Newcastle United vs. Athletic Club: 5/11/25 @ 20:00 (TNT Sport)

[Benwell Lad]

They'll struggle to find the availability and quality of wine they have in bars at home in Bilbao 

Always found it amusing when blokes who looked like they'd just finished on a building site were swirling fine local wines around in their glass.

 

 

[Gola]

14 hours ago, timeEd32 said:

I question what anyone wants from their football club if you can't get excited about this. We have a near zero chance of winning the league with our current finances, so rightly our #1 goal last season (aside from a cup trophy) was to qualify for this competition and now we're in it and everyone is worried about the league again. This game will mark the halfway point of the CL league phase and we have a chance to be in the top 8 when it's over. 

 

If you're worried about our league form preventing us from being in the CL again and what that means financially then consider this:

• Every win is worth ~£2m
• Each league place is worth a minimum of £241k and there is a £1.75m bonus for finishing top 8 and an £875k bonus for 9-16.
• Qualifying for the Round of 16 grants a £9.6m bonus

So five wins in the group phase would roughly offset the revenue from three places in the league table. Finishing 8th to go straight to the Round of 16 plus the revenue from one extra home game would be roughly the same as the guaranteed CL payment. You also get a much more favorable draw from that position and the coefficient bonus would help us in future years. 

 

We'll have plenty more good and bad days against the likes of West Ham, Fulham, and Crystal Palace. We should enjoy the European journey while we have it and and it can go a long way to offsetting the financial part of missing out on the CL next year, especially if we can get into one of the other competitions.

Very true. Think we're all in guilty of living in the past or future at times. The present is where it's at. Let's enjoy Champions League football!

[El Prontonise]

8 hours ago, Benwell Lad said:

They'll struggle to find the availability and quality of wine they have in bars at home in Bilbao 

Always found it amusing when blokes who looked like they'd just finished on a building site were swirling fine local wines around in their glass.

 

 

 

And food, the basque area is one of the best food places on the planet.

[TaylorJ_01]

Basque region is probably my current favourite place. 

[Rafalove]

Always wanted to go. Ideallly go and see an Athletic game too, tbh.They can keep the wine though, that stuff is rancid.

 

 

Edited November 4, 2025 by Rafalove

[NEEJ]

Bilbao is absolutely class. Doing a pintxos crawl around the town has to be up there with one of the best ways on earth to eat and drink, like. 

[El Prontonise]

1 minute ago, NEEJ said:

Bilbao is absolutely class. Doing a pintxos crawl around the town has to be up there with one of the best ways on earth to eat and drink, like. 

 

100% this.

[joeyt]

Ooh look at me I come from a lovely region and we only pick players from our region and we still do really well

 

Pathetic

[Elliottman]

5pm presser? 

[PauloGeordio]

 

[Benwell Lad]

57 minutes ago, NEEJ said:

Bilbao is absolutely class. Doing a pintxos crawl around the town has to be up there with one of the best ways on earth to eat and drink, like. 

 

Possibly only surpassed by doing it in San Sebastian 

[Rafalove]

 

[Benwell Lad]

1 hour ago, Rafalove said:

Always wanted to go. Ideallly go and see an Athletic game too, tbh.They can keep the wine though, that stuff is rancid.

 

 

 

You've got to be kidding ?

I'll admit to preferring beer to wine generally, but which particular wine are you referring to?

There are over 600 wineries in the Basque (Rioja) region producing thousands of varieties, surely they can't all be rancid? 

 

 

[Benwell Lad]

2 hours ago, El Prontonise said:

 

And food, the basque area is one of the best food places on the planet.

 

Being a Basque chef definitely seems to carry some prestige throughout Spain.

[Rafalove]

11 minutes ago, Benwell Lad said:

You've got to be kidding ?

I'll admit to preferring beer to wine generally, but which particular wine are you referring to?

There are over 600 wineries in the Basque (Rioja) region producing thousands of varieties, surely they can't all be rancid? 

 

 

 

 

My wine tasting experience consists of Lambrini, between the ages of 14-16. And that one time in Amsterdam I wanted to be fancy, and bought some red wine with my steak. In general wine is just awful. I get those might not be the best experiences to judge from but, wine just never smells good.

 

 

Edited November 4, 2025 by Rafalove

[samptime29]

Definitely need to get Bilbao one day like. Heard nothing but good things about the place.

[Zero]

don’t know why but always feel like Bilbao is Spain’s Newcastle

[BergenMagpie]

Thought their fans would spend their spare time in sunderland due to their unbreakable link and love for each other. Bilbaoblackcats and all that

[pinkeye]

1 minute ago, BergenMagpie said:

Thought their fans would spend their spare time in sunderland due to their unbreakable link and love for each other. Bilbaoblackcats and all that

 

It is quite sad, the weird love affair seems to be pretty one-sided to be honest...   

[ramirez]

I was booked for the euros in Bilbao before covid hit, they didn't even host any games in the end and I only got as far as Wembley.  The videos in the first post are incredible, I had an ST in the east paddock from 92-06 but rarely went to midweek cup games when I was younger, so missed the first one, was one of the few at the Bobby Lee testimonial however.  Looking forward to some nice 'football friend' action tomorrow.

[Benwell Lad]

42 minutes ago, Zero said:

don’t know why but always feel like Bilbao is Spain’s Newcastle

 

It genuinely feels like it. River running through city with a replica of the Millennium bridge, post industrial shipyards and coalmining, strong sense of regional identity, great buzz about the place and it's fair share of rain and very cold winter weather.

San Sebastian is arguably a prettier town (in fact it's stunning) and Santander just along the coast (though not Basque) is beautiful too.

The whole north coast line is mountainous, very green and incredibly beautiful.

[Benwell Lad]

55 minutes ago, Rafalove said:

 

 

My wine tasting experience consists of Lambrini, between the ages of 14-16. And that one time in Amsterdam I wanted to be fancy, and bought some red wine with my steak. In general wine is just awful. I get those might not be the best experiences to judge from but, wine just never smells good.

 

 

 

 

Like being put off beer for life by that first pint of Fosters you had when you were 16 

[HaydnNUFC]

53 minutes ago, Zero said:

don’t know why but always feel like Bilbao is Spain’s Newcastle

 

That's the feeling I got from this;

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cwyne3dnld2o

[Rafalove]

Recommending Greggs?

 

 

 

[HaydnNUFC]

Probably me being a miserable cunt but I find the constant tongue in cheek recommending of Greggs and the Black Garter to people coming to town boring, lifting patter.