A year ago my mother was 100 years of age and I decided to celebrate the event by going to first home game of King Kevin Keegan back in charge of the Toon army and found that the only available tickets in the fourth level area, not too high and not too low but above to where I had my season ticket for decade, before moving to other parts of the stadium. It was fate. I hope to recapture the kind of football I first experienced from a high located seat Gallowgate stand on my first visit in the Keegan era.
Going to bed at midnight on Friday I awoke early again and decide to continue the sort out of papers, stuff to throw out, stuff to keep and organise, in tray pending and in tray to do. I will have an early midday proper meal, then take stuff to the tip and park at Heworth, collect my ticket perhaps do some shopping, return to the car to deposit, collect tea for the half time break. However my approach will be flexible taking account of the weather this afternoon. The weather proved to be bright but cold and this affect my approach, There was a time in this Keegan days especially that year 1996 when the league title came without our grasp when one could not await for the next match and Saturdays in particular were built around the match. I decided to go later than first planned, watching the pre match introductions on the BBC and Sky and a lunch of rolls filled with lettuce, tomato and a couple of olives. I left the house at 1.30 and was at the ground after 2pm. In the metro from Heworth where parking has increased from 50pa day to £1.50 over recent years and walking to the ground there was no immediate sense of big match build up. My first task was to locate the box office which used to be in the North West area with windows in the wall near to the main entrances. It is now located in what used to be the ground level of the shop in the South west corner. I was directed to the turnstile level in the South Stand where there are two lots of three windows for the collection of tickets A to L and M to Z but which would not be opened until two hours before the match i.e. 3.15. I decided it was time for a cup of something arm and set off to the shopping centre whenever every the usual places were crowded with Saturday shoppers taking a late lunch break, including the quick do it yourself place within Marks where people were waiting for seats to become vacant. I had bought a copy of the evening chronicle and sat in the bus station to have read before deciding to see if there were was anywhere on the other side of the road. I was able to enjoy a cup of coffee with a custard tart costing £2.55 the price of an all day breakfast or part of a 2 for 1 meal deal.
After collecting the ticket which was something of a relief, I had a look at the changing view across the city. The former Gallowgate bus and coach station is now a several storey stone clad office block. The former Dept of Environment office blocks has been completely transformed probably knocked down and rebuilt from its appearance and the car park next to it had become a major building site although for what is yet to be established.
I then took a first look at the Legends centre and museum which used to be part of the old shop and the first floor area above. Here there are photographs of former winning teams, autographed shirts and of former stars to be bought from £50 upwards or for £10 you have your photograph taken and then implanted into a match playing scene. The cost of the museum is £2 for adults and £1 for juniors and other concession but I was not in the mood, nor was I for Shearers bar which crowded out and showing the cup game against Stoke with the latest results from the Premier League, Sunderland were losing 1.0 against Spurs. The original plan was to have gone back to car and listen to the first half with a flask of coffee. I also had a look to see what the crowd was like in two level club shop were I overhear a conversation between staff that sales looked to be over 100% up on usual match days. Everyone everywhere was being a black and white cardboard hat The Return of the King and I was there 19.1.2008. Some 60 thousand had been quickly manufactured such is the capacity of the club these days.
The hospitality partakers were arriving in the car parks with some built into the North Sir John Hall stand. You can hire the Langley Suit with seats in the Directors Box for around £8500 a band A game for up to 20 guests. (About £6800 for this game )For this you get 4 car parking places, a champagne reception three course meal with house wines lager and soft drinks, Programme, team sheet, badge and ex player interview. Extra drinks you have your own account, hostess and bar staff as well as betting facilities. There is a corner Flag Suite with private balcony seating for the same prices. You can also have a seat in the Director's Box under Club 206 but have to book four places to get a car parking space. You get a three course meal in the lounge area but no champagne reception. The price £250 to £350 plus VAT. There are executive boxes available for 8, 10 or 12 persons for the same price with one car parking per box, a hostess and champagne reception. Seating is in the private balcony.. Those in the boxes and balcony level have a more distant view from pitch than were I was sitting on level four and I felt too distant to feel part of the play. For these prices there are also competitions with prizes to add to the sense of occasion. Club St James offer a hot three course buffet style meal where you have to share a table for ten Prices 200-£250.
