"United" fan trying to defend all the glory supporters they get

[Fop 1]

It's pretty hard to be a Glory Hunter and support Newcastle United, they are fairly mutually exclusive (a masochist, maybe).... well unless you started supporting in the 50's maybe.

[LeazesMag 0]

I've lived in one or two places where they don't have a football team, and so they have latched onto Manure, Liverpool, Arsenal since they were kids. They get their kids to do the same. Its pretty sad really, but some of these lads are real football fans, they just don't see anything wrong in "picking" their team as it were. You can't really do fuck all about it, but accept it.

 

The blokes like me who support our home town teams get respect for that, sure, but they still think they are genuine "united" fans or whatever.

 

I don't mind manure fans who come from Manchester, but have met one or two who are fuckin insufferable. Having said that they are still preferable to the glory seekers.

 

The use of the term "united" really gets on my tits though.

[LeazesMag 0]

Firstly he supports his local club Man Utd, no issue with that. The rest of his post what a fuckin load of bollocks. He basically goes on about barren periods in 1968 to 1993 that out of town supporters were attracted to the club. This barren period, included...4 FA Cups, 1 League Cup, a European Cup Winners Cup, numerous charity shields, 14 trips to Wembley and 10 top four finishes. Poor cunts eh????

 

At the end of the day people have so little in their lives they feel the need to be attached to a succesful entity. That's what I call a wank fan. I'd rather we won fuck all in my life than support anyone other than the club of my birth, my local team. There's no doubt broadly speaking Manchester United were a broadly speaking were a succesful club in their barren years, they were easy to support, the best supported team, the Munich history, the biggest spending club, the most famous name, so these cunts can't start on about barren years. Barren years is fucking watching successive home defeats to Charlton and Notts County, with a home humbling to Bristol Rovers just round the corner.

 

When we were good 94-98, everywhere you'd go you'd see kids in toon shirts, Scotland, London, Bristol, Wales etc... but one of the good things about being shit, is we got rid of a lot of these, and we're left with loyal out of towners. In not all cases but most they were probably attracted by the image of NUFC at the time, sleak, sexy, attractive, exhilirating, and that's what pisses me off. I've been there with my mates, some of whom have walked away from the corporate game since, in front of 10,004 v Oxford, 13,000 v Charlton 14,000 v Cambridge, with not an out of towner is sight. That's what pisses me off about the internet where the toon is concerned, when geeky non-entities from places like Leeds, Lincoln, Hertfordshire, Southampton and Birmingham, can tell me I'm banned from posting on my home clubs websites. It's something that you wouldn't have been able to make up back in 1991.

 

So glory hunters are cunts, but a lot of our out of towners have seen enough shit lately to command some respect, the bad thing is if we're ever good again, they'll be branded glory hunters too, while other people from their areas jump on our bandwagon again.

 

Oh and fuck Man Utd.

 

names Stevie lad

[Guest Stevie]

Firstly he supports his local club Man Utd, no issue with that. The rest of his post what a fuckin load of bollocks. He basically goes on about barren periods in 1968 to 1993 that out of town supporters were attracted to the club. This barren period, included...4 FA Cups, 1 League Cup, a European Cup Winners Cup, numerous charity shields, 14 trips to Wembley and 10 top four finishes. Poor cunts eh????

 

At the end of the day people have so little in their lives they feel the need to be attached to a succesful entity. That's what I call a wank fan. I'd rather we won fuck all in my life than support anyone other than the club of my birth, my local team. There's no doubt broadly speaking Manchester United were a broadly speaking were a succesful club in their barren years, they were easy to support, the best supported team, the Munich history, the biggest spending club, the most famous name, so these cunts can't start on about barren years. Barren years is fucking watching successive home defeats to Charlton and Notts County, with a home humbling to Bristol Rovers just round the corner.

 

When we were good 94-98, everywhere you'd go you'd see kids in toon shirts, Scotland, London, Bristol, Wales etc... but one of the good things about being shit, is we got rid of a lot of these, and we're left with loyal out of towners. In not all cases but most they were probably attracted by the image of NUFC at the time, sleak, sexy, attractive, exhilirating, and that's what pisses me off. I've been there with my mates, some of whom have walked away from the corporate game since, in front of 10,004 v Oxford, 13,000 v Charlton 14,000 v Cambridge, with not an out of towner is sight. That's what pisses me off about the internet where the toon is concerned, when geeky non-entities from places like Leeds, Lincoln, Hertfordshire, Southampton and Birmingham, can tell me I'm banned from posting on my home clubs websites. It's something that you wouldn't have been able to make up back in 1991.

