Plans for our first pre-season friendly in preparation for the new 2020/21 Premier League season have been announced this morning.
As revealed by the official club website in the last few moments, Steve Bruce’s men will take on Championship side Barnsley on Saturday 29th August at 3pm.
The game will be played at the club’s Benton training ground against a Tykes side that pulled off the great escape last month to retain their place in the second tier.
Here’s the official announcement from NUFC.co.uk:
Newcastle United will entertain Sky Bet Championship side Barnsley in a behind-closed-doors pre-season friendly later this month.
Steve Bruce’s Magpies will welcome the Tykes to their Benton training ground on Saturday, 29th August for a 3pm (BST) kick-off.
It is United’s first confirmed friendly of the summer, with others set to be announced over the next few days. Unfortunately, due to the current pandemic and the Government guidelines around it, spectators will not be able to attend and fans and members of the media are asked not to travel to the training ground perimeter.Barnsley dramatically escaped relegation on the final day of last season. The two sides last met on the final day of the 2016/17 Sky Bet Championship campaign as Newcastle won 3-0 and memorably clinched the title.
United first team coach Steve Agnew began his playing career with the Tykes, making more than 200 appearances for the South Yorkshire club between 1983 and 1991, while the Magpies’ Academy Manager Joe Joyce played more than 350 times for Barnsley and Academy coach Kevin Richardson also spent time at Oakwell as a player.
As the club state, it looks like other pre-season friendlies are set to be announced in the coming days, although it remains the case that fans will not be able to attend – with ‘members of the media’ also asked to steer clear.
With the 2020/21 season set to begin in just over a month’s time, there’ll be an unusually short window between the previous campaign ending and the new one beginning.
Hopefully in a fortnight’s time we go into the game with Barnsley with a new signing or two under our belt!
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