Non-Geordies, why do you support Newcastle United?

[wiseman]

Grew up just watching Alan Shearer goals on repeat, wanted to emulate his style of play, and so just got into a habit of watching Newcastle games.

 

Then at 15, first time I got snuck into a pub with some older mates, Newcastle vs Spurs when, Robert got a brace and got suckered right in there.

[Skjaere9]

I like pain.

 

Just kidding, sort of. Growing up in Portland, Oregon, USA as a die-hard Portland Trail Blazers (NBA) fan, it's the same kind of club as NUFC really -- rarely terrible, typically decent, occasionally great, never quite getting to the mountaintop of actually winning something in my lifetime at least. (I was born a few months after they won their one and only championship in 1977.) Like NUFC, they've got magnificent fans -- the support is better than the team, usually, and the decades of suffering and delayed gratification will surely make it all worth it when/if we finally win something? (For both clubs?)

 

So when I got to spend a couple years living in the UK in the late 90s, right after the Keegan glory years, of course NUFC were the club I gravitated towards. Loved Shearer, loved the black and white stripes, loved the Brown Ale on the shirts, instinctively hated Man Utd as the obvious team of lame American glory hunters... and if that all wasn't enough, I think losing the glorious heartbreak of losing the FA Cup final twice in a row probably is what hooked me for life.

 

Later came to know and love some Geordie expats and fell in love with the city and the North East, too.

 

But my god most of the last 15 years of waking up at 4 o'clock in the morning Pacific Time to watch Mike Ashley's diabolical football has been a test... loving the last year though, already slightly annoyed thinking about the new army of Yank plastic fans who will be joining us at dawn in the pub in the future... for now it's pure joy though.

[BlazeT44]

Some great reads in here. Really enjoyed reading this thread this evening.

 

I'd be definitely up to meet some of you the next time I'm at a game (getting tickets is bloody hard now like!)

[timeEd32]

8 hours ago, timeEd32 said:

The short answer, like many others, is Alan Shearer.

 

The longer answer is I was born in America, but my mom is English. I have dual citizenship. As a kid I spent every summer and Christmas in England. I started to become obsessed with all sports between '92-94. Around that time before I left England each summer I would fill out my fantasy team for the Telegraph (I think it was the Telegraph) and my grandma would mail it in. I have fond memories of my grandfather looking up the football scores on Teletext. World Cup '94 took things to another level and in between that and Euro '96 Shearer became my favorite player, but I didn't really care about Blackburn. I was in England on July 30, 1996 when Shearer signed and that was that - NUFC became my club. I still have the 96-97 shirt with Shearer's name on the back, but it's for a child. 

 

It was hard to follow in those days, but the internet and Soccernet.com (eventually acquired by ESPN) helped. My grandpa thought it was incredible when they would visit in the late 90s / early 2000's and I could read him all the scores, including the 2nd and 3rd division (Sheffield United and Rotherham were of most interest to him). Unfortunately I followed most of Shearer's career and the good times from looking at scores and the table with the occasional tape delayed match, except for when I was in England. Around 2005 TV coverage started to improve a bit, plus illegal streams became easier to find and it's around that time I became even more obsessed. I think I joined this forum in 2007 right when Ashley bought the club. 

A funny thing is the summer of 1998, I was 13. I went with my friend to get our hair cut at an Italian barber (it wouldn’t have been out of place in the Sopranos). My friend’s mom was Norwegian and he asked the barber to cut his hair like Tore Andre Flo.

 

I had brought with me a picture of Shearer and asked for that. The three Italians in there could not stop laughing at me asking for a receding hairline as a style.

[Superior Acuña]

9 minutes ago, timeEd32 said:

A funny thing is the summer of 1998, I was 13. I went with my friend to get our hair cut at an Italian barber (it wouldn’t have been out of place in the Sopranos). My friend’s mom was Norwegian and he asked the barber to cut his hair like Tore Andre Flo.

 

I had brought with me a picture of Shearer and asked for that. The three Italians in there could not stop laughing at me asking for a receding hairline as a style.

 

[Kanj]

Love seeing so many non locals get hooked by Shearer like I did. 

[McDog]

12 minutes ago, Kanji said:

Love seeing so many non locals get hooked by Shearer like I did. 

 

 

I did too. I picked the team due to Newcastle Brown Ale but quickly loved Shearer and his goals and what seemed like a likeable fellow to me.