 

So glory hunters are cunts, but a lot of our out of towners have seen enough shit lately to command some respect, the bad thing is if we're ever good again, they'll be branded glory hunters too, while other people from their areas jump on our bandwagon again.

 

Oh and fuck Man Utd.

 

names Stevie lad

There's different ones.

[LeazesMag 0]

Got to admit I've got a shite memory, especially for dates and stuff like that. So when people are questioning my commitment to Newcastle and ask me who played right back in 87 I've got no fucking idea, or even who won the World Cup in 97.

 

Don't think this makes me less of a fan, it's my disability

I'm the complete opposite, sad as it is.

 

All the major milestones in my life, first wank, first shag, first game, GCSE'S, jobs, my nana dying, other people dying, being beaten up, first legal pint, first e - everything sad as it is, I can remember what time it was by football around it. We beat Swindon 3-1, and I missed the game cos my nana died on the morning, and Keegan walked out after the game, it was March 14th 1992 I think. I started one job the morning after a 0-0 draw at Leicester when Shearer kicked Lennon in the face, didn't get in till 230am, had to start first day at 830. You could say it's sad but it's how my mind defines time.

 

I used to be like that when I was a kid. We used to watch the end of season video and my old man would go 'I don't remember that goal' etc and I'd rip the piss out of him.

 

Alas, I have become my old man.

 

To be honest I can remember things 1985-1998 a lot clearer than 1998 to now.

 

its an age thing, take my word for it

[FCUM 1]

I've lived in one or two places where they don't have a football team, and so they have latched onto Manure, Liverpool, Arsenal since they were kids. They get their kids to do the same. Its pretty sad really, but some of these lads are real football fans, they just don't see anything wrong in "picking" their team as it were. You can't really do fuck all about it, but accept it.

 

The blokes like me who support our home town teams get respect for that, sure, but they still think they are genuine "united" fans or whatever.

 

LM,

 

If they are going to games then to me they are 'genuine' fans, irrespective of where they come from. No matter what I think of somebody from Surrey adopting Man Utd as their 'team', if they are spending their hard earned following that team then I'd have to class them as a 'genuine' supporter whatever their motives. Give me the 'cockney red' who follows them home and away over the Manc that can be seen walking round the Arndale centre in his replica shirt during a game any day of the week.

 

It takes a lot of time and cash for these OOT supporters to follow their team and I respect them for that, I just wish certain clubs would do more to help their local 'grass roots' support.

 

At Man Utd you need to apply for your tickets online with a credit card. How many 16 year olds have their own credit card, which means they are relying on parents having to do it for them (that's assuming their parents in the arse end of Salford actually have their own credit card )

 

I see nothing wrong with clubs still allowing kids to 'walk up' and buy their tickets with the proceeds from the paper round (or dope running!). Unfortunately clubs like Man Utd are not remotely interested in doing that, they've got nowt to spend in the shop when they get there

[LeazesMag 0]

I've lived in one or two places where they don't have a football team, and so they have latched onto Manure, Liverpool, Arsenal since they were kids. They get their kids to do the same. Its pretty sad really, but some of these lads are real football fans, they just don't see anything wrong in "picking" their team as it were. You can't really do fuck all about it, but accept it.

 

The blokes like me who support our home town teams get respect for that, sure, but they still think they are genuine "united" fans or whatever.

 

LM,

 

If they are going to games then to me they are 'genuine' fans, irrespective of where they come from. No matter what I think of somebody from Surrey adopting Man Utd as their 'team', if they are spending their hard earned following that team then I'd have to class them as a 'genuine' supporter whatever their motives. Give me the 'cockney red' who follows them home and away over the Manc that can be seen walking round the Arndale centre in his replica shirt during a game any day of the week.

 

It takes a lot of time and cash for these OOT supporters to follow their team and I respect them for that, I just wish certain clubs would do more to help their local 'grass roots' support.

 

At Man Utd you need to apply for your tickets online with a credit card. How many 16 year olds have their own credit card, which means they are relying on parents having to do it for them (that's assuming their parents in the arse end of Salford actually have their own credit card )

 

I see nothing wrong with clubs still allowing kids to 'walk up' and buy their tickets with the proceeds from the paper round (or dope running!). Unfortunately clubs like Man Utd are not remotely interested in doing that, they've got nowt to spend in the shop when they get there

 

I take the point, but I don't just mean the ones that go to games, a lot of them don't, probably the majority, and they still think they are "proper united fans". Maybe some of them don't have the money, fair enough of course, but they behave like real "united fans" [not just Manu here either, but also Liverpool and Arsenal].

