Then I started looking back a bit further at what my life has been like supporting Newcastle United – all 29 (well, nearly 30!) years of it.
I can probably discount the first five years of my life as I was more interested in soiling nappies, dribbling, toddling, trains, cars and so on. All the stuff little boys generally do until they are of an age where they know what is going on.
So what have I witnessed in my life? Two promotions (I’ll discount a third one on the grounds that I was still in nappies at the time!) following two relegations, two 2nd placed Premier League finishes, two losing FA Cup final appearances, a victory in some pre-season Spanish tournament that meant we won a huge trophy, plus an Intertoto “cup” if you can call it that.
For that vast majority of my life we have been a mid-table team which is perhaps why little surprises me and I take the highs and lows as they come rather than expecting them. In fact if anything I expect slightly more lows than highs. Security mechanism? Pessimism? Maybe, but going by history (as people like to point out) I’ve not been far wrong.
It’s not all about results though as our club has made the headlines for all the wrong reasons in my lifetime. Only now are we starting to get some positive spin put on us, which is nice, but to me it’s only filling the gaps until the next scandal comes along.
How about owners and custodians? We’ve never had a great one looking back on things. Stan Seymour was alright I guess, Gordon McKeag wasn’t and is the worst, in my opinion, by a country mile. Sir John Hall gave us relative success but essentially was all about lining his own pockets, as was Freddy Shepherd, and I’m still yet to be convinced about Mike Ashley and wonder about him. Yes, we’ve not been blessed with great owners but then I guess a lot of other fans would say the same thing about their clubs. We can all do it better can’t we?
However despite all that, when those lads in black and white are playing a game of football I become mesmerised. I see people saying this players is rubbish and that player is awful, but if they give 100% that is all I can ever ask. Nothing else matters and all the rest of it, the fact that historically we are a middle of the road the team, the fact we’ve won nothing of note in my lifetime, the boardroom shenanigans, the headlines, positive and negative, don’t matter on a matchday.
There have been very few highs with regard to my life of supporting NUFC, which will probably continue and is probably why finishing 5th is viewed by me as success.
Would I change it for the world though? Never!!!
Good read Toonsy!!
Like you say being a toon supporter its like a rollercoaster. I’ve been toon crazy since 95, i was 9 and i wouldn’t change it for the world!!!
floydy(Quote)
Good read lad,
but at least Freddy and SJH gave us a team to challenge realistically 😛 Guess the only way we will judge MIKE is in hindsight. hofully near debt free in th EPL
HWTL
toonarmybill(Quote)
Toonsy great read , I am 42 and have supported Newcastle United from the time i stopped being a toddler and started kicking a football in the streets and parks of Ashington . Your right about the MD’s and Owners of the club , all were in it to line their pockets . Yes they were supporters of the club and wanted to win trophies but not one actually pushed the club into achieving the levels of success that the Toon Army crave . The current incumbent after a shocking start too his tenure is actually making a good go of things in terms of setting the club up for the next level . He is backing the youth set up and is looking to build the playing side and coaching side of things up from within . With John Carver , Steve stone and Peter Beardsley in the backroom staff the players we bring in from over the whole planet thanks too Carr ,will at least get a feeling of the Geordie passion for the club from daily contact with these guys . While we have had many ups and downs over the years and many false dawns i am begining too see Ashley as the best Owner we have had , the next 2-3- seasons will tell us of his real intentions but for possibly the first time as a Newcastle supporter i sense a club that is being run properly and on the verge of being top 6 for a sustained length of time . Then again it’s NUFC he might just sell us next week 😉
Axel(Quote)
We were a very average 2nd division club when I started going to Gallowgate, the difference then was there was absolutely no expectation, you just wanted the players to give 100%…..happy days.
