One Bobby Robson...It was exactly twelve months ago today that the world unfortunately lost a special man. I’m not just talking about the football world, I mean the broader world aswell.
Sir Bobby Robson touched the hearts of many people the world over, even those who never had the good fortune to meet him.
His enthusiasm and zest for life was contagious and he brought out the best in people. That is continuing even though he is not here in body to see it. His legacy is most definately living on.
The sheer outpouring of grief after the news that Sir Bobby had passed on broke has provided me with images that I will never forget. In the midst of the utter turmoil his beloved club was going through last summer, Robson managed to get us all pulling together again. He made us Newcastle, United once more. (more…)
Emotional tributes to an outstanding man.The focus may well be on the World Cup in South Africa at the moment, and football stories are being written daily as events unfold. But away from all the cameras and football there is another fantastic story emerging from the continent of Africa.
We are all aware of the loss of Bobby Robson, the loss of a man like that cannot simply be forgotten. The pure outpouring of grief, not just around Tyneside but also around the football world, is something that will live long in the memory of many fans. St James’ Park turned into a shrine in the week after his death as fans from all walks of life, from different clubs and even different countries, left their own tribute to one of the greatest English managers of recent time. These tributes came in the form of bunches of flowers, teddy bears, scarves, football shirts, anything that people felt they wanted leave in show of a tribute to the man who took us into the Champions League and brought joy to the people he knew and met. (more…)
NUFC is one year old, and what a year it has been for Newcastle United! June of last year may have seemed like a strange time to start a ‘blog about Newcastle United, a time when the club had just been relegated, but at least no-one could blame us for being ‘glory hunters’!
It all started on June 1st with a simple welcome blog from myself, but this particular story won’t be a exercise in navel gazing about our own little website, it will be about a turbulent year in the history of our great club, as viewed through the lens of some of contributors, past and present.
Though relegation would hardly seem like the perfect time to ‘kick off’ with the site, there was of course much to write about in the crazy world which is Newcastle United. Mike Ashley caved in to fan pressure once again, and attempted to sell the club for a second time while it was being ripped apart by turmoil.
The first story I have chosen in this trip by memory lane was by ex-contributor, ‘Stardust’ on June 2nd, which covered a statement on Ashley’s second attempt to escape from his Geordie hell with little embellishment. Sir John’s statement cover quite a few of the issues of the time nicely. (more…)
Phil Airey: Making a name for himself.As club football enters hibernation for a short few months, there isn’t really much to talk about regarding football matches until the World Cup rolls around in a few weeks.
However, I have managed to latch onto some action from the under-18 team who have been away in Bosnia trying to defend their “Football Friends” title that they won last year. The tournament is held in Foca and is aimed towards building friendship and unity in what was an area ripped apart by the ravages of war. It was once a breeding ground to a golden generation of stars who cut their teeth in the tournament before breaking onto the world stage. Davor Suker, Predrag Mijatovic and Zvonomir Boban all plied their trade in the tournament before going to greater things at both national and international levels. (more…)
Muppet!Dennis Wise is not remembered with great affection around Newcastle after his part in the fiasco which brought the club to it’s knees, and ultimately cost us a Premier League place.
And it looks like the smooth negotiator has dropped another clanger that will see the club miss out on any extra income from any potential transfer of James Milner to Manchester City.
Why only yesterday I thought that the club must surely have entered some form of sell-on clause in the deal that took the then 22-year old player to Aston Villa. It’s what anyone would do right?
Surely a player of such a young age will move on again at some point in his career? Well that does now indeed look like it could be a possibility, but Newcastle willl not benefit from it as Dennis Wise didn’t insert a sell-on clause into the deal whilst in negotiations with Aston Villa. It appears that Villa wanted to pay £8 million for Milner, and Wise wanted £12 million. Villa said fine to that but took any sell-on clause out of the deal, which Wise accepted. Superb negotiation skills from Wise, and it makes you wonder how he was qualified to be put in such an important position within the club, despite the controversy it ended up causing. (more…)
