Every team says they have the best fans around, that goes without saying, but Newcastle United really do have some of the greatest fans in the world. It is in times of hardship that you find out the most about yourself and I can safely say that against Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane on Saturday, the Toon Army were in full voice despite what was happening on the pitch. Newcastle players might not have been giving as good as they got, but the fans certainly were.
Being a football fan is a rollercoaster at the best of times, but as a Newcastle supporter it’s like you’re on Nemesis every day of the week (notice I didn’t say Oblivion here). You really are put through the wringer, with relegation to the Championship in 2009 a real low, as, in a different way, was missing out on the Premiership title in the mid ‘90s and being second best twice at Wembley in FA Cup finals. However, it is these lows that make the highs even better, and that’s why whilst being mauled at White Hart Lane wasn’t an enjoyable experience, it makes you savour the wins even more.
Last Saturday, for those who made the trip down from Newcastle to London, was a real kick in the teeth to be out of the game before it started. Cue jubilation from Spurs fans and taunts towards the Newcastle supporters, including one chant that stuck in my head that was: “What the f*** are you still doing here?” I did wonder that myself, but of course you support the team through thick and thin and I think the Tottenham fans respected that, in a similar way to the respect I have for the way Spurs play football.
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Discussions like this always seem to come down to numbers, it’s somewhat inevitable. The fact that 50,000 plus fans cram into St James’ Park every week, a high proportion of which went week-in-week-out when the Magpies were in the Championship, speaks for itself. However, it is Newcastle’s away fans that really shine brightly, as thousands travel across the country every week, and if you’d have had a camera purely on the Toon Army last weekend, you’d have had no idea that Newcastle were 5-0 down and completely out of the game.
While I loathe making reference to him, Gary Neville even Tweeted that Newcastle’s and Stoke’s supporters were among the best in the country. This doesn’t mean anything and this isn’t an article saying one club’s fans are better than another’s, all I’m stating is the pride I have in those who support Newcastle United. The scenes at White Hart Lane showed that, and manager Alan Pardew acknowledged that at the end of the game as he gave the Newcastle fans the thumbs up, which wasn’t the signal he would have given to the players in the dressing room.
Outside of the north-east many people don’t seem to realise how much Newcastle United Football Club means to supporters. The team is like a part of our extended family. You don’t always like them, but you will always love them. Newcastle fans I salute you.
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As a Spurs fan I salute you too. I was there and it was great to see.
Cheers Pottsy
I was at White hart lane and even stood up to salute your support after a round of why the fcuk are you still here
from a tottenham supporter, i saw many tottenham fans and newcastle fans chanting togheter , i was watching from the television back in norway. I hope that newcastle beat arsenal and chelsea out of the top 4. they need too get their feet on their ground. they live too much in the past-
Another view is that it was a bit embarrassing. Dancing and singing bare chested at 5 down smacks of a little club getting stuffed on their big day out and trying to pretend they are enjoying themselves.
Sometimes it’s a case of not knowing whether to laugh or cry, we went for the former
To be fair I was there and they weren’t all that. A couple of fat blokes shaking their tits about is all. Sorry.
from another Spurs fan, I too salute your loyalty and would love to see you claim 4th spot somewhere behind us.Just to see Whinger’s face and Chavski’s Russian playboy would soon dump them.
What would you prefer we did…..start a riot? You’re envious of the fact that the reaction of Spurs fans would have been totally different if the situation had been reversed. You would have left pronto.
to be fair, i was at old trafford when we lost 3 0 and we didnt stop singing until the very last minute. not quite the same as your fans at whl which i applaud but our fans still have our moments.
The Geordies were terrific. I’ve had a season ticket at WHL for over twenty years and been going for over thirty years. The geordies have always been among the best away fans. On Saturday they stayed, to a man, for the full ninety. Long after many spurs fans had departed. F*ck knows how that bloke sat there all game without a shirt. It was absolute brass monkeys. The only other away fans I can think of is the odd bunch of European fans that travel miles from their obscure little club, early Thursdays in Europa league, and are completely bonkers. They scream, shout, jump around and at times are really quite frightening in how much, and completely doolally they get, in supporting their team. I don’t love football, I f*cking live it, and so do you Geordies. Just one last thing. Milan 4 Goonies 0. That’s a right touch!
To be fair where the hell were they gonna go? May as well watch your team getting mauled, better that then sitting on an empty coach for an hour
Round your mum’s.
Whey!
i was at white hart lane your fans were class, top support, wish our fans were like that sometimes.
Big Mal?….Big anal orifice
Spurs fan here. Toon fans are some of the best I’ve seen around WHL. Sticking around till the bitter end shows class and loyalty. Would be great if you could take 4th and keep the scum and chelski out of CL.
I’d love it too!
Am I missing something? A lot of clubs have fans who sing their hearts out when they get a sudden hammering. We had our fans olleying our passes when we had a player sent off and were 4-0 down inside 35mins against Inter last season! Home section of the St. James Park was like a graveyard when we visited earlier in the season, absolute graveyard until Ameobi scored the late equliser. Don’t start pretending you lot are the best fans in the country. This argument is almost as hilarious and pointless as getting topless in sub zero temperature to show that you are ‘tough’.
shut up you muppet you dont have a clue aboot st james park as a season ticket holder i was there the atmosphere was great see you didnt bring your full allocation of supportrs
Think you need to wake up from your dreams. Your support were crap when we visited you. And that’s a fact!
No Nabil, it’s your opinion. There’s also someone who lets their fans down.
Spurs fan in peace here (hence the name). Must say I was very impressed with the Newcastle fans, especially that nutter with his shirt off! Also think you have an awesome team and it bodes well for the future. Just so you hate me that bit less, fuck Sunderland, I hate Lee Cattermole!
Nice end to the comment!
It was good to see the Geordie fans bouncing about5 goals down, nothing more nothing less it was good to see.