Wolfcastle

Explosive fireworks and the compulsion to set things on fire has begun. Airs going to get a bit thick and smelly. Same goes for Bonfire night.

Ah, the standard booooooooo from the best and least fickle fans in the world circa three days ago

The French wikipedia page on football, in the segment on fans, of all the clubs in the world they could pick from literally gives us an example of a club that enjoys great support despite a lack of success. "for example fans of Newcastle UFC in England" They must have got it arse about tit compared to revered evidence base anecdotes of sad mackems bastards.

Its grim and pretty much the reason I'm against it. The opposition could argue the referee into at least looking on any of the great goals, on the off chance something happened somewhere in the build up. Sometimes there'd be the slighest thing but also just the stoppage kills those moments. On the other hand we'd have won the league in 96 if several Manchester United goals were ruled out like they should have been.

May as well just call the qualifiers the finals at this point. The top two go into a global draw and a knockout to the final. We'll be playing them in fifty-nine and a half different countries by 2030 anyway so why not. The football authorities find ever more inventive ways to fuck up something that's worked great for generations. Speaking of which FA Cup starts soon.

Was a piece in the Sunderland Echo that was featured in the Mag from a mackem complaining about how low the attendances were in their promotion season 95/96, saying they were lower than our gates under Ossie. They won the league and averaged 17,000. (1,000 more than our lowest ever average attendance) When we got promoted every game was a sell-out and had to be made all-ticket because thousands were getting locked out. (SJP remained full for every league and FA Cup game for the rest of the decade until the extension, fickle as f*ck that) Why do they start these attendance fights? Its like us saying we've won more than Man United.

A while back they played someone in the lower leagues and Marco-ah said "I played for the club in the premier league, well top flight, clubs invariably got their biggest gate of the season against us because of our away support" - as the football directory covering that year was on the desk I was sitting at when I heard this, certain it was utter bollocks I had a gander sure enough, total baseless bullshit One occasion in 19 in 90/91 Sunderland were involved in the biggest home gate for their opponent - and that was the final day relegation game at Man City even the year before the only occasion in 21 that this was the case was against us. Far from "invariably" it actually happened twice out of forty-five (including the 5games of 91/92 he was there for) both were exceptional circumstances, the vast majority of cases were nowhere near the other clubs biggest gate.

"loads will start work at 8am in the morning. You are a credit to our club ." first fans to ever go to an away match midweek

Always wondered where Howard Kendall fell, knew he was from Washington but not sure which way he faced. Yeah Ferry going to Columbia school is what I'd always heard, so Brady Square makes sense. Lass I knew lived there got into the music scene too, c**t wrote a song about me but just wont let me have it for some unbeknowst reason. The lass, not Ferry.

Great post. Made my evening. Your story in itself but Jo being Jo. Even the autumnal vibe outside his house. Reminded me of reading in an official programme during Sir Bobby's reign a letter from someone from Scandinavia (forget where exactly) who had just been to their first game - the 3-1 against Leeds (Duberry OG, Dyer, Bellamy) and was glad they got to experience a proper occasion.

I could almost imagine being vaguely interested in the English national team looking at this page.

Bruno's going to turn me I feel.

Being overly fair to them an citing our darkest days (as its when they go back to and what they use as a rule versus an exception) versus their regular times, an example of the fairweatheredness in 1991/92 Sunderland v Newcastle 29,224 - Sunderland's game before that 12,790 (down 17k) , Sunderland's gate after that 13,575 (down 16k) Newcastle v Sunderland 30,306 - Newcastle's gate before 23,138 (down 7k), Newcatle's gate after 21,125 (down 9k) 89/90 Sunderland v Newcastle 29,466 - before 15,042 (or 11,000 league cup) (down 14k), after 22,760 (down 7k) Newcastle v Sunderland 31,572 - before 26,233 (down 5k), after 31,748 (up 200) some clown on the phone in arrogantly said 'wrong' that we'd always been well supported because we only got 36,000 in the 90s (like every game somehow) not factoring in the ground was full. Just seen the number and got hard on without bothering with any logic or context. A worthy stone throw considering the mackems highest average attendance in the 90s until 1998 was 21,000.

Find it interesting overnight that that was the start of the worst period in our history. Blew my mind to learn relatively recently that we'd won more trophies than Liverpool until the mid70s and more FA Cups than Man United until the mid80s. That period 78-92 is probably what people refer to when saying were not a big club. I'm bias of course and that's the club I first encountered but it looks like more of a blip when looke at now than the rule. On the Shearer goal. Watched parts of that game two nights ago as liken it to the Villa game just gone (that was when we went past having just 'a good start'). Always thought Shearer's goal suspect, not his type of thing, with us at least post injuries (at Blackburn he could do anything) but there's absolutely nobody in the box and nobody making a run from the replays, there's no other explanation for it than it was intentional.

Was before my time too mate. My Mam was definitely at the Bastia game and got the folklore about it around the centenary when all the books came out. Same with Supermac. It all seemed like halcyon days compared to what I was experiencing and expected to experience. Seemed unbelieavable that we could have been in Europe only 13years earlier at that point. Dutch internationals at St James and stuff. (Before I even knew how good the Dutch were in the 70s)

Bastia and Palermo Double Dutch, the great Johnny Rep and Tim Krul (found by the then unemployed Joe Kinnear, two years before Kinenar was at the club)

Last time Milan were 3-0 up against Salzburg in the Champions League. The Austrian's keeper (Otto Konrad) got hit with a bottle and the game was voided. So its not ever yet.

Worse than that, some were saying we've appropriated the name Geordie and they refuse to acknowledge it. Its one step away from saying we should just be called Castle because the castle isn't new. Seen someone on there say its getting impossible to get back to Gateshead after a game when the Metro's are off. He'd be no good on the Crystal Maze.

I don't mind people having issues just so long, as pointed out previously, its consistent. You cant reasonably be hopping mad and obsessed in some cases with this one piece of Saudi investment and be much milder to not caring at all about other investments from them and countries with similar charges against them. That's what gets up people noses. Personally I don't feel any different about things now as before. I don't approve of their and many other countries practices and wish they'd change but wasn't at activist levels so there's no contradiction. Who boycotted the last World cup because of Putin's nuclear murders in our own country for example.

Patrice Cateron scored in a draw at first team level. Wasn't aware he was as esteemed in folklore as Robin Hood, which he must be, logically.

Houthi the lads Houthi, Houthi the lads, Houthi the lads, Houthi the lads Houthi

Beating them the following season when we finished 3rd, towards the end of the season might be a case in point. At least to me its an after thought dwarfed by bigger things and has barely been mentioned since. (The Solano penalty game). The Dabizas game cemented the end of their brief period of being on top so that did mean more to me too, that was the only period both teams were above a topflight relegation battle in about half a century which helped I think. Anyway everyone' probably different based on the status during their formative years with the club. No right or wrong in it.

I wonder what we'll do if say Leicester wont sell Maddison in Jan but he's the guy we want. Operationally we don't seem like we'd go for alternatives now but we now have the added temptation of an extra push maybe being the difference between Europe and not. There's also the risk of not getting him anyway down the line. First world problems though.

From when I got into football, with the exception of two years under Sir Bobby/Peter Reid, pre Ashley there was always bigger fish to fry so I pitied the younger generation becoming like them, reasonably, because all we had now, was all they had ever had. Being better than them. None of the games I class as the biggest and the best atmosphere's involve them. Was just about us. They could never say the same. I liken it to Man United's biggest games not being against Man City pre their takeover. A local disupte/distraction but nowhere near their biggest game. Think this is where the term 'local rivals' comes in.

Jo great story