[cubaricho]

It all started with the beer for me too. Twenty years later here I am.  

 

The year before I started following Newcastle, we had an extra day on our rail pass and I loved the beer so much my parents and I went to Newcastle to drink the beer at the closest place to the brewery. We ended up having lunch and a few pints in The Strawberry. 
 

We walked around SJP and my dad even went in the club shop to look around and offered to grab me a jersey but I said it was alright. Little did I know less than a year later I’d be rueing that response.  
 

The coverage of the PL started to get really good here in the states so me and my buddies all decided to chose clubs and follow them. Because I loved the beer so much it was an easy choice to follow Newcastle. 
 

I started on another forum (I can’t remember the name for the life of me) where there were about 40 or so of us. Then I found this place and jumped over here after about a year of just lurking. It has been such an awesome place for me over the past almost two decades and has brought me so close to Newcastle, even being half way around the world. 
 

The plan is to get over for the Tottenham match on the 22nd of April. I’ve only seen Newcastle once in person and it was that 1-0 loss to Orlando City.  So let’s hope this new job comes through and I can make it happen. I can’t wait to set foot inside SJP. 

[Full90minutes]

Actually first year following the team. Started watching Premier League with my son and I had to pick a team. My mum's a Geordie from Blaydon so the choice was easy. Getting the feeling it was a pretty good year to start following the team! 

[Superior Acuña]

52 minutes ago, cubaricho said:

It all started with the beer for me too. Twenty years later here I am.  

 

The year before I started following Newcastle, we had an extra day on our rail pass and I loved the beer so much my parents and I went to Newcastle to drink the beer at the closest place to the brewery. We ended up having lunch and a few pints in The Strawberry. 
 

We walked around SJP and my dad even went in the club shop to look around and offered to grab me a jersey but I said it was alright. Little did I know less than a year later I’d be rueing that response.  
 

The coverage of the PL started to get really good here in the states so me and my buddies all decided to chose clubs and follow them. Because I loved the beer so much it was an easy choice to follow Newcastle. 
 

I started on another forum (I can’t remember the name for the life of me) where there were about 40 or so of us. Then I found this place and jumped over here after about a year of just lurking. It has been such an awesome place for me over the past almost two decades and has brought me so close to Newcastle, even being half way around the world. 
 

The plan is to get over for the Tottenham match on the 22nd of April. I’ve only seen Newcastle once in person and it was that 1-0 loss to Orlando City.  So let’s hope this new job comes through and I can make it happen. I can’t wait to set foot inside SJP. 

 

All these years I've never considered that there might be food in The Strawberry beyond packets of crisps and pork scratchings.

[cubaricho]

40 minutes ago, Inferior Acuña said:

 

All these years I've never considered that there might be food in The Strawberry beyond packets of crisps and pork scratchings.

 

It wasn't anything special if I remember correctly.

[Troll]

Keegan.  I'm from Dorset, and there were no serious teams near me (Eddie hadn't transformed Bournemouth yet).

[The Prophet]

I'm from Darlington. I didn't get into football until I was a bit older, but I have two cousins who are football fanatics, one is an Everton fan and one is a Newcastle fan. My first game was Boro v Newcastle, but I didn't get to my first home game until my Everton supporting cousin took me to the away end in our 6-2 demolition of them. Needless to say I fell in love with SJP and the football club. 

[M1tche]

I'm East London born and bred and a few reasons made me choose to support Newcastle, the 1st 1 was watching the Cole and Beardsley link up on TV, I wasn't massively into football at the time but they just seem to standout, the kit and then the fact that it was a team that no-one i knew supported. Weirdly in school i was called a glory hunter (worst glory hunter ever!!), 30 odd years on though it was definitelty the right choice to make, its been a rollercoaster as a fan but love the city, love the fans, the stadium and passion attached to everything around the football club. It's a club that just fits for me

[andyman]

