Non-Geordies, why do you support Newcastle United?

[HawK]

The Sunderland thread has gone off on a bit of a tangent towards this discussion and got me thinking there could be some interesting origin stories from some of the supporters on here.

 

Mine is here - https://newcastle-online.org/topic/37260-sunderland/?do=findComment&comment=7415468

 

How did you end up supporting Newcastle United?

[Alberto2005]

I'm not honestly quite sure of the exact moment I started supporting Newcastle. I was 6 in 1995 so I imagine I caught the back end of the Keegan era and liked what I saw

My first full memories came when Dalglish came in.

[elbee909]

Football mad Geordie family mostly. London side of family had no interest in football.

[sportnet]

Hi, from Estonia. I pirated the game called Championship manager 97/98 and I didnt know anything about PL as I was 13 years old and we didnt have much coverage of PL in Estonia back then. And I randomly chose Newcastle, I think because of the black and white logo. Then when playing the game you learn all the names of the players and next year new version comes out with all new transfers etc. So I got to know all the players over the years and have been following Newcastle since. Never been in Newcastle though but saw them in Tallinn in 2006.

 

 

Edited January 18, 2023 by sportnet

[Bada Bing]

Family connections for me. I'm born and bred Essex but my mothers side are all Geordies.  My Uncle and Grandad had season tickets in the East stand and used to take me to games when I was a young lad. That was that.

[Broadsword]

Paul Gascoigne basically. I’m from the North East but not really a Geordie but I was around 12 when Gazza’s was playing and from then on it was always Newcastle. 

[LiquidAK]

From Devon
 

Shearer was my favourite England player at France 98 when I was 6. Asked my dad who he played for and considered myself a Newcastle fan from then on, though I didn’t take a real interest in football until the 03/04 season under Bobby.

 

 

Edited January 18, 2023 by LiquidAK

[andyc35i]

Alan Shearer was my hero as a kid so when I really started getting into football around the time of Euro 96, I followed him to Newcastle. I was 8 at the time and didn’t really know what was going on tbh.

 

Everyone that asks me why I support the team (even though I’m London born and living) and I just say Alan Shearer - they instantly understand 

[danny]

Followed Shearer from BB, and when he retired i was too invested

[Stal]

I began in 1992, when football was invented.

[Unbelievable]

Moved to Newcastle for work in summer of 2004. Got chatting to a colleague at the coffee machine about the upcoming preseason tournament that weekend involving my home team (Feyenoord). The guy, now a friend, said he could arrange me a ticket to sit with him and a few mates, so I duly called the missus that I would not be traveling back to NL that weekend. Got the bug, managed to get a season ticket for the two years we lived there (my wife eventually moved over and ended up staying years after me, doing her PhD). Haven’t managed to get to any games these last few years, but hoping to do so later this season.

[toon25]

Keegan and Shearer.

[Abacus]

Not born in the North East or even interested in football, till I moved to Newcastle as a kid. And then, football was everywhere and something you couldn't avoid even if you wanted to.

 

Pretty sure I'm not a glory hunter though, since I was going to matches under Smith and Ardiles. And then of course Keegan arrived and before long I couldn't get a ticket anyway. I only rejoined as a season ticket holder much later under the Ashley years, worse luck. But once you support a club, I think you're locked in through good and bad.

 

Having moved around the country for many years in between, I do think different cities support their teams very differently. Here, football is the whole rhythm of the city - everyone knows when we play, if you want an easy conversation, everyone will have an opinion.

 

In a lot of other cities, it's just a pastime/ distraction. Sure, there are lots of fans no different to us everywhere. But equally, I remember starting up plenty of conversations in pubs or in taxis elsewhere where plenty of people had no idea about or no interest in their local team.

 

No problem with that at all and some people might think that's healthy, but having grown up here it just felt alien to me. It's much more all consuming in this part of the world, I think.

 

Having been away with work for a number of years and used to not really talking about football, when I moved back, I got off at central station and straight into a taxi. The first thing the cabbie said was "What about that xxxx ref, eh?", and straight away you know you're back home.
 

[Skeletor]

Kevin Keegan (and then growing up idolising Rob Lee)

[bowlingcrofty]

Tried supporting a few teams, Liverpool in the 80s, Man United in the 90s, Chelsea in the 00s and more recently Manchester City. However over the past year I’ve become very attached to Newcastle. Hopefully in the next year or two we can win the EPL.

[Kid Icarus]

I lived in the Sunderland catchment area of Killingworth, but turned my back on them once I saw the full majesty of Micky Quinn's tache.

 

 

Edited January 18, 2023 by Kid Icarus

[Shearergol]

2 minutes ago, bowlingcrofty said:

Tried supporting a few teams, Liverpool in the 80s, Man United in the 90s, Chelsea in the 00s and more recently Manchester City. However over the past year I’ve become very attached to Newcastle. Hopefully in the next year or two we can win the EPL.

 

Parody?

[Menace]

He's been here since 2009  

[Mike]

Love hearing how foreigners found wor club. Warms me heart owt like this, like.

[Doctor Zaius]

As a lercal I do enjoy hearing these stories about how others got trapped into (until recently) the miserable existence of being a Newcastle fan.

[Lazarus]

2 minutes ago, Mike said:

Love hearing how foreigners found wor club. Warms me heart owt like this, like.

 

[gbandit]

Yeah, huge respect to our fans from elsewhere in the UK and worldwide, feels pretty amazing to hear about people supporting us who have no connection to the area and just fell upon us almost randomly but ended up obsessed. I’ve lived away from the north east for many years and finally returned in December ‘22, supporting this club made my year abroad in France so much easier to deal with homesickness. Supporting NUFC when I lived in London gave me something to connect to when at times the city just swallows you up. 
 

also really interesting to hear how much people were swayed by Shearer. Having a superstar, especially an English or British one is massive for support outside the region. Hopefully the area will produce another top class player again one day 

[Guybrush]

6 minutes ago, Mike said:

Love hearing how foreigners found wor club. Warms me heart owt like this, like.

I do think it's quite mental how well you use Geordie words and phrases in every day posting like . Have you spent any time in Newcastle at all?

[Lazarus]

Just now, Guybrush said:

I do think it's quite mental how well you use Geordie words and phrases in every day posting like . Have you spent any time in Newcastle at all?

 

Of course he fucking hasnt.

[madras]

1 minute ago, Guybrush said:

I do think it's quite mental how well you use Geordie words and phrases in every day posting like . Have you spent any time in Newcastle at all?

Aye, I'm still about 5% believing he's really a welder form Killingworth.