Despite being 10,000 or more miles from home, Newcastle United fans will be out in force in Melbourne tomorrow at a fan gathering Down Under. The supporter meeting takes place as Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle lock horns in a friendly game Down Under.
On the eve of the much-publicised friendly in Melbourne, Chronicle Live caught up with fans as they underlined the true meaning of the meeting of Newcastle and Tottenham. The game has been dismissed as a waste of time and a contradiction in the eyes of clubs who feel that too many matches are being demanded from the Premier League’s big boys.
But try telling that to anybody revved up for the game here Down Under. For ex-pats and those fans who have paid thousands just to see their side on Australian soil, this is much, much more than just a corporate operation.
READ MORE: Newcastle’s 29-man Australia squad in full as key men left at home and youngsters given chance
Ex-pat Paul Fitzsimmons told Chronicle Live: “I’m originally from Newcastle born and bread, after many years living there I enjoyed the benefit of watching Newcastle live. I emigrated to Brisbane and brought my boys up on the Gold Coast, they lived their life here and had fantastic life. But they have never forgotten their roots to Newcastle.
“They have enjoyed being passionate fans from being three or four year old. I offered them huge posters when they were kids, one was of David Batty and one was of Alan Shearer, and they picked one each! They have all the shirts from the 90s and every shirt that comes out they buy it. They don’t miss a game, they just love it.”
Paul was eager to bring his family to Melbourne after enjoying a happy and successful life with his wife Deborah on the Gold Coast after moving here in the early 1990s. Paul tells me: “It never leaves you supporting Newcastle. It is your local identity.
“I have live out here over 25 years now. People understand that you have an accent but they are interested where you are from. Football unites everybody here. I just wanted all of my family to enjoy a Newcastle game together.
“I will have goosebumps walking down to the MCG tomorrow. It is a huge effort and a huge thing that Eddie Howe and the boys are playing here. We are thankful that they have squeezed it in. But Australia craves this, Liverpool, Celtic and Aston Villa have been out here. People will turn up and want to turn up to experience the singing and passion of the sport.”
The game at Melbourne Cricket Ground will see thousands of Newcastle fans take part in a Wor Flags display before kick off. There will also be an official fan event in Melbourne on Thursday with the club squeezing a supporter meeting in between both game while out here in Australia.
Jon Fitzsimmons told us: “I came here really early for the fan experience. I wanted to live every moment of seeing my team play live in Australia. Newcastle have never played here in my lifetime, it won’t happen many times in my lifetime. When the opportunity came up we jumped on it.
“It makes a change from getting up at 12am it 1am to watch a game live! I have a 16 month old daughter so that can be challenging. Sometimes I get up early and stay off social media to ensure I can watch a replay of the game not knowing the score but it’s not easy.”
View news Source: https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/it-never-leaves-you-newcastle-29213551