 

Another point is that a fair percentage of them whinge on about the local side being shite/struggling etc, and the gates they get. Particularly lost on them is the fact that if they themselves actually supported the local side they are harping on about, they would themselves have a better one to call their own.

 

You can't win with them really.

[Sima 0]

Honestly don't understand why people get wound up by Man Utd fans (Particularly those in Manchester) referring to Man Utd as United. Probably borne out of shortening the name to either United or City when they were growing up in Manchester.

 

Cringing at a bloke in his 50s referring to them as Manure as well

[LeazesMag 0]

Honestly don't understand why people get wound up by Man Utd fans (Particularly those in Manchester) referring to Man Utd as United. Probably borne out of shortening the name to either United or City when they were growing up in Manchester.

 

Cringing at a bloke in his 50s referring to them as Manure as well

 

I cringe that you expect me to behave like I'm 150.

 

You must still be in your short pants I take it ?

 

Edit. We are aware that growing up in Manchester, the locals call their 2 teams "united" and "city". Its hardly rocket science. What we cringe at is the acceptance and use of it by the national media, even some pundits including our own Alan Shearer who I'm sure I've heard say it at least once.

Edited August 19, 2008 by LeazesMag

[Sima 0]

Honestly don't understand why people get wound up by Man Utd fans (Particularly those in Manchester) referring to Man Utd as United. Probably borne out of shortening the name to either United or City when they were growing up in Manchester.

 

Cringing at a bloke in his 50s referring to them as Manure as well

 

I cringe that you expect me to behave like I'm 150.

 

You must still be in your short pants I take it ?

 

Honestly don't expect someone 16 nevermind in his 50s to use the the term Manure tbh.

 

You probably use Chelski as well, lulz

[LeazesMag 0]

Honestly don't understand why people get wound up by Man Utd fans (Particularly those in Manchester) referring to Man Utd as United. Probably borne out of shortening the name to either United or City when they were growing up in Manchester.

 

Cringing at a bloke in his 50s referring to them as Manure as well

 

I cringe that you expect me to behave like I'm 150.

 

You must still be in your short pants I take it ?

 

Honestly don't expect someone 16 nevermind in his 50s to use the the term Manure tbh.

 

You probably use Chelski as well, lulz

 

you'll have to explain "lulz".

 

In fact, don't bother.

 

Contrary to what appears to be your feeling, hitting the age of 50 doesn't mean you are ready to sit in front of the TV in a rocking chair, smoking a pipe, racing pigeons and spending your life gardening. Some of us still like to go to the pub, get pissed, go to the match, swear, look at women and other things.

 

I realised when I was about 20 that life didn't end at 40.

 

Get down to the pub with your dad one day.

[NJS 4411]

The only place I don't mind them using "united" in that arrogant, one team on the planet way is in Manchester itself.

 

I always quite liked Martin Tyler but he did something in April which means that's no longer true and resulted in me having a sly smile when Wycombe who he supports failed in the play-offs.

 

When Man U played Chelsea it was when all that crap about Lampard's Mam was going on and he referred to it by saying how all the chelsea players were standing along side him - he then said "Chelsea - united against THE united". Boiled my piss is an understatement.

 

My boss in an Irish scouser who always refers to them as United - I always just ask if he means Rotherham (who were the first).

[Fop 1]

Honestly don't understand why people get wound up by Man Utd fans (Particularly those in Manchester) referring to Man Utd as United. Probably borne out of shortening the name to either United or City when they were growing up in Manchester.

 

Cringing at a bloke in his 50s referring to them as Manure as well

 

Being a ManUre fan, you'd know.

[Kid Dynamite 7169]

Honestly don't understand why people get wound up by Man Utd fans (Particularly those in Manchester) referring to Man Utd as United. Probably borne out of shortening the name to either United or City when they were growing up in Manchester.

 

Cringing at a bloke in his 50s referring to them as Manure as well

 

I cringe that you expect me to behave like I'm 150.

 

You must still be in your short pants I take it ?

 

Honestly don't expect someone 16 nevermind in his 50s to use the the term Manure tbh.

