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


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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.

I went to that one, luckily we were there for 4 nights anyway (including the following day) so we were ok. I didn't realise you'd gone. I love Barcelona, great place.

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Boro is a proper s*** away day like.

Aye, hope they go down.

The 2 headed mutants aren't very welcoming and you always get made to hang around a car park for ages by the local coppers as you approach the horrible place.

Oh, and all those chemicals in the air too.

Please go down this season.

 

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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

it's actually "me uncles got rabies,me aunties gone mad"

 

 

 

fucking observer for ya!

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Guest nufcandy

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

it's actually "me uncles got rabies,me aunties gone mad"

 

 

 

f****** observer for ya!

 

its a tune like, first heard it from scud when he sat near me a few season back

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he was/is mint, was gutted when he went up in the gods

miss the dodgy keeper chants for every goal kick..

 

He's the solo guy i could always hear from the opposite end of the ground?

 

Dodgey keepaaaaaaaaaaaa  :lol:

 

What's with villa at joint second? And aye, pompy's crap - impossible to make an atmosphere

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he was/is mint, was gutted when he went up in the gods

miss the dodgy keeper chants for every goal kick..

there is a dodgy keeper soloist in the gallowgate middle tier aswell

would this be the fellow who wears the 96 grandad collar top, often chants alone during games and is more often than not mortal, but also fuckin hilarious?

dunno,sits behind me in an over the shoulder type way,half way up the middle tier,on line with the left hand (as we look from the stand) goal post.
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My favorite away trip is Fulham. Old style ground, with an Archibald Leitch stand, without a doubt the most impressive location, a cramped, old fashioned away end, plus the neutral end next to it which always ends up being 90 percent away supporters.

 

It might be an old, small, run down ground, but if you get Fulham away towards the end of the season, and the weather is good, there really are fewer better football trip experiences.

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Guest andynufc84

I really enjoyed portsmouth last season, cracking boozers, hot sunny wheather and good banter

 

Tin pot ground but give me that over any flat pack.

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Guest andynufc84

Tin pot ground but give me that over any flat pack.

 

That's another favourite of mine. And I couldn't agree more about the flat packs. Compare and contrast the Reebok and Boro to Fulham and Portsmouth.

 

Aye, the likes of the JJB and  Riverside are truly awful. Souless.

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Guest Southern Geordie

Think Spurs and reading are far too high up. Feck all to do around their grounds! Any idea where fulham came? That's got to rate quite highly

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he was/is mint, was gutted when he went up in the gods

miss the dodgy keeper chants for every goal kick..

there is a dodgy keeper soloist in the gallowgate middle tier aswell

would this be the fellow who wears the 96 grandad collar top, often chants alone during games and is more often than not mortal, but also fuckin hilarious?

dunno,sits behind me in an over the shoulder type way,half way up the middle tier,on line with the left hand (as we look from the stand) goal post.

could well be the same person.  He always brings humour to the games
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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.

 

There's probably more chippys, cafes and fast food chains on Goodison Road and Walton/County Road than the whole district of Anfield. Did you go round with a blindfold on?

 

There's tons of pubs as well- Winslow, Spellow, Elm, Brick, Harlech Castle, County, Thomas Frost, Orry's and a few others. Especially compared to places like Wigan which you praise for it's pubs. Not sure what most of them are like for letting away fans in though?

 

The views are terrible mind.

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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.

 

There's probably more chippys, cafes and fast food chains on Goodison Road and Walton/County Road than the whole district of Anfield. Did you go round with a blindfold on?

 

There's tons of pubs as well- Winslow, Spellow, Elm, Brick, Harlech Castle, County, Thomas Frost, Orry's and a few others. Especially compared to places like Wigan which you praise for it's pubs. Not sure what most of them are like for letting away fans in though?

 

The views are terrible mind.

 

Dunno about the other pubs but we drank in Orry's last year pre match before we played you lot, no problem at all.

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