Sunday saw the final Newcastle United game of the season played out.
This brought our 2025/26 total of NUFC matches watched live up to five .
This season we only got two St James’ Park home games (one Premier League and one FA Cup) in the ballot so a pretty poor return on our membership.
Sunday we were in the Putney End right next to the away support, though me and my lad’s tickets had cost north of a hundred quid for the pair of us.
Pizza and beers in Bishops Bar before kick off with my Fulham mate and his daft teenage son. Fellow Mag writer Simon Ritter makes a guest appearance and we debate what the possible outcome of this game will be.
Turns out Newcastle United may as well have not turned up. Nothing really to write about in that performance other than we were pleased to see it end.
The group of Newcastle fans in the row in front bid us farewell having seen enough after seventy five minutes.
Photo by Greg McPeake via The Mag
Anyway, season is now over and it is Bank Holiday Monday, so what better way to spend it than the traditional British barbeque. In the back garden of the mother in law’s house on the little council estate in the shadow of the hipster Peckham Levels.
The weekend before last, the journalist Barney Ronay wrote a great article about why Arsenal are so hated across the board. After beating Burnley one nil everything he wrote in that article rung true.
Then this Sunday, Jonathan Liew published a piece about the contradiction that is Arsenal football club. Arsenal is not a physical place (though Herbert Chapman convinced London Underground to change the name of Gillespie Road to Arsenal to try and give them an identity) unlike all the other London football clubs who can call allegiance from their areas. The club is a reflection of London generally. A club geared up to maximising profit and income and has some of the wealthiest supporters. And yet so many Arsenal supporters are of ethnic minority background, or simply from the poorer echelons of London society. Liew points this out highlighting the elitist Islington political set against the council estate kids of North London and how being from Islington was an anti-left insult.
My kids’ Gran is hardcore Arsenal, as are my kids’ uncles. Big uncle Kilechi the most vociferous lifelong Arsenal supporter and a great litmus test on how the real Arsenal fans are thinking. So over the burgers and sausages the conversation is obviously football and of course the title winning Arsenal team, or more importantly the manner of their victories.
Kilechi, just like the Arsenal fans I met on the train up to Newcastle at the start of the season, believed or hoped that Arteta would be sacked. The Arteta style of play is not what the real Arsenal supporters want. Kilechi was disgusted by their capitulation and lack of quality in the cup final against Man City. But when push comes to shove the bottom line is a victory is a victory and winning a trophy is what it is all about. So he says. A footballing mentality I can understand but really can not roll with.
The Arsenal of old were a terrible team to watch. They won trophies. If Jack Charlton had won us trophies back in the eighties in the same manner would we have been happy? I don’t think so. Sack Jack was the chant of the moment.
When we beat Liverpool to win the Carabao cup we played some great football. That is what I expect from a Newcastle team. The horrible clueless Arsenal supporters are welcome to their turgid winning team. Bring on next season.