 

You probably use Chelski as well, lulz

 

[ewerk 31195]

Where I'm from I'm surrounded by Man U fans, which in itself isn't really something to hold against them but it's their complete arrogance that gets me. Most of them haven't even been to OT yet act like soopa-fans, after the game on Sunday I couldn't find one of them who would give us any credit for our performance, all they went on about were injuries and how bad they were. Given that there aren't any decent teams where I'm from I had to pick an English team growing up but one thing I knew was that I didn't want to support them, even at that age I was aware that there was a difference in really being able to celebrate genuine success and expecting constant success.

[OTF 7485]

As an Aussie I suppose I had the luxury of choosing any team to support. I made the conscious decision to start following Newcastle United in the mid 90s. I made this decision for a few reasons. I flat out didn't want to support Manchester United. As an Australian there seems to be a bit of a support the underdog mentality; so there was no way I was going to jump on supporting the most popular and the most successful team at that time. Besides that, I knew a few people who 'supported' Manchester United (one of whom I have since learnt supported them as a result of her father being a big supporter, which is fair cop) and so didn't want to just become a part of that. Newcastle is a nearby city to Sydney (where I live) and that also played into my considerations. I also liked the black and white strip.

 

My support through the mid 90s and into the early 00s was pretty casual (comapred to now). I followed the results, but being in Australia didn't really get to watch a lot of football. When I played a Football video game, I always chose Newcastle, or if asked I always identified myself as a Newcastle United supporter. Starting from the early 00s through to now my interest in the clubs and my fanatasicm has constantly been rising. I've never been to St James' though it's one of my ambitions that I hope to fill in the next few years (being from Australia I don't think that makes me any less of a supporter). I'm not trying to give credibility to myself here (or perhaps I am ) but I now have about 10 Newcastle shirts, a couple of scarfs, a beanie, a flag, a couple of keyrings, some stickers on my car, a calendar on my desk and other random paraphanalia. I went out of my way to see Alan Shearer when he was in Australia a few years back, and consequently have a signed shirt and signed figurine. I'm involved in the Australian Newcastle United supporters group (Aussiemags.net) and have met up with quite a few members to watch matches (they're usually on at midnight or later over here). Last season I watched every single Newcastle United league match, and all of their FA Cup matches (excluding the replay win which wasn't shown over here) regardless of the time that they were shown. This season I signed up to Setanta just to see the Mallorca Cup pre-season matches (what a dud decision that turned out to be! - they also have exclusive FA Cup rights here, so that did figure into my reckoning). I'm spreading the Newcastle United word down under.

 

Being not only an out-of-towner, but also an out-of-countryman I guess gives some credibility to my supporter status. When it comes to local competitions (Rugby League, Australia Soccer/Football basketball etc) I'm a firm believer in supporting your local team. When people don't (and don't have legitimate reasons) I give them a bit of casual stick.

 

I'm working on a geordie accent*.

 

* - Not really.

[koolert 0]

Who fucking cares where a supporter comes from? I'm a Norwegian Newcastle supporter, I have no relation to Newcastle from family or anything for that matter, but I've supported them my entire "adult" life. Most of you would probably say I'm one of those Keegan-bandwagon supporters who only support the team because of one little era. Maybe that's the reason I did start supporting the club, but I've not become less of a fan during these horrid years with turds like Souness and the likes at the helm.

 

Having fans abroad isn't a bad thing, I remember going to the Lillestrøm match in Norway, most of you traveling fans we're amazed at the support you had and were genuinely pleased with it.

 

Please dont call me a 'foreign cunt'

[DannyBoyFromOz 0]

As an Aussie I suppose I had the luxury of choosing any team to support. I made the conscious decision to start following Newcastle United in the mid 90s. I made this decision for a few reasons. I flat out didn't want to support Manchester United. As an Australian there seems to be a bit of a support the underdog mentality; so there was no way I was going to jump on supporting the most popular and the most successful team at that time. Besides that, I knew a few people who 'supported' Manchester United (one of whom I have since learnt supported them as a result of her father being a big supporter, which is fair cop) and so didn't want to just become a part of that. Newcastle is a nearby city to Sydney (where I live) and that also played into my considerations. I also liked the black and white strip.