I see the Toon might be playing a game in the States v Milan 😯
richietoon(Quote)
Good read by the wayToonsy, can’t believe you’re trying to pass for “nearly” 35 though, ya wouldn’t look out of place on Last of the Summer Wine ya fecker 😉 😆
richietoon(Quote)
aye canny read. RICHIE calling kettle black eh,i remember you trying oot for SGT BILKO series 🙂 🙂
icedog(Quote)
Ritchie has been soiling his pants and dribbling for his whole life 🙂
aussie magpie fan(Quote)
waheyyyyyyy 😆
Rodzilla(Quote)
The years post Sir Bobby have been hard to take.. loads of money spent for no return.. the past 3 seasons have been great purely because you can see that there is real effort and commitment being shown on the park. The lack of it shown in the years prior made it very hard to watch them play.. I hope we don’t see days like that again for sometime to come 🙂
aussie magpie fan(Quote)
another good read Toonsy 😉 😉 i was just a tad too young to remember the fairs cup(69), been a season ticket holder since 1975 – 94 with me old man and his old man,***** first division team, 2 division mid table team, champions of 2nd division 😀 😀 mid 1st division, ***** 1st division team, mid 2nd division team, good 2nd division team, champions of 1st division, unfortunitly that was the year the prem started 🙁 seen the toon at wembley 5 times and seen them lose 5 times 😥 😥 😥 seen us attempt and nearly win the prem, soooo close yet soooooooooo far 🙁 🙁 but, thats what makes us GEORDIES special, proud of our team, our colours and our passion, anyother supporters would turn there backs and become glory hunters 👿 👿 👿 👿 👿 👿
toonsoldier9(Quote)
Ice…aye, you were already a colonel back then 😆
Aussie….much as I’d like to deny that, I can’t
😆
richietoon(Quote)
Rich 🙂 🙂
aussie magpie fan(Quote)
It seems that Mathieu Debuchy aim is always to come NUFC. 😆
He re-tweeted every tweet of the word Newcastle. 😉
Joe Alvey @Joe_alvey
@MathieuDebuchy Nufc or tottenham?
Mathieu Debuchy @MathieuDebuchy
@Joe_alvey Nufc
AngelOfDeath(Quote)
The rot was set in before SBR left, he put a big bandage over the club but he was fighting a losing battle and in the end the brats he put his faith in done him in in the end, some of signings were poor but he wasnt given a lot of money to play with.
In the summer leading up the Champions League qualifying defeat against Partizan, he was only allowed to bring one player in, Lee Bowyer on a free, with the promise that more would follow with qualification.
I honestly believe we were fortunate not to do a Leeds as our finances were all risked on CL and it almost brought us down.
The whole relegation nightmare hovered in front of us for season after season, SBR was the first to save us but to say it happened after he left is to ignoring the fact we were on the slippy slope long before that.
Robert(Quote)
I wasn’t into football until late teens. I think I used to hate it as a kid tbh.
DJG(Quote)
Toonsy ,Great read and would agree with all your sentiments.I think Newcastle fans are a special breed as for so long we have had little by way of glory and a lot of other fans would desert in their droves in our shoes.But we have had some marvalous homegrown talent at SJP over the years and the fans will pay their money just to see them play with trophies being almost secondary to the enterainment on display. Contrast that to Chelski,Citeh,Manure,Arsenal et al and League titles and Trophies are the only thing on their mind .Chelseas CL win was a travisty in that they played non football all game and yes they won but there is no romance there ,where was the stand out performances on the day.That’s the thing you see ,if that was Newcastle the win would be nice but we would want a performance to merit it too ,Chelsea fans don’t care ,they just want that cup no matter how they get it . We love the purity of football ,they just wanna buy it . 😉
kimtoon(Quote)
Here we go then, lets see what all the fuss is about with this Hazard. He has been hyped up a fair bit!
DJG(Quote)
DJG -my sentiments exactly 😉
kimtoon(Quote)
@DJG
Got FLOP written all over it.
Beardoschin(Quote)
I see the Toon might be playing a game in the States v Milan 😯
—————————-
Richie, it was in the papers here today that Milan is looking for another match as part of their U.S. tour and are supposedly in talks with Newcastle to play in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on August 4th. Nothing finalized apparently.
