I've got an admission to make here. When it comes to English football, I hate 91 clubs in the football league, just on a sliding scale. Some weekends, when Everton struggle, I hate 92. Newcastle Utd have massively altered my viewpoint on English football in general, especially after last night's game.
As a club they couldn't do enough for us. As football fans and more importantly as people, they couldn't ask enough about Oscar's appeal, & they completely got what we were trying to achieve.
Having once again met up with Jamie & Dean at Newcastle station, we stored my luggage at the bus depot & made our way to St James' Park, stopping off to try a few bottles of Newcie Broon, & the customary pre-match Jäger-bombs.
Having struggled a little at Man City & Hibs,we were determined to make sure the flag could be seen clearly on TV, so we had a change of tact going in. We decided not to take any pictures outside & draw attention to the flag until we were inside the ground. We needn't have bothered. Once inside the ground, we made our intentions clear to the stewards & they couldn't help us enough.
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| Myself, Jamie and Dean with the flag post match |
They agreed we could hang the flag on a rail a few rows in front of our seats,directly behind the goal in the Gallowgate end. Unfortunately, due to a massive Barclaycard hoarding,we only had 6ft of space to hang a 10ft flag, & as it only has toggles on the 4 corners, it inevitably sagged massively in the middle.
We agreed that the flag wouldn't be interfered with during the game, to avoid irritating other spectators, & as there was a howling gale blowing through the Gallowgate, the flag drooped as Demba Ba rolled a penalty into the exact corner where the flag was. This picture of Gary Neville on Sky would've been perfect if it was displayed properly. But here is one below from a friend who caught it on a football stream.
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| "The flag drooped as Demba Ba rolled a penalty into the exact corner where the flag was" |
Having touched on earlier how great the Newcastle fans were, I must admit that when Ba scored a second, I was up & out of my seat,celebrating. Not like I would celebrate an Everton goal, I have to say, but at least on a par with a goal someone else would score against Liverpool.
Half time came & my phone was going mad, with people saying they'd seen the flag,but we knew it wasn't visible enough to get the message across. we tried to sort the flag out. Someone managed to find some gaffer tape to secure the middle & we were sorted. The flag was much better now, & gave us this result which was apparently put onto Oscar's FB page, which is pleasing.
People were having their pictures taken with us & the flag, & it'll be interesting to see if those pics turn up on the web anywhere to help spread the word. We have been handing out little laminated cards, that my wife has lovingly hand made, which contained Oscar's blog web address & a little bit of info on what we are trying to achieve through this.
As Maynor Figueroa had been sent off in the first half, they were never going to threaten our end, & we were just hoping for glimpses on goal kicks & that. Newcastle added a third to completely kill the game off. Great goal by the no. 20, I have to say, but I've still no idea who he is.
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| One of the goal kicks that the flag was visible in the 2nd half on TV |
After the game, as we were packing the flag away, a Newcastle fan from Belfast came over. He told us he'd held a fundraiser in the Davitt's club in Belfast for Oscar's appeal, raising over £1500, so well done that man.
After the game,we had a mad dash to get away, as we had to get an overnight bus to Glasgow. The bus was duly half an hour late & we arrived at our hotel in Glasgow at about 4am, having to be up at 8 to make our way to Paris.
Taking our continental breakfasts with us, our train arrived into Prestwick airport, as we were still eating bowls of cornflakes on it, such was our rush. In the midst of all this, despite being still in the UK, I'm really struggling to get online. I only have my phone for internet & haven't had a second to sleep barely, let alone get to an internet cafe, so to those who have been e-mailing, tweeting, facebooking etc, I apologise but will get onto it as soon as I get the chance.
Despite this, we see the news coming through on TV that an Assistant Referee has been killed in Holland, & all Dutch games will be called off this weekend as a mark of respect. So Saturday, won't be involving Ajax now.
However, Paris is our priority & it's my biggest concern. We're landing, less than 5 hrs before kick off, at Paris Beauvais, which is 60 miles from Central Paris. We have to pick up our bags, check into our hotel, drop the bags off, then get straight off to the stadium. We don't have any tickets yet either,as they would only sell them as part of a package with 2 other Ligue 1 games. No use to us, & €150 each was too rich for our blood anyway. We don't speak the language,& even if we do get in,we have the renewed challenge of getting the flag in & hung without upsetting the locals. No pressure then.
Watch out for news of the Paris match in the next blog.
As always please read Oscar's blog here http://oscarknox.blogspot.co.uk/?m=1
Please donate to our Just Giving page for Oscar Knox here http://www.justgiving.com/7ma7ches7coun7ries7days
And again in case you are unsure, the trip has been funded 100% by ourselves, but we are using it to raise awareness of Oscar Knox's plight and hopefully help raise funds for his treatment.
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