Advice for away fans: Divven't argue with this gadgie!On the back off a scrappy yet ultimately effective 2-0 win against crisis club, Crystal Palace, The Toon turn their attention to the Walker’s Stadium and a Saturday evening clash with Leicester City. It’s another local one for me as I live about 25 miles from Leicester, and work even closer!
The game is shown live on Sky TV so fans should get the treat of a live stream of the game. Generally, Leicester is not a happy hunting ground for us, with only 1 win in our past 7 games away at The Foxes. I will be among 3,250 Toon fans in attendance however, watching to see if we are going to be more successful this time around.
We’ll head south down the A1, join the M1 at Leeds and keep going south until you reach Leicester Forest East services. Once you hit these services you’ll need to get into the left hand lane and get ready to leave at J21 (M69, A5460). (more…)
Destination Hawthorns!My next guide takes a look at this weeks FA Cup 4th round match against West Brom at The Hawthorns. We’ve kindly been given the entire Smethwick Road end which has an allocation of 5,500, and with tickets cheap at £20 for adults and just £5 for under-16’s, I’d expect us to fill that! Mind you, even if it was full price we would still fill it, such is the magnitude of our away following!
For the 200 hundred mile trip we’ll head again down the A1 out of the Toon, then down to Leeds where you’ll meet up with the M1. Continue south past Sheffield and Nottingham and leave at Junction 23a (A42/M42). Follow the A42 which turns into the M42 until you meet up with the M6 near to Birmingham airport. Head north on the M6 for a short while until you find the M5 (Junction 7). Join the M5 heading south briefly and leave at Junction 1. Take a left turn along the A41 towards Birmingham and you’ll find the ground is about half a mile up the road on your right hand side. Just be warned that traffic around Birmingham can be pretty sticky at times so it may be worthwile allowing some extra time for your journey. (more…)
Reading Radgies.This guide takes a look at Newcastle United’s next away game at Reading’s Madejski Stadium, scheduled for Saturday 9th January with a kick-off of 3pm. Again its quite a long trip from the Toon, but I’m sure that wont put the dedicated Toon Army off or stop some of our more local fans from making a shorter trip.
We’ll set off for the 300 mile trip down the A1, meet up with M1 at Leeds and carry on south. Just keep following the M1 past Sheffield, Nottingham and Leicester until you hit J15A (A43 / Northampton / Oxford). Leave the motorway there and follow the A43 towards Oxford. If you keep folowing the signs for Oxford then you’ll eventually meet up with the M40. Head southbound on the M40 and leave at J9 (A34 Oxford / Newbury). Follow the A34 for around 30 miles until you meet the M4. You’ll join the M4 at J13, so you’ll need to head east towards London for 2 junctions, making sure you leave at J11 (A33 Reading). The whole Madejski complex is well signposted from the motorway, but just in case you miss the signs, you’lll be fine as long as you bear left! (more…)
Pilgrim Pete says "It's a fair old poke!"Away I go with my next Toon fan’s away guide, which will feature the long, long, long trip, all the way to the south coast resort of Plymouth for our FA Cup 3rd round tie against Plymouth Argyle at Home Park. You may even bump into Big Dave and Janner from that TV advert!
With the journey from Newcastle weighing in at over 400 miles, it is sure to be a very very long day stuck on a coach or in a car. If your lucky enough and have the cash to catch a domestic flight, to perhaps Bristol, then i’m sure you’ll be the envy of many! With the distance, combined with some notoriously busy roads and traffic hotspots, I would estimate at least an 8 hour journey from start to finish.
We’ll start of heading out of the Toon down the A1 then onto the M1 at Leeds. Follow the M1 down past Nottingham and leave at J23a (A42/M42). It will turn into the M42 after a while and you’ll need to be aware that around Birmingham airport can be pretty sticky for traffic. Follow the M42 all the way to the end where you will pick up signs for the M5 south. Follow the M5 south for around 140 miles – it really is a long journey! (more…)
Sheffield weight watcher.Following on in my series of away guide for Newcastle United fans, my third attempt focuses on our Boxing day trip to the steel city, and a visit to Hillsborough – the home of Sheffield Wednesday.
Traditionally, Boxing day fixtures are someting that I’ve turned my nose up at – travelling many many miles with a hangover (and possibly an upset stomach from the turkey) is not my idea of fun, especially when its me doing the driving! However, this year I’m bucking the trend and I will be there on Boxing day for the 12:45pm kick off, cheering on the Toon among an expected boxing day bumper away following of nearly 7,000! We’re also being shown live on Sky TV, so it’s a good chance for our overseas followers to get a festive glimpse of us via an internet stream.
As I mentioned above, the kick-off is 12:45pm meaning two things: An early start (for Boxing day anyway), and, pub space being at a premium, if there is any at all.
We’ll set out for the 130 mile trip on the A1 heading south joining the M1 at Leeds. Carry on following the M1 until J36 (A61). Leave the motorway and follow the A61 for about 8 miles, the ground should then be on your right. (more…)