Good news for me if true cuz I only live about 3 hours drive from there. Fun city…
MDS(Quote)
MDS…fingers crossed then, decent opposition to watch them against too if it comes off.
richietoon(Quote)
Definately. Rumour is nufc is looking at possibly coming over for 2 matches against high end euro clubs but not for a full training camp like last year.
MDS(Quote)
Nice goal Danny welbeck 😀
kimtoon(Quote)
I’ll just have to hope they get a Spanish team in the Europa..though I may have a trip to Germany if we draw one of their teams….other than that it’ll be Xmas……and England 1 nowt up just as my stream dies 😕
richietoon(Quote)
That Hazard….. Don;t want to say he looks shyte,but I was expecting a hat-trick from him at least after all his hyping up, mainly from himself, over the last few weeks.
Great finish by Welbeck though!
toonsy(Quote)
Toonsy
Still 40 minutes 😉
Andymag(Quote)
Toonsy good read there me old bean 😉 I too have enjoyed the highs and lows and I think in someways not being that good has made it mean more to support the Toon, But I often think what would have happened to us if we got that 1st prem title under the belt, as we should have 😕
Big Dave(Quote)
Since the premier formed I don’t consider us being a mid table side. Other than arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, manchesters, spuds we have disrupted their party more than any other team.
Troy Stavers(Quote)
I doubt there is a larger more fanatical fanbase for any club in the world that has won as little as we have. Tough to question the loyalty of any toon supporter
MDS(Quote)
Got to say, so far Eden Hazzard looks well below £32m worth to me 😯
kimtoon(Quote)
Troy – We have the 8th highest points total with an average league finish of 10th. I’d say that is pretty middle of the road. For every 2nd, 3rd or 4th there is a 14th, 13th, 12th place to go along with it.
Onto England, watching the game and you know Hodgson is not going to get a good run of the job. The media seem to think we are Brazil and should be ripping teams apart so this “safe” approach won’t impress them one bit
toonsy(Quote)
Toonsy ,Truth is what ever Roy does will be wrong in their eyes cause media darling Arry didn’t get the job. I quite like that Roy won’t dance to their tune ,but wish he picked a few different players .I hope he does well just to **** off the press if nowt else. 😉
kimtoon(Quote)
@Toonsy
So we are equally in the top 6 as well as mid table? Sounds to me that you can take your pick.
Top 6 side or mid table. Nowt in between.
I prefer a top 6 side 🙂
Troy Stavers(Quote)
This is my opinion. dont get offended. 🙄
Some of you really think hazard is not worth 32m?Is because u people
think that a 32m winger is suppose to beat all the defenders and score now let me remind you cr7 costs 80m he can beat defenders and score.
Now take away the scoring part u have hazard at half price seems legit?
i think so.
Is some people of you dont know hazard is a **** shooter at all.
In fact he only perform well scoring just this recent season.
AngelOfDeath(Quote)
Look at how hazard spray his passes. And how he assists. 😉
AngelOfDeath(Quote)
Hazard is the next Lukaka hyped all too hell bought for a big fee then vanishes into the reserves . These young players get too mutch pressure put on them because of over inflated transfer fees .
Axel(Quote)
I have to say like, Hazard, Lukaku, Vertongen… are they really worth £10, £20, £30 million? Let the rich clubs fight over them I say and we will make astute aquisitions. Lukaku is an average striker that Chelsea paid big money for, couldn’t shine Drogba’s boots. Vertongen is a decent defender and Hazard has some skill and can beat people but I have seen much better than all three tbh. 😯
DJG(Quote)
YES. HAZARD definitely worth the money. 😎
Opta Sports @OptaJoe
6 – Eden Hazard created six goalscoring chances today, twice as many as any England player. Introduction. 🙄
AngelOfDeath(Quote)
Gervinho struggled to get to grips with the premiership last season.