 

My support through the mid 90s and into the early 00s was pretty casual (comapred to now). I followed the results, but being in Australia didn't really get to watch a lot of football. When I played a Football video game, I always chose Newcastle, or if asked I always identified myself as a Newcastle United supporter. Starting from the early 00s through to now my interest in the clubs and my fanatasicm has constantly been rising. I've never been to St James' though it's one of my ambitions that I hope to fill in the next few years (being from Australia I don't think that makes me any less of a supporter). I'm not trying to give credibility to myself here (or perhaps I am ) but I now have about 10 Newcastle shirts, a couple of scarfs, a beanie, a flag, a couple of keyrings, some stickers on my car, a calendar on my desk and other random paraphanalia. I went out of my way to see Alan Shearer when he was in Australia a few years back, and consequently have a signed shirt and signed figurine. I'm involved in the Australian Newcastle United supporters group (Aussiemags.net) and have met up with quite a few members to watch matches (they're usually on at midnight or later over here). Last season I watched every single Newcastle United league match, and all of their FA Cup matches (excluding the replay win which wasn't shown over here) regardless of the time that they were shown. This season I signed up to Setanta just to see the Mallorca Cup pre-season matches (what a dud decision that turned out to be! - they also have exclusive FA Cup rights here, so that did figure into my reckoning). I'm spreading the Newcastle United word down under.

 

Being not only an out-of-towner, but also an out-of-countryman I guess gives some credibility to my supporter status. When it comes to local competitions (Rugby League, Australia Soccer/Football basketball etc) I'm a firm believer in supporting your local team. When people don't (and don't have legitimate reasons) I give them a bit of casual stick.

 

I'm working on a geordie accent*.

 

* - Not really.

 

Im in a similar situation to OzToonFan. Being Australian I could've chosen any team to support I wanted to, Dad's a West Ham supporter has been since the 60s, no idea why I initially chose to support Newcastle but have done since a very young age. Like OTF i've got quite a lot of toon paraphernalia, and I finally got to SJP for our win against Spurs last year which was a lifeling dream. I don't know what the harm is in out-of-towners supporting the club just because we can't look out our window in the morning and see Grey's Monument.

 

Footballs not been a very popular sport in Australia except for the migrant population (which the country is basically built from) and a few skips. You can tell who generally has no clue about football here because they either support Man U, Chelsea, Arsenal or the Scousers, and they probably couldnt tell you half the players in the squad. None of them however are as bad as anyone you see getting around in a LA Galaxy shirt with Beckham on the back

[Guest Stevie]

As an Aussie I suppose I had the luxury of choosing any team to support. I made the conscious decision to start following Newcastle United in the mid 90s. I made this decision for a few reasons. I flat out didn't want to support Manchester United. As an Australian there seems to be a bit of a support the underdog mentality; so there was no way I was going to jump on supporting the most popular and the most successful team at that time. Besides that, I knew a few people who 'supported' Manchester United (one of whom I have since learnt supported them as a result of her father being a big supporter, which is fair cop) and so didn't want to just become a part of that. Newcastle is a nearby city to Sydney (where I live) and that also played into my considerations. I also liked the black and white strip.

 

My support through the mid 90s and into the early 00s was pretty casual (comapred to now). I followed the results, but being in Australia didn't really get to watch a lot of football. When I played a Football video game, I always chose Newcastle, or if asked I always identified myself as a Newcastle United supporter. Starting from the early 00s through to now my interest in the clubs and my fanatasicm has constantly been rising. I've never been to St James' though it's one of my ambitions that I hope to fill in the next few years (being from Australia I don't think that makes me any less of a supporter). I'm not trying to give credibility to myself here (or perhaps I am ) but I now have about 10 Newcastle shirts, a couple of scarfs, a beanie, a flag, a couple of keyrings, some stickers on my car, a calendar on my desk and other random paraphanalia. I went out of my way to see Alan Shearer when he was in Australia a few years back, and consequently have a signed shirt and signed figurine. I'm involved in the Australian Newcastle United supporters group (Aussiemags.net) and have met up with quite a few members to watch matches (they're usually on at midnight or later over here). Last season I watched every single Newcastle United league match, and all of their FA Cup matches (excluding the replay win which wasn't shown over here) regardless of the time that they were shown. This season I signed up to Setanta just to see the Mallorca Cup pre-season matches (what a dud decision that turned out to be! - they also have exclusive FA Cup rights here, so that did figure into my reckoning). I'm spreading the Newcastle United word down under.

