This past Thursday, Newcastle United entertained Bordeaux in the Europa League and I was there! Traveled for seven and a half hours on a coach, but managed to make it and soak up the wonderful atmosphere of St. James’ Park, which no-one can troll me for saying any more, but more on that later in the article.

Even though it was a game on a Thursday night, people from all over the country, plus the 250+ Bordeaux fans that attended, joined a crowd of over 30,000 that saw the Toon win 3-0, and I got to see it all first hand. It was something else I tell you. Chants of “Oh Coloccini, you are the love of my life” echoed around the stadium, even though he wasn’t on the pitch, along with “He scores when he wants, he score when he wants, oh Papiss Cisse, he scores when he wants” as Cisse scored the third goal, along with a very nice touch as Cisse himself acknowledged the crowd in Strawberry Corner. A moment I particularly loved was when chants of “Stand up if you love the Toon” kept popping up, as did the crowd, as it rippled across from the corner, along the Gallowgate end and beyond, with the Geordie faithful on their feet.

The fans never stopped singing for the team, and it really did pay off, as Newcastle managed to get into the box time and time again, with two close range finishes from Cisse and Ameobi, along with an own goal in the middle! It was an all around impressive performance, and I didn’t see them in much doubt of losing, or even conceding to be honest. Another highlight was when David Bellion came on the pitch for Bordeaux to a chorus of boos and jeers from the Toon Army.

Now on to other news. Today, Newcastle United announced a two year sponsorship deal with Wonga. Personally, I’m not the biggest fan of this deal. £4m a year instead of the £10m a year they were getting from Virgin Money, and Wonga isn’t exactly a company in the highest of standings with the nation. Charging something like over 4000% interest on their loans for me puts them in a very dodgy position ethically. But, on the other hand, they’ve handed the stadium rights back to the club, so it’s back to St. James’ Park – wahey! I hadn’t ever called it anything else, nor had any other Newcastle fan, but it’s good to see them trying to start this deal off on the right foot.

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