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St James' is the best away trip in the league - The Observer (supplement)


WarrenBartonCentrePartin

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just for a bit of alternative discussion, we get 9/10 and are considered to be the best away trip.  Here's what their little piece had to say...

 

What's it like?

Full of half-nude Geordies with moobs.  Brilliant cathedral-like ground looming over the city, all stands enclosed with distinct, slightly uneven stands.  Features the largest cantilevered structure in Europe for the beardies to admire, and its still full of character.

 

And the away end?

The sky.  It's up 14 flights of stairs at the top of the St John Hall Stand.  Room for 3,000.  Great views of the city, but you're a long way from the pitch - shirt numbers can be a blur.  Good acoustics, though, and the legroom  and steepness of the tier are perfect.

 

To Eat...Football's famous chicken balti pie?

Yes, plus the usuals in all branded Toon packaging, served in big concourses full of plasma screens.  Decent facilities.

 

Where to drink?

There's beer in the ground, but there's no reason to drink there when the billions of pubs and bars in town are a short walk away.  Most away fans tend to congregate near the station.

 

Make a weekend of it - the best local attractions

Saturday night in the Bigg Market.  Marvel as semi-naked youths pub-crawl in deep midwinter.  Or for a more sedate trip, stay in Whitley Bay.

 

Best home fans chant

"Me brother's in Borstal, me sister's got pox, me mother's a hooker down Hartlepool docks, me aunty got murdered, me uncle went mad, and Jack the Ripper's me dad. Lalalalalalalalalalala TOON!"  Must say I've never heard that one

 

In local pub row, don't insult...

Shearer's not boring on TV, Peter Beardsley isn't ugly and Gazza's not mad.

 

Overall trip rating

9.  Doesn't get much better than this.  Massive ground, city-centre location, huge range of pubs and usually ultra-friendly, in a non-cheesy way.  It's a must-visit.

 

 

The list in full...

 

Newcastle - 9

Everton & Villa - 8

Villa, Portsmouth, mackems, West Ham, Spurs, Birmingham - 7

Man Utd & Arsenal - 6

Bolton, Chelsea, Liverpool, Reading - 5

Blackburn & Man City - 4

Wigan & Derby - 3

smogs - 1

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Guest BooBoo

Everton an 8???

 

Have they never been in the away end?

 

Like looking through a letter box. One of the worst views in the Premier League.

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Yes we do have a great stadium and the best party city in Europe to go with it, and I like to think we are a friendly lot  to most fans anyway!

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Everton is a f*cking horrid away day. Crap facilities in a crap ground in the crappiest area of a crap city. Not that many pubs around, if you want food, then it's a manky Burger van, McDonalds, or what's available inside the ground - which isn't great.

 

Liverpool - similar, maybe slightly more food wise as there's a chippy beside the ground, but then again there were rats in the lane behind.

 

Haven't been to Villa for ages, but have been a few times in the past, and found it OK, but nothing particularly fantastic.

 

Wigan - a bit boring, only one pub beside the ground, although it was a cracking atmosphere in there.

 

Arsenal, don't know about the Emirates, but going to Highbury was canny.

 

Man U - so-so.

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What IS the best away day, then?

 

Always fancied going to Barca or Milan for an away game - preferably the semi-final of the champions league

 

I meant in the EPL. Never been to one myself. :D

 

I've been to the San Siro though, albeit empty. A Milan/Roma game (which apparantely generates a more ferocious atmosphere than a Milan derby), i anticipate would be as intimidating as fuck. It's a simply vast stadium.

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From an away perspective, one good thing about Newcastle is that, although a few probably do, I'm not sure, the majority of pubs couldn't care less if you're an away fan or not. Obviously, for certain fixtures they will enforce a door policy but for your average away fan from further south than Middlesbrough, you can go in just about any pub in the town, even with a shirt on.

 

When I went to Spurs a couple of year ago, it's in a busy part of London with loads of pubs around... but none of them will fucking let you in.

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Guest firetotheworks

 

That site is so badly layed out. Anyone know how to get to the list of all the teams?

 

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/sport/story/0,,2142776,00.html

 

I meant more like this, http://observer.guardian.co.uk/sport/story/0,,2142840,00.html

I found the Portsmouth one by searching for it, but all of them arent found through the search function

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What IS the best away day, then?

 

Always fancied going to Barca or Milan for an away game - preferably the semi-final of the champions league

 

The club paid for us to have a free day in Barcelona when our Champions' League tie was postponed for rain until the next day. It was fucking mint.

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