I have been to the Magpie Suite which is located in the North West Corner next to the surveillance suite where there are two banks of recording TV monitors which cover every individual seat and the immediate environs to the ground and which were immediately above my location for the game. However I could only afford to watch away games where the three cost meal was £25 compared to £10 for watching a large screen transmission in what was then the only club lounge area. Today for a three course meal with live entertainment sharing a table for 8 the cost is £180 to £225 on match days There is no ex player interview. The Bamburgh Suite meal which can be a hot or cold buffet with seating in the Milbourn stand also offers live entertainment and the man of the match presentation price £170 to £200 plus VAT. You can also buy match popshop from £6825 plus VAT for up to 25 guests where the group can have their photo taken pitch side, there is selection of the match day mascot with photograph and gifts for each guest. I have been a guest on two match parsnip occasions at the former Sunderland ground of Roker Park. The git was a club tie in once instance and cuff links on the other as well as a photograph taken at the dining table.
In addition to these facilities where no club shirts trainers or denims can be worn there are the special club facilities with pre and after match lounges bars and food, large screen TV's team lists and special seating. The Platinum Club £40 to £62 with £40 to £50 for concessionaries; The Sovereign Club £45-£58 £38 to £50, The Sports Bar £37-£45 which is behind the North stand goal for me. Bar 1892 which has pitch side seating £45 £52 less for first row where you can get wet,, Black and White Club £39-£50. These facilities which only provide seats and lounge facilities there cost £750 upwards a season. At the back of the North Stand there is the a lounge with facilities for children including babies with supervision and where the cost for the child can be as low as £5 or £11 for the Category A games.
It is important to be aware of this structure and facilities to understand that first team squad players will earn upwards of £1 million a year and that a top player in club and European and international matches can earn £5-7million a year and that one game at St James will bring in only £2 million plus in ticket and hospitality sales less the cost of staffing, stewarding and other match day running costs such as ex player fees, entertainments, gifts, turnstile operators and programme sellers, floodlights etc. With TV rights payments and merchandising across the world the level of buy new players and their wages could not be met. The emphasise on code of dress is fascinating as the new owner of Newcastle United wear a club shirt stands up and dances when his teams scores a goal, has sat with fans at away games and goes out to the bars and clubs after games to talk to the fans.
When Kevin states that there is something different about Newcastle as a club, even from Sunderland it is difficult to be precise about from the days when the majority of those attending games were coal miners, shipyard workers and other who worked in manual labour for their wages. Now the composition of those attending games has changed given the increase in the number of single and married women attending as well as female children. in the past Newcastle had a thing about flamboyant centre forwards but over recent decades the appearance of flair players such as Ginola, Asprilla, Lua Lua, Beardsley, Waddle and others has added a further dimension which became encapsulated in the suicidal defensive romantic performances achieved in the Keegan era at Newcastle. This was expressed on the Sky Sunday Supplement as the difference between those watching Sunderland which has always been primarily a work class we want to wan supporting club and Newcastle which since its development has been more of a middle class entertain us environment.