I grew up watching all the kids in the neighbourhood in Manchester United and Liverpool kits. My older brother supported Tottenham. So I asked my dad what other teams are out there, cause I wanted to "support something other than all the others did". My dad told me there's a team called Newcastle and that they play entertaining football. This was in 1995. I was about to turn 6, and my dad bought me the smallest Newcastle top he could find in our little hometown here in Norway, but it was wayyyy oversized for little me. Pretty sure it was size small for adults. I have to see if I can find a photo, I looked like an idiot running around in that and a Newcastle beanie  I remember my dad told me it's possible to change jobs and wives, but when you pick your football team, you're stuck. And the poor bugger is stuck supporting Stoke. Bless him. But yeah, I never looked back. Been supporting through thick and thin. Lived in Newcastle for six months in 2013, time of my life even though we were absolutely shit. Made me fall even more in love with it all. Wish I could do that again sometime. If I could get my hands on a season ticket, I probably would tbh. The people of Newcastle are lovely. It's my home from home

[arnonel]

I have a weird one. Originally from South Africa, where literally everyone supports Liverpool or Manure (I live in the UK now)

 

I lived close to a town called Newcastle in South Africa, so in the spirit of trying to be different, i bet on Newcastle United. Purely because I recognised the name. 

 

Only issue, we were managed by Ozzie Ardiles and sucked. Positive was, I had one year of support under my belt when Keegan joined. 

Been die hard since then (and on this forum since 2007) 

 

 

Edited January 19, 2023 by arnonel

[papo]

Hungarian here - fan since Euros 1996, Shearer became my favourite player ever. Following the team since then. Got a trip for my 30th birthday to Newcastle in 2019 but couldn't get a ticket for the Newcastle-Liverpool game (one of Rafa's last games). I became connected to the city forever because I asked my girlfriend to marry me in this trip, too.

[Tsunami]

Some great stories here. Would be great if the club held back a small number of tickets every game for fans who live over a certain number of miles away and could get to 1 or 2 games a season.

 

I know you can get these through Membership but that doesn’t guarantee a ticket.

[gdm]

2 minutes ago, Tsunami said:

Some great stories here. Would be great if the club held back a small number of tickets every game for fans who live over a certain number of miles away and could get to 1 or 2 games a season.

 

I know you can get these through Membership but that doesn’t guarantee a ticket.

I know I can’t get to many games mostly coz I work Saturdays. If I get to 2-3 games a season I’m more than happy 

[Dyeyzzon]

21 hours ago, McCormick said:

Mabuhay!

Ey, salamat!  I’d love to sneak in a flag or ‘Mabuhay’ banner to SJP someday.

[Norseman]

Norwegian here, born in '78. In the 90s (and before) there was a thing called "Tippekampen" on Norwegian TV. Basically, one game from the Premier League was broadcast each Saturday at 4 pm.

 

All my friends and schoolmates were supporting various teams from England. Most were supporting either Liverpool or Man Utd. I wanted to pick a team as well, as I was getting more interested in football.

 

I was watching "Tippekampen" with my old man, and I asked him which teams he liked. He really thought Newcastle was playing some great football. This was probably around 1995 or 96, so he was not wrong! So this is why i support Newcastle ever since, and never regretted it. Well, it was a lot of painful moments, but it will all be worth it. Things are amazing right now. Possibly the most optimistic I have been about us 

[Doctor Zaius]

Quite a few who you just assume are British, who are actually Scandanavian on here

[madras]

23 minutes ago, Doctor Zaius said:

Quite a few who you just assume are British, who are actually Scandanavian on here

Quite a lot from all over the world who I assumed were local or at least ex local 

 

Handy to get in before you can be accused of being a glory hunter though 

[Superior Acuña]

On 18/01/2023 at 07:00, Miercoles said:

https://newcastle-online.org/topic/30356-how-does-newcastle-online-fit-in-to-your-quotofflinequot-life/

 

Here's the original thread, the thesis was about how forums can support an individual who is learning a new skill (in this case, football fandom) by helping them develop their identity as a legitimate practitioner. It sounds belabored as fuck typing it out now, but that's grad school for you.

 

I used this forum and the old Sherdog grappling forum from my other hobby (Brazilian Jiujitsu) as examples of online communities and interviewed members to use as case studies.

 

Funnily enough, Mike was one of the key case studies for the project. Would you believe he's not even from Newcastle? 

 

Soz

I remember replying to one question/set of questions but then I didn't reply to your follow-up. I felt bad and kept meaning to. It was in the middle of me moving from the UK/China to the US.

[Coffee_Johnny]

On 18/01/2023 at 12:30, TheBrownBottle said:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ei1DnFdJrww

What the absolute fuck is that meant to be!!