Newcastle United have released their pre-season plans for 2019, with our trip to China for the Premier League Asia Trophy set to be followed by clashes with Hibernian and Saint-Etienne.
The game against Saint-Etienne could be of particular interest to Newcastle fans, with ex-Mag’s Mathieu Debuchy and Remy Cabella looking set to return to St James’ Park with the Ligue 1 side in August.
Here’s our schedule this summer, with the club confirming that we’ll play FOUR games before the 2019/20 season begins:
- 17th July – Wolves (Asia Trophy, Nanjing Olympic Sports Centre, 6pm kick-off [local time])
- 20th July – Man City OR West Ham United (Asia Trophy, Hongkou Stadium, kick-off tbc)
- 30th July – Hibernian (Easter Road, 7.45pm kick-off)
- 3rd August – Saint-Étienne (St. James’ Park, 3pm kick-off)
Hibernian finished 5th in the SPL last season and are currently managed by former Leeds United boss Paul Heckingbottom.
As for Saint-Etienne, the French side enjoyed a strong season in Ligue 1, with them guaranteeing a top-four finish ahead of their final game of the season tonight, with only PSG, Lille and Lyon ahead of them in the table.
There’ll be no pre-season training camp in Ireland this summer – meaning a rare and reluctant break from Carton House – however it seems the trip to Chin and involvement in the Asian Trophy could work wonders from a marketing perspective.