It will be regarded as perverse that having spent so much time on scene setting so little devoted is to the game which was a 0.0 draw where Bolton were the better team in the first half because of their defensive organisational skill and could have nicked the winner in the dying seconds. I did not feel that I was close enough to the action from my location to make a judgement except that there was an air of disappointment and flatness in the ground within a few minutes the start. I felt happier after watching the replay this morning. I had intended to watch the match on Satanta at midnight. What happened is that on arriving home after a prolonged journey at Haymarket station a whisky, a large Tex Mex is that I went sleep on the settee at 9.30 woke just after 10.30 and when I had got myself together I had missed the match on the programme, only being able to hear the chat in which Alan Shearer admitted he had spoken to Keegan and would speak again after returning to England at the end of this week. I decided on going to bed and slept well; with the usual break until after 6am. This morning there was opportunity to watch and record Match of the Day, the Sunday Supplement discussion and then the greater part of the replay of the game on Satanta, which overlapped the discussion programme. The discussion and the Sunday papers review revealed that on he previous Friday Keegan had been open about the coldness which developed between him and Alan after Keegan had failed to attend his testimonial farewell evening. Keegan had been on a family holiday in the USA but could have taken a plane return plane ride given what international players and their managers. It was also suggested that Keegan had been upset that after deciding to come to Newcastle from Blackburn and not Manchester where it is said he also had the opportunity to join subsequently. It cannot be denied that Keegan is wholeheartedly emotional in everything that he does, but tends to go off when things do not go his way, he loses interest or is engaged with something else. I have had my reservations about Alan who liked the team to revolve around himself and to win, but what not as committed to the flair and individuality as Keegan or to others. For example one never felt he was at home with Lua Lua or Bellamy. What cannot be denied is what Keegan achieved during his years at Newcastle a series of thrilling games with what is still regarded as perhaps the greatest game of the Premiership so far the 4.3 win by Liverpool at Liverpool. In some sixty years of watching football this was the time when I could not wait for each game to come. There were some great moments at Sunderland when survival or promotion was at stake and great disappointments. Emotions soared and plummeted but there were times watching Keegan's Newcastle which can only be described as football ecstasy. Alan Shearer always impressed with his work rate and commitment and his goal scoring record merit's the praise that he has been given. My view is that two men complement each other and could make a formidable team. There is something of the Tony Blair and Gordon Brown situation which needs a clear agreement between the two from the outset. I hope it happens.
However this is secondary to the main question. Can Kevin do it the second time around. The basic problem is that world class performance are unlikely to be attracted to move from the top European Teams to Newcastle knowing there is no prospect of Champions League football next season, and with European Cup competition unlikely as there is the next round game against Arsenal away next Saturday. The issue is whether the home crowd will be willing to accept some better performances than they have experienced since Sir Bobby got the club in to the Champions League but more draws and some loses so that the club may finish in the top half but outside European places. Much will depend on the quality of any purchases during the next fortnight and those made in the Summer. Usually in this situation it will not be until the second full season that the team becomes that of the Manager and if successful as a unit then a challenge in the Premiership can be mounted to achieve a top four position as well as reaching the final and wining now and again a domestic cup competition. However it is not clear that Keegan, the owner and the crowd would accept what in effect will be another two years before reaching the top flight again. They were not prepared to give Sam Alladyce the time because of the style of play and the lack of major performer or two who could grip the imagination. In part because of injury but also his on field personality is such that Michael Owen has not delivered nor would I anticipate his ability to do so. I would swap him for the Spurs man whose name I do not know how to spell ( Dmitri Berbatov) or even less likely Chelsea's leading front man, Didier Drogba. Even Bellamy offered more. What no one disputes is that Keegan's openness during games and with the press has ignited football and the media and replaced the hole left by the departure of Murinho.
I fear for Sunderland's survival and Mr Keane appears to be more and more depressed and his failure to bring in the two or three necessary players suggests that rumour about his lack of man management may have some foundation. The home games against Birmingham Tuesday week and Wigan ten days later must be won, especially as we will not expect anything from the visit to Liverpool.
This morning I spent an hour working on the kitchen sinks and work tops and had intended to devote more time to get the kitchen clean and in good order, the flooring in particular needs attention. After an excellent roast chicken lunch with a full glass of wine the afternoon had to be written off. It has been a self indulgent day and there will have to be better resolve and application from tomorrow. As one of the romantic heroine's in Sense and Sensibility declared in the repeat showing in the evening. You have to judge not on what people day, however fine their speeches, but on what they do.
