Ground number 374 (375 includin Motspur Park from ootside!)
Wast Hills (Knighthead) Performance Centre, Wast Hills, Birmingham (Pitch A)
Date of First Visit: 29th August 2025
Birmingham City U21s 2
Newcastle United U21s 2 (McArthur, Neave)
Premier League 2
Attendance: 300 (Estimated) (5 NUFC mad-sad groundhoppers!)
"A GAME OF THREE VENUES!"
It woz forst annoonced that this game would be played at Stratford Town FC in Stratford on Avon---But then aa hord that it had been moved to Bormingham's Performance Centre in Henley in Arden!
THEN, the day before the match, news that it had been moved to Bormingham's Performance Centre in Wast Hills, Bormingham!?
(Venue changes are common at these games--but not TWO changes!)
So aa had to dee yet another 'route map', az aa woz drivin doon on the Friday in mee '9 seater canny tranny', before wor forst team played Leeedz away at Elland Road the next day at '5.30 bells'!
The U21s game kick off time had aalso been moved from '7.00pm bells' to '2.00pm bells' at Wast Hills, which woz much better az we would be yem at a reasonable time, rather than the orly hours of Saturday mornin'----(The train to Leeedz woz at 11.45am bells')
I say 'we' meenin 'me' and Glennn from Ashington!
We left at 8.40am bells' and arrived at wor destination some 4 hours and 15 minutes later!---Just ower an hour before kick off time!
It woz free entry and we made wor way to one of the two smaall stands on the touchline between the halfway line!---The rest of the groond woz fenced off with nee entry for spectators and there were 2 home and away dugoots on the far side of the pitch. And there looked to be aboot 300 'or so' at the game!
3 more NUFC mad-sad groundhoppers then torned up, namely Phil (who lives in Coventry), Barry and 'Biffa the Beer'! (The 'Unfathomable Five', perhaps?)
The game kicked off 2 minutes late with NUFC attackin the left hand goal to us, in the green away strip (Bormingham were in aall blue)
To be honest the forst half woz 'nothin' to write home aboot' and the teams went in 0-0 at the interval!
It livened up in the 2nd period and we took the lead in the 49th minute when Charle McArthur heeded home from a Alfie Harrison corner! 1-0 to 'us'
Wor hosts equalised 9 minutes later when 2 shots were blocked by The Toon defence, anly for Bateman to fire home their thord effort to beat Harrison in wor goal! 1-1
The Brummies got a penalty in the 79th minute when Toon defender Dylan Charlton fouled Gurnier in the box! Gurnier took it himself and fired past Harrison to put them 2-1 up!
Just when it looked az though we would lose the game and in the 90th minute, Sean Neave woz put through and he calmly roonded their keeper to put the baall into the empty net to muted applause from 'The Unfathomable Five Toon Travellers'!
9 minutes stoppage time woz added (for 2 injuries in normal time) and Neave thought he'd won it 'at the death', but hiz shot woz ruled offside by the 5 foot linesman on wor side of the pitch!
So 2-2 it finished and the drive home included 2 bad traffic jams and we arrived back on Tyneside at '10.30pm bells' with 428.4 miles on the clock! (Glennn from Ashinghton then had to get the train yem to "er!" Ashington, beleeeve it or not?) (An extra 15 miles travel for him!)
Just enough time to get some 'shut-eye' before travellin south again, to Yorkshire for wor Premyaa Leegue game in Leeedz the next day! (By train this time!)
PS: Glennn actually went to wor U18s game at Thorpe Arch, Wetherby against Leedz U18s at dinnaatime next day az well, before heedin for Elland Road 12 miles away!---We are not caalled 'mad-sad groundhoppers' for nothin'!
FOOTNOTE: Sorry for the late publishin’ of this groond report, (which iz nearly a week late!) but with the NUFC forst team game at Leeedz the day after, ‘The Geordie Times’ had to give priority to that report on Sunday—And then of course transfor deadline day woz on Munday—and yoo divvint need me to tell yoo aboot that!
PS: Wor U21s were in action again last neet in Huddersfield (main groond) so az we had been there a few times before, we didn’t gan! (Apart from the maddest NUFC groundhopper of them aall, ‘Glennn from Ashington’!)
NUFC lost 6-2!
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