7 Games Ba None - Newcastle vs Wigan (3)

You can donate to our Just Giving page where all funds will go to Oscar Knox here: http://www.justgiving.com/7ma7ches7coun7ries7days

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.

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.

"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.

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.

Have A Heart - Hibs vs Hearts (2)

You can donate to our JustGiving page where all funds will go to Oscar Knox here http://www.justgiving.com/7ma7ches7coun7ries7days

(Note: This post is regarding travelling to the Hibs vs Hearts game on the Sunday, internet problems prevented getting it up- the Newcastle Monday night game post will be up shortly).

First of all, apologies for not updating last night. Intended to on the train back to Manchester, but my battery died, so it never happened. Jamie & Dean had a nice early flight up to Edinburgh, having to be at Luton for 6.30am.  Dean wisely made it to bed for 2 the night before, so he was off to a flyer.


I had a much more reasonable start, setting off for a 9am train out of Piccadilly. Keeping in contact with those 2 the whole journey, I admit to being a little bit jealous when I was receiving pictures of them drinking German beers at the Edinburgh station, even if it was only 10am. About 15 mins from pulling into Edinburgh station, the driver announced that we'd come to a stop because he'd hit a 'large bird' & it had taken out the windscreen! What else can you do but laugh at something like that?

The beer I was envious of Dean and Jamie supping.

Having arrived in Edinburgh, I was blown away. I've always liked it as a city, but I'd only ever been in the spring/summer months. Edinburgh in the winter is something else. It was crisp, but not particularly cold, the Christmas markets & shopping was in full flow, & the atmosphere brilliant. Seeing all those old buildings, the hills & the Firth of Forth in that light was fantastic. l genuinely fell in love with the city & was gutted to set off back for Manchester after the game.

After meeting the lads for a swift pint (in a wetherspoons, no less- great taste of Edinburgh's culture,eh?) & ticking Tennents off my list of local beers (I know, but I was gasping at this stage) we had our pre-match Jager's & headed off for the Port of Leith.

I'm a big fan of Irvine Welsh's writing & was really looking forward to this part,as most of his books are set in & around here. I don't know whether I was looking romantically at Edinburgh, or if it was because every inch of the Leith walk was bouncing in anticipation of derby day, but Leith was fantastic. The characters we spoke to & the humor was fantastic. Every single one of the old pubs were calling me in, but we had a game to get to.

A shot before the trip of the flag - look out for some better ones in future posts.

We turned up at the turnstiles bang on kick off, having taken a wrong turn towards the away end. My bag was searched & they made a few calls to the control room to check the flag was ok. The stewards gave it the ok but just as I was going through,a call came down saying the flag couldn't be hung,as it was a televised game & Sky regarded this as 'advertising'. Unbelievable. We'd already explained what the cause was, but the argument was that if this was allowed,every one would be bringing a flag promoting a charity. Fair point, but I fail to see the issue with that. As Jamie said, I'd much rather see things like that at the football than ads for McDonalds, Budweiser or William Hill. However, that's a debate for another time.



They tried to confiscate the flag but as we'd already discussed this with Hibs, they hadn't a leg to stand on. We eventually reached the compromise,that the flag could be displayed at half time, but we were told in no uncertain terms that if the cameras pick up on it,we'd be thrown out, & the flag would be taken.  So that was that. As it was, the flag raised a lot of interest amongst Hibs fans anyway,which was the initial goal with all this, before tv came into it. The more football fans that are asking about Oscar Knox, the better.

'Easter Road was a better stadium than I anticipated'

As for the game itself, it was impressive. Easter Road was a better stadium than I anticipated & the place was understandably rocking for a cup derby. The usual tribal insults being hurled back & forth kept us amused, but the game itself wasn't too hot. First half, I felt that Hearts just bullied a young Hibs side (didn't realise how young their team was) but Hibs did have a few tricky little players that could cause a few problems. The second half started the same, but Hibs got better & better as it went on & I thought that Ivan Sproule coming on as a late sub gave them the impetus they needed. I may be biased as Ivan's a Tyrone man, but that's my opinion. 80+ mins on the clock & Hibs flashed a shot across the bows & by all accounts, Hearts' skipper & panto villain Zalaouskis, turned it into his Own Goal. The place went mental & it was brilliant to be in amongst that. Dean even had a spell goading the hearts fans down to our left, as well as a few hearts players taking throw ins right in front of us.

The celebrations at the end were class & the manager, Pat Fenlon made a point of coming to every corner of the ground to applaud the support.

The walk back down Leith was electric, but after stopping off in the club shop for a little souvenir, I had just half an hour to get back to Waverley station,so we started legging it through Leith following Jamie's maps on his phone. We inadvertently ran straight into the police escorting the Hearts fans back to town & I've no idea how we ended up amongst them. It was a little tense & a couple of fans made a run to get through the barricade but on the whole, it was mainly just verbal abuse.

We made it into town, with a few minutes to make the train, so we're off running again. Jamie tearing up those steep Edinburgh hills was something but once we got to Waverley he took an entire staircase in a single bound. Shook up quite a few Christmas shoppers, that one. Credit where it's due, he took it like a man in his early 30's, let alone late. It was all to no avail anyway, as the train had long gone by the time I got there. So,after a trip to KFC, I said my goodbyes & left those 2 to enjoy the night out in Edinburgh. So I ended the day just as I'd started; jealous.

Oscar's Flag Mentioned on The Anfield Wrap

The reason for my trip back to Manchester was for work. Back in there for 7am this morning, absolutely manic day tying up loose ends before setting off, then a dash to Piccadilly for a train to Newcastle, where (I was) currently writing this.

Jamie & Dean are already there, so I've got to drop my luggage off somewhere when I get in, get over to the ground, get some pics taken outside the ground with the flag before going through this rigmarole of getting the flag in again. Tonight's a crucial point for us, because having failed at City, & having only achieving half the goal at Hibs, it's our last chance to polish our technique before we hit Paris tomorrow there, there'll be no chance of talking our way in, even if the flag is, as the French would say, Bonnet de Douche.

I'm honestly a little nervous, as the games on Sky again, so expecting the same response as Hibs, but that's why it's a challenge. The t-shirts will be out tonight & they are bright (Jamie's going topless, in keeping with Geordie traditions).

Straight after the game, we're on the Dara O'Briain overnight bus to Glasgow (checking into our digs at 3am) to get our 12 o'clock flight to Paris. I'm sure there'll be plenty to add to this by then, least of all the tales of Jamie & Dean's night out in Leith.

For anyone who hasn't read this blog before, we are trying to take a flag to 7 football games in 7 days in 7 different countries, to raise awareness,& money, for the Oscar Knox Appeal. Oscar is a young boy from Northern Ireland who has severe Neuroblastoma & desperately needs money to help him,& other children with this disease.

Please read oscar's blog here

http://oscarknox.blogspot.co.uk/?m=1

You can donate to our JustGiving page for Oscar Knox here http://www.justgiving.com/7ma7ches7coun7ries7days

We are funding this entire trip ourselves & 100% of what you donate will go to Oscar's Appeal. Although we were initially hesitant to be raising money whilst having a glorified holiday, so many good people have come forward to us, that it would be sinful to refuse.