Going to bed at midnight on Friday I awoke early again and decide to continue the sort out of papers, stuff to throw out, stuff to keep and organise, in tray pending and in tray to do. I will have an early midday proper meal, then take stuff to the tip and park at Heworth, collect my ticket perhaps do some shopping, return to the car to deposit, collect tea for the half time break. However my approach will be flexible taking account of the weather this afternoon. The weather proved to be bright but cold and this affect my approach, There was a time in this Keegan days especially that year 1996 when the league title came without our grasp when one could not await for the next match and Saturdays in particular were built around the match. I decided to go later than first planned, watching the pre match introductions on the BBC and Sky and a lunch of rolls filled with lettuce, tomato and a couple of olives. I left the house at 1.30 and was at the ground after 2pm. In the metro from Heworth where parking has increased from 50pa day to £1.50 over recent years and walking to the ground there was no immediate sense of big match build up. My first task was to locate the box office which used to be in the North West area with windows in the wall near to the main entrances. It is now located in what used to be the ground level of the shop in the South west corner. I was directed to the turnstile level in the South Stand where there are two lots of three windows for the collection of tickets A to L and M to Z but which would not be opened until two hours before the match i.e. 3.15. I decided it was time for a cup of something arm and set off to the shopping centre whenever every the usual places were crowded with Saturday shoppers taking a late lunch break, including the quick do it yourself place within Marks where people were waiting for seats to become vacant. I had bought a copy of the evening chronicle and sat in the bus station to have read before deciding to see if there were was anywhere on the other side of the road. I was able to enjoy a cup of coffee with a custard tart costing £2.55 the price of an all day breakfast or part of a 2 for 1 meal deal.
After collecting the ticket which was something of a relief, I had a look at the changing view across the city. The former Gallowgate bus and coach station is now a several storey stone clad office block. The former Dept of Environment office blocks has been completely transformed probably knocked down and rebuilt from its appearance and the car park next to it had become a major building site although for what is yet to be established.
I then took a first look at the Legends centre and museum which used to be part of the old shop and the first floor area above. Here there are photographs of former winning teams, autographed shirts and of former stars to be bought from £50 upwards or for £10 you have your photograph taken and then implanted into a match playing scene. The cost of the museum is £2 for adults and £1 for juniors and other concession but I was not in the mood, nor was I for Shearers bar which crowded out and showing the cup game against Stoke with the latest results from the Premier League, Sunderland were losing 1.0 against Spurs. The original plan was to have gone back to car and listen to the first half with a flask of coffee. I also had a look to see what the crowd was like in two level club shop were I overhear a conversation between staff that sales looked to be over 100% up on usual match days. Everyone everywhere was being a black and white cardboard hat The Return of the King and I was there 19.1.2008. Some 60 thousand had been quickly manufactured such is the capacity of the club these days.
The hospitality partakers were arriving in the car parks with some built into the North Sir John Hall stand. You can hire the Langley Suit with seats in the Directors Box for around £8500 a band A game for up to 20 guests. (About £6800 for this game )For this you get 4 car parking places, a champagne reception three course meal with house wines lager and soft drinks, Programme, team sheet, badge and ex player interview. Extra drinks you have your own account, hostess and bar staff as well as betting facilities. There is a corner Flag Suite with private balcony seating for the same prices. You can also have a seat in the Director's Box under Club 206 but have to book four places to get a car parking space. You get a three course meal in the lounge area but no champagne reception. The price £250 to £350 plus VAT. There are executive boxes available for 8, 10 or 12 persons for the same price with one car parking per box, a hostess and champagne reception. Seating is in the private balcony.. Those in the boxes and balcony level have a more distant view from pitch than were I was sitting on level four and I felt too distant to feel part of the play. For these prices there are also competitions with prizes to add to the sense of occasion. Club St James offer a hot three course buffet style meal where you have to share a table for ten Prices 200-£250.
