Newcastle

Ground: St James´ Park

Visits: 1

Date: 5th April 2010

Match: Newcastle - Sheffield U 2-1 (CC Championship)

Attendance: 48 270

Three years ago I watched the reversed fixture, then it was in the Premiership but after a disappointing season last year Newcastle were relegated to the Championship. As it was a late kick-off I spent the afternoon in Hartlepool watching them play Brighton. The train from Hartlepool was in Newcastle shortly before 6pm and after a short stop at my hotel I was at St James' Park by 6.30. I was actually at the ground earlier in the morning, at 10.30am, to pick up my ticket and to my surprise there was already a long queue with people eager to buy a ticket for the big night. This was after all the night Newcastle United was to be promoted back to the Premiership and I was of course looking forward to an almost full ground and a great atmosphere. St James' Park has two massive stands and two "smaller" ones. My seat was in the Gallowgate Stand as you can see in the pictures below I had a good view of both the ground itself and the match. Not less than 48 300 turned up and from the start the atmosphere was brilliant. When the visitors took a surprise lead it was a bit more quiet but when Newcastle equalised shortly before half-time the home fans once again was at full voice. The second half was much better than the first. Newcastle scored a second goal and could/should have scored a couple more. Towards the end everyone was standing up singing and chanting. The home team then stayed on the pitch after the game to celebrate with their loyal supporters, after all how many clubs in a second division can average more than 43 000? My hotel was only a short walk from St James' Park and on the way back I could see celebrating Geordies making the most of their promotion.

milburn stand, rear