Having watched the England v Belgium game I think that Vertonghen will adapt quite quickly but on that showing, Hazzard could be struggling for some time. Not worth anywhere near £30m on that performance tonight.
sidekick(Quote)
My problem is nothing to do with his fee. I don;t even think he is a bad player based on one performance like some are suggesting. However the amount of hype he built up for HIMSELF by making his move seem like a presidential election (“I will decide in x days where I go”) made me expect more from him.
toonsy(Quote)
Vertonghen is by far and away the best belgian player ,he is way too good for the Eredivise and will walk into any premiership teams first 11 .
Axel(Quote)
@toonsy
You didn’t reply to my post .
In the 19 yrs since we got in the premier league including one season out of it, we have finished in the top 7 on 10 occasions. Yet you choose to say we are a mid table side? Why?
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Because I do?! No other explanation necessary as you won’t change my view on that. You can ficus on Premier League if you wish, but in this article I talk about my lifetime. Of that we’ve been in the second tier for six seasons, bottom half of the first division/Premier League 14 seasons and in the top half ten times.
Like I say, in my lifetime we’ve been an average mid-table team with a few good seasons and a few bad seasons
toonsy(Quote)
@toonsy
I was fully aware what you were inferring in your article. However my post clearly referred to the premier league and you replied with stats from the premier league.
We have finished in the top 7 on 10 occasions over the past 19 yrs, yet you choose to say we are a mid table side.
Glass half full or half empty ? 😉
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Troy – In that case, half empty 😉
toonsy(Quote)
@toonsy
You need to change then 😉
Your articles go worldwide. 🙄
Troy Stavers(Quote)
I like to think of us as a top half team rather than a bottom half or middle ground 😆
Big Dave(Quote)
@big Dave
We have reached huge heights whilst in the premier league.
I understand Toonsys viewpoint over his life time but certainly not in the premier.
We have a crackin record.
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Troy, it’s just a question of reviewing the stats over our 19 prem league seasons…will show if we are top half or bottom half on average…
Munich Mag(Quote)
I’m 33 so have shared the same years of pain and pleasure.
For experience and the day I knew there was no other club for me was a trip to SJP as an 7yrs old boy. In the corner with my Uncle and 15yr old cousin. Mirandinha scores and I’m almost wiped out thanks to a crowd surge and a concrete barrier. The division that we were in and the politics of the club meant nothing to me (obviously) I just thought that I have to be part of this fan base, this army of supporters.
Every time from that day on, every time I have been to SJP and heard ‘local hero’ belted out, every hair stand on end. Ive seen some great games and some shockers but I love our great club to pieces.
God I would love to see us lift a trophy, but not for a few years yet please. My little boy is only 3yrs old and still to young to know about it yet I think so maybe when he’s 10 and I’m 40 would be a cracking year … however if it happens to be next year, then the boy may have to wait like me.
We are the loyalist football supporters the world has ever seen!!!!!!
Sharpy17(Quote)
@MM
Theres a big difference from finishing in the top half to finishing 2nd, 3rd 4th etc
We have either been below mid table or in the top 6.
On 10 occasions we have finished in the top 7.
That to me stands out as showing us to being a major team in the premier.
Simples. 😉
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Troy – I think what your saying is fair and correct. If you compare us with someone like Everton who have always done OK in the Prem League but have never really created waves, where we have had some influence and had our fair share of making the division an interesting one. At least I think that’s your point but I may have the wrang end of the stick
Sharpy17(Quote)
Sharpy .Everton have been in the top 6 lots of times ,I hadn’t realised just how often untill I was checking on how many points gets top 6 a few weeks ago. 😯
Aod@38- So Hazard created twice as many chances as English players did he , what a pity there was no end product then . Your only as good as the team around you ,lets hope he has better converters of his chances at Chelsea for his sake . On the subject of transfer fees i’m sorry but £32m is stupid money as was carroll ,Torres and all the other crazy money fees that been paid. Where has football gone to ,that such fees get bandied about like they are pennys ,it’s ruining the game and putting too much pressure on players heads befor they even kick a ball.
kimtoon(Quote)
@sharpey
Bingo;-)
Troy Stavers(Quote)