I have been to the Magpie Suite which is located in the North West Corner next to the surveillance suite where there are two banks of recording TV monitors which cover every individual seat and the immediate environs to the ground and which were immediately above my location for the game. However I could only afford to watch away games where the three cost meal was £25 compared to £10 for watching a large screen transmission in what was then the only club lounge area. Today for a three course meal with live entertainment sharing a table for 8 the cost is £180 to £225 on match days There is no ex player interview. The Bamburgh Suite meal which can be a hot or cold buffet with seating in the Milbourn stand also offers live entertainment and the man of the match presentation price £170 to £200 plus VAT. You can also buy match popshop from £6825 plus VAT for up to 25 guests where the group can have their photo taken pitch side, there is selection of the match day mascot with photograph and gifts for each guest. I have been a guest on two match parsnip occasions at the former Sunderland ground of Roker Park. The git was a club tie in once instance and cuff links on the other as well as a photograph taken at the dining table.
In addition to these facilities where no club shirts trainers or denims can be worn there are the special club facilities with pre and after match lounges bars and food, large screen TV's team lists and special seating. The Platinum Club £40 to £62 with £40 to £50 for concessionaries; The Sovereign Club £45-£58 £38 to £50, The Sports Bar £37-£45 which is behind the North stand goal for me. Bar 1892 which has pitch side seating £45 £52 less for first row where you can get wet,, Black and White Club £39-£50. These facilities which only provide seats and lounge facilities there cost £750 upwards a season. At the back of the North Stand there is the a lounge with facilities for children including babies with supervision and where the cost for the child can be as low as £5 or £11 for the Category A games.
It is important to be aware of this structure and facilities to understand that first team squad players will earn upwards of £1 million a year and that a top player in club and European and international matches can earn £5-7million a year and that one game at St James will bring in only £2 million plus in ticket and hospitality sales less the cost of staffing, stewarding and other match day running costs such as ex player fees, entertainments, gifts, turnstile operators and programme sellers, floodlights etc. With TV rights payments and merchandising across the world the level of buy new players and their wages could not be met. The emphasise on code of dress is fascinating as the new owner of Newcastle United wear a club shirt stands up and dances when his teams scores a goal, has sat with fans at away games and goes out to the bars and clubs after games to talk to the fans.
When Kevin states that there is something different about Newcastle as a club, even from Sunderland it is difficult to be precise about from the days when the majority of those attending games were coal miners, shipyard workers and other who worked in manual labour for their wages. Now the composition of those attending games has changed given the increase in the number of single and married women attending as well as female children. in the past Newcastle had a thing about flamboyant centre forwards but over recent decades the appearance of flair players such as Ginola, Asprilla, Lua Lua, Beardsley, Waddle and others has added a further dimension which became encapsulated in the suicidal defensive romantic performances achieved in the Keegan era at Newcastle. This was expressed on the Sky Sunday Supplement as the difference between those watching Sunderland which has always been primarily a work class we want to wan supporting club and Newcastle which since its development has been more of a middle class entertain us environment.