 

Being not only an out-of-towner, but also an out-of-countryman I guess gives some credibility to my supporter status. When it comes to local competitions (Rugby League, Australia Soccer/Football basketball etc) I'm a firm believer in supporting your local team. When people don't (and don't have legitimate reasons) I give them a bit of casual stick.

 

I'm working on a geordie accent*.

 

* - Not really.

 

Im in a similar situation to OzToonFan. Being Australian I could've chosen any team to support I wanted to, Dad's a West Ham supporter has been since the 60s, no idea why I initially chose to support Newcastle but have done since a very young age. Like OTF i've got quite a lot of toon paraphernalia, and I finally got to SJP for our win against Spurs last year which was a lifeling dream. I don't know what the harm is in out-of-towners supporting the club just because we can't look out our window in the morning and see Grey's Monument.

 

Footballs not been a very popular sport in Australia except for the migrant population (which the country is basically built from) and a few skips. You can tell who generally has no clue about football here because they either support Man U, Chelsea, Arsenal or the Scousers, and they probably couldnt tell you half the players in the squad. None of them however are as bad as anyone you see getting around in a LA Galaxy shirt with Beckham on the back

What were your impressions of the ground, city, fans and game Danny? It would've been well dark at that time of the year.

[wykikitoon 20713]

What were your impressions of the ground, city, fans and game Danny? It would've been well dark at that time of the year.

 

Ahhhhh so if you live thousands of miles away youre ok, but anywhere else youre branded a cunt, I get it.

 

Damn parents deciding to move to Leeds

[Scottish Mag 3]

a lot of our out of towners have seen enough shit lately to command some respect

 

Unless of course they're from the south side of the Tyne, right?

Well that would only leave Jock toon fans other than geordies...

 

You've got to take your hats off to some of our OOT's who despite the long distances involved, they spend a lot of money following the club...the likes of Scottish Mag, Parky etc..

 

Soopafan!!!

 

[Guest Stevie]

What were your impressions of the ground, city, fans and game Danny? It would've been well dark at that time of the year.

 

Ahhhhh so if you live thousands of miles away youre ok, but anywhere else youre branded a cunt, I get it.

 

Damn parents deciding to move to Leeds

Well you have geordie blood, probably why you're a good looking kid. We all know the type I'm referring too. Still think Shearer plays for us, has quite a likening for Chelsea these days but will be back if we hit top 4.

[DannyBoyFromOz 0]

As an Aussie I suppose I had the luxury of choosing any team to support. I made the conscious decision to start following Newcastle United in the mid 90s. I made this decision for a few reasons. I flat out didn't want to support Manchester United. As an Australian there seems to be a bit of a support the underdog mentality; so there was no way I was going to jump on supporting the most popular and the most successful team at that time. Besides that, I knew a few people who 'supported' Manchester United (one of whom I have since learnt supported them as a result of her father being a big supporter, which is fair cop) and so didn't want to just become a part of that. Newcastle is a nearby city to Sydney (where I live) and that also played into my considerations. I also liked the black and white strip.

 

My support through the mid 90s and into the early 00s was pretty casual (comapred to now). I followed the results, but being in Australia didn't really get to watch a lot of football. When I played a Football video game, I always chose Newcastle, or if asked I always identified myself as a Newcastle United supporter. Starting from the early 00s through to now my interest in the clubs and my fanatasicm has constantly been rising. I've never been to St James' though it's one of my ambitions that I hope to fill in the next few years (being from Australia I don't think that makes me any less of a supporter). I'm not trying to give credibility to myself here (or perhaps I am ) but I now have about 10 Newcastle shirts, a couple of scarfs, a beanie, a flag, a couple of keyrings, some stickers on my car, a calendar on my desk and other random paraphanalia. I went out of my way to see Alan Shearer when he was in Australia a few years back, and consequently have a signed shirt and signed figurine. I'm involved in the Australian Newcastle United supporters group (Aussiemags.net) and have met up with quite a few members to watch matches (they're usually on at midnight or later over here). Last season I watched every single Newcastle United league match, and all of their FA Cup matches (excluding the replay win which wasn't shown over here) regardless of the time that they were shown. This season I signed up to Setanta just to see the Mallorca Cup pre-season matches (what a dud decision that turned out to be! - they also have exclusive FA Cup rights here, so that did figure into my reckoning). I'm spreading the Newcastle United word down under.

 

Being not only an out-of-towner, but also an out-of-countryman I guess gives some credibility to my supporter status. When it comes to local competitions (Rugby League, Australia Soccer/Football basketball etc) I'm a firm believer in supporting your local team. When people don't (and don't have legitimate reasons) I give them a bit of casual stick.

