My story - Proof that times have well and truly changed at Newcastle United..
The NUFC of old is totally different to the NUFC of today.
Kids growing up now will never understand how great it was to be a Newcastle united supporter.
I first fell in love with Newcastle in the year of 1992/1993 I was 4 years of age, I was put in front of the TV with a black and white scarf and watched Andy Cole bang in the goals.
I came from a family of 4 siblings and a single mother. I was the only one interested in football, we were not very privileged so never went to games, but I played it every single second of the day.
As I grew older personal problems caused me to go into the care of the social services. I entered a group home with other children all mad about football. At that time Newcastle were in the UEFA Cup (now the Europa League), then the idea that care workers suggested was to get in contact with Mr. Freddy Shepard and enquire about free tickets. That same day his secretary called back and offered 10 free tickets. To say we were full of joy was an understatement. My first live game at St. James park was over whelming and enjoyable.
Watching my hero Alan Shearer play in person and seeing the shiny grey hair of Bobby Robson in the dugout...I was in dream land.
We won and progressed to the next stage, and every home games during that UEFA Cup campaign saw Freddy Shepard give us tickets free of charge!
Then a certain Didier Drogba put an end to us reaching any further. But what a year what an experience and most of all what a chairman. He found joy bringing joy to others.
Today we have an owner that doesn’t care about our community or the city. That’s why children now are growing up to support teams outside of Newcastle and for me that’s a great shame.
