning after the night before was never going to be the time to write this blog. No doubt we were all fizzing with much the same excitement and glow of happiness as we head towards the end of one of the most successful seasons in the clubs recent history. I sat down to write, but what came out was nonsense, so I left it and tried to sleep instead. I couldn’t do that either!

After years and years of heartache and underachievement, we can finally lay claim to some whiff of tangible success. Still no silverware, but a lot of other things to grab on to. Where before hope was confined to being all about survival, now it’s taken a very different direction. And while I think it’s in the DNA of any Newcastle fan, any football fan in actual fact to allow themselves to dream, now we can begin to dream a lot bigger than before.

It’s fair to say that the ‘evolution not revolution’ plan for NUFC is ahead of schedule. If you’d asked at the start of the season about what we – fans, players, management and owners – wanted out of the season, I think the consensus of opinion would have just been somewhere in the top 10. Top 4 felt like a leap too far, given some of the other clubs that we’d have expected to challenge for those spots.

Monday night changed all that though. An unusually nerve-wracking 100 minutes or so of football saw us grab the point we needed to qualify for the Champions League next year and prompted huge celebrations for Mags everywhere.

I think the highlight for me was seeing Jacob Murphy’s interview. His reaction was part fan, part player and part child who’s wanted a puppy for years and has finally had one revealed to them in the living room when they’ve got back from school. And that’s not me being cruel. I thought it was lovely to see the sense of wonder written all over his face. The lad was just blown away by what we’ve achieved and I guess by the possibilities that it brings.

As fans, we share that sense of wonder. There’s something brilliantly special about European football and those nights under the lights, especially at St. James’ Park. I still remember the Champions League campaign of 02/03. The Juventus game sticks out in my mind, even though I was at all of our home games. The atmosphere was electric as we’d lost our first 3 group games and needed to win this one to stay alive in the competition. We won and I believe I’m right in saying, would go on to be the first side to qualify from the group stage having lost their first three games.

I was in my seat in the Leazes, but alongside total strangers. It turned out there were three Italians sat next to me and I wondered if they were Juve fans. When Andy Griffin scored our winner it became very clear that they weren’t!

It’s been amusing to see the reactions of fans of other clubs. Many seem to be questioning our value to the competition, but rather than doing that, perhaps they should just be questioning why their own illustrious clubs didn’t make it.

I think we’ll hold our own. We’ll undoubtedly add to the squad before then, but we’ll still have the coaching and tactical brilliance of Eddie Howe and his staff on our side too. During the Ashley years, playing in the Champions’ League again was nothing more than a pipedream. Well, now we’ve got it, there’s no point in half measures. I want to see us tested against the best that our continent has to offer. Not only that though, I have faith in our management and players.

Of course there are questions marks over various aspects of the squad and even the management. Let’s not forget that many of our squad and staff will be entering unknown territory at this level of European football. But, let’s see this as a challenge, an adventure, rather than something to fear.

I couldn’t think about the Champions’ League without thinking of the music. Zadok the Priest they call it and it’s one of those pieces of music that makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up. King Charles even chose it for his coronation and I’d like to think he’d have it as his walk on music if he ever turned those massive fingers to darts.*

Now we all know the tune, but how many of us know the lyrics? Not many I’m guessing. So, I looked them up as part of writing this and it turns out that they’re much more relevant than you’d have first imagined. To cut a long story short, it’s all about being joyful and happy. One line in particular stands out – “and all the people rejoiced, rejoiced, rejoiced”. It’s not exactly the genius of Lennon and McCartney or Morrisey and Marr, but it made me thnik again about those scenes at full time on Monday night. But, perhaps we ought to think about that line in terms of next season too. We’ve dreamed of having hope for such a long time. Now, we have it. Rejoice, rejoice, rejoice.

Enjoy the Champions’ League, Toon fans!

  • Just so we’re clear, I do know the relevance of Zadok the Priest to a king and I also don’t expect King Charles to be having a go at darts any time soon. It was just a daft joke.