 

I'm working on a geordie accent*.

 

* - Not really.

 

Im in a similar situation to OzToonFan. Being Australian I could've chosen any team to support I wanted to, Dad's a West Ham supporter has been since the 60s, no idea why I initially chose to support Newcastle but have done since a very young age. Like OTF i've got quite a lot of toon paraphernalia, and I finally got to SJP for our win against Spurs last year which was a lifeling dream. I don't know what the harm is in out-of-towners supporting the club just because we can't look out our window in the morning and see Grey's Monument.

 

Footballs not been a very popular sport in Australia except for the migrant population (which the country is basically built from) and a few skips. You can tell who generally has no clue about football here because they either support Man U, Chelsea, Arsenal or the Scousers, and they probably couldnt tell you half the players in the squad. None of them however are as bad as anyone you see getting around in a LA Galaxy shirt with Beckham on the back

What were your impressions of the ground, city, fans and game Danny? It would've been well dark at that time of the year.

 

Absolutely loved it, thought the ground was fantastic, did the tourist thing and took the tour I think it was the next day and was impressed. Was still during the time of Fat Sam so they were still trying to spruik all the changes he'd been making whilst there, guide was a top bloke thought, had a yarn to him after the tour and you could tell his heart was really in the club. Can only really compare SJP to the stadiums ive been to here, the MCG in Melbourne seats about 100,000 and thats for cricket and Australian Rules, been to a few Australia intenrnationals there and theyve been pretty loud, and the other stadium seats about 55,000 and the local football (soccer) team plays there, been to both which have been near capacity but can't compare either with the atmosphere at SJP. We were in the Leazes End lvl 7 irc. Also been to Allianz Arean in Munich for a Bayern game but as good as that was i still think SJP beat it for atmosphere. It's a memory which will stick with me forever and i can't wait to get back again, which being a student might be a few years yet.

Newcastle itself I really liked as well, stayed at a backpackers on Grainger St which was convenient, dunno what it was about the city but just really enjoyed my time there, albeit it short. Probably being able to see everything you read about or see in pictures like the Tyne and Millenium Bridges, Eldon Square and SJP itself. Loved that SJP was so close to the city centre too.

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Im in a similar situation to OzToonFan. Being Australian I could've chosen any team to support I wanted to, Dad's a West Ham supporter has been since the 60s, no idea why I initially chose to support Newcastle but have done since a very young age. Like OTF i've got quite a lot of toon paraphernalia, and I finally got to SJP for our win against Spurs last year which was a lifeling dream. I don't know what the harm is in out-of-towners supporting the club just because we can't look out our window in the morning and see Grey's Monument.

 

Danny,

Don't take this the wrong way, I'm not knocking you personally but how would you have felt if you were a local Geordie who put a lot of effort into following the team and you couldn't get a ticket for the game against Spurs last season but yet a first time visitor from Oz was in the ground.

 

Yes, I know it's only one ticket and I don't know the situation at Newcastle and how easy it is to get tickets but believe me at a club like Man Utd it's a hundred times worse.

 

If you're a Man Utd supporter who makes every effort to attend every game, you apply for every single ticket in the ballot. Come the Liverpool game you miss out on a ticket so it's down to the black market. After trying to get the best price, 5 minutes before kick off you shell out your £300 to a tout and get into the ground only to be sitting next to a family of 5 from Kent making their first trip to Old Trafford for young Tristram's birthday present. That is (or was during my time) the reality for a lot of Man Utd supporters. It's galling and you're not going to welcome these people with open arms.

 

I can remember going to Chelsea away in my last year following Man Utd, it was a big game and tickets in the away section were like gold dust and a lot of regular away supporters missed out. When we got in the ground a whole row of our section had been allocated to a group of Japanese 'fans' on an organised trip to see their first ever game. Of course it's not their fault it's the club's for giving them tickets in the first place.

 

As I said at the beginning, this isn't to knock you in any way but to try to explain why there is so much animosity to CASUAL OOT supporters at some clubs.

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Honestly don't understand why people get wound up by Man Utd fans (Particularly those in Manchester) referring to Man Utd as United. Probably borne out of shortening the name to either United or City when they were growing up in Manchester.

 

Cringing at a bloke in his 50s referring to them as Manure as well

 

I don't, it's when the media do it that it gets on my tits.