It will be regarded as perverse that having spent so much time on scene setting so little devoted is to the game which was a 0.0 draw where Bolton were the better team in the first half because of their defensive organisational skill and could have nicked the winner in the dying seconds. I did not feel that I was close enough to the action from my location to make a judgement except that there was an air of disappointment and flatness in the ground within a few minutes the start. I felt happier after watching the replay this morning. I had intended to watch the match on Satanta at midnight. What happened is that on arriving home after a prolonged journey at Haymarket station a whisky, a large Tex Mex is that I went sleep on the settee at 9.30 woke just after 10.30 and when I had got myself together I had missed the match on the programme, only being able to hear the chat in which Alan Shearer admitted he had spoken to Keegan and would speak again after returning to England at the end of this week. I decided on going to bed and slept well; with the usual break until after 6am. This morning there was opportunity to watch and record Match of the Day, the Sunday Supplement discussion and then the greater part of the replay of the game on Satanta, which overlapped the discussion programme. The discussion and the Sunday papers review revealed that on he previous Friday Keegan had been open about the coldness which developed between him and Alan after Keegan had failed to attend his testimonial farewell evening. Keegan had been on a family holiday in the USA but could have taken a plane return plane ride given what international players and their managers. It was also suggested that Keegan had been upset that after deciding to come to Newcastle from Blackburn and not Manchester where it is said he also had the opportunity to join subsequently. It cannot be denied that Keegan is wholeheartedly emotional in everything that he does, but tends to go off when things do not go his way, he loses interest or is engaged with something else. I have had my reservations about Alan who liked the team to revolve around himself and to win, but what not as committed to the flair and individuality as Keegan or to others. For example one never felt he was at home with Lua Lua or Bellamy. What cannot be denied is what Keegan achieved during his years at Newcastle a series of thrilling games with what is still regarded as perhaps the greatest game of the Premiership so far the 4.3 win by Liverpool at Liverpool. In some sixty years of watching football this was the time when I could not wait for each game to come. There were some great moments at Sunderland when survival or promotion was at stake and great disappointments. Emotions soared and plummeted but there were times watching Keegan's Newcastle which can only be described as football ecstasy. Alan Shearer always impressed with his work rate and commitment and his goal scoring record merit's the praise that he has been given. My view is that two men complement each other and could make a formidable team. There is something of the Tony Blair and Gordon Brown situation which needs a clear agreement between the two from the outset. I hope it happens.
However this is secondary to the main question. Can Kevin do it the second time around. The basic problem is that world class performance are unlikely to be attracted to move from the top European Teams to Newcastle knowing there is no prospect of Champions League football next season, and with European Cup competition unlikely as there is the next round game against Arsenal away next Saturday. The issue is whether the home crowd will be willing to accept some better performances than they have experienced since Sir Bobby got the club in to the Champions League but more draws and some loses so that the club may finish in the top half but outside European places. Much will depend on the quality of any purchases during the next fortnight and those made in the Summer. Usually in this situation it will not be until the second full season that the team becomes that of the Manager and if successful as a unit then a challenge in the Premiership can be mounted to achieve a top four position as well as reaching the final and wining now and again a domestic cup competition. However it is not clear that Keegan, the owner and the crowd would accept what in effect will be another two years before reaching the top flight again. They were not prepared to give Sam Alladyce the time because of the style of play and the lack of major performer or two who could grip the imagination. In part because of injury but also his on field personality is such that Michael Owen has not delivered nor would I anticipate his ability to do so. I would swap him for the Spurs man whose name I do not know how to spell ( Dmitri Berbatov) or even less likely Chelsea's leading front man, Didier Drogba. Even Bellamy offered more. What no one disputes is that Keegan's openness during games and with the press has ignited football and the media and replaced the hole left by the departure of Murinho.
I fear for Sunderland's survival and Mr Keane appears to be more and more depressed and his failure to bring in the two or three necessary players suggests that rumour about his lack of man management may have some foundation. The home games against Birmingham Tuesday week and Wigan ten days later must be won, especially as we will not expect anything from the visit to Liverpool.
This morning I spent an hour working on the kitchen sinks and work tops and had intended to devote more time to get the kitchen clean and in good order, the flooring in particular needs attention. After an excellent roast chicken lunch with a full glass of wine the afternoon had to be written off. It has been a self indulgent day and there will have to be better resolve and application from tomorrow. As one of the romantic heroine's in Sense and Sensibility declared in the repeat showing in the evening. You have to judge not on what people day, however fine their speeches, but on what they do.
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