THE TOON 4. BRADFAAD CITY 1 *** LEEGUE CUP 3rd ROOND

Posted ‘high noon 🕛 bells 🔔’ Thorzday 25th Septembaa 2025

Bradfaad are in the horrible light pink strip!

“BANTAM WAIT!”(104 years and coontin!) 🥊

Bradfaad haddint won at SJP for 103 years before this game—and their lang wait for a victory on Tyneside now stretches to at least 104 years after a comprehensive 4-1 win for The Toon!

With the backin of some 4,900 noisy ‘Bantams’ who filled the entire Leazes End top tier, they couldn’t dee anything to help their team az The Toon dominated from start to finish!

The goal sequences were az follows:

17th minute: The breakthrough came after NUFC dominated the opening proceedings when a Anthony Gordon shot at the Leazes End deflected nicely for Joelinton to fire the baall ower the line! 1-0 to us!

VIEW FROM THE MILBURN STAND BALCONY

19th minute: With wor Leegue one opponents aall at sea, we doubled wor lead 2 minutes later when a great through baall from Bruno foond Osula, who calmly hit a shot that went through their goalie’s legs to put us 2-0 up!

The Bradfaad fans tried to lift their team, but the class difference between the two sides woz just too much, az we went for number 3!

It didn’t happen in this half, but there were more goals to follow in the 2nd period!⬇️

75th minute: After dominating again az we attacked the Gallowgate goal the 3rd goal finally came when Bruno foond Joelinton who slotted the baall past Walker in the visitors goal! 3-0 to us!

79th minute: At last the Bradfaad faithful had sommik to cheer when a defensive misstayk let in Andy Cook (a boyhood Toon fan!) and he fired home with a shot that went in off the crossbar to give them a slim hope of a comeback!

87th minute: That ‘slim hope’ woz extinguished 8 minute later when Osula got hiz 2nd goal of the game, when Harvey Barnes crossed the baall from the byline —-and from point blank range Osula forced the baall ower the goal line to banish any hope of a comeback from The Bantams!

Excuse the boxing 🥊 pun, but the Bantam ‘wait’ for a win here extends to at least 104 years! ( Their last win at SJP woz in 1922!)

Attendance: 51,706 (4,900 Bantams who cheered their team throughout the game!) 👏 

We watched the draw for the 4th roond in The Bodega, dreading the though of a lang distance midweek away tie at the likes of Swansea or Brightin!

But thankfully we got lucky again!— A home tie against Sporz to be played near the end of Octobaa!

THE TOON V BRADFAAD CITY **** TOONEET!

 Posted ‘high noon 🕛 🛎️ bells’ Wedinzday 24th Septembaa 2025

Updated ‘10:27pm bells 🔔’

NUFC gan into toneet’s game with a staggering 20 games minimum between now and the new year! AND if we are successful tooneet and in the next roond, then anothaa 2 games will added to that list! 

And by coincidence we have played Bradfaad a total of 20 times at SJP in wor history—And their last win here woz 103 years ago in 1922!

Since then NUFC have won 10 in a row—the last time in 2000 when we beat them 2-1 in a Premyaa Leegue game, in front of a 50,470 crowd!

The total SJP record iz: Won16–Drawn 2–Lost 2

Like we say, with Bradfaad now in Leegue 1, there iz a real possibility it could be 22 games before January 1st, which iz just insane! (That’s a game every 4 days!)

And wot side will ‘Steady Eddie’ put oot tooneet at ‘7:45 🛎️s iz anybody’s guess az we defend The Leegue Cup trophy?🤔 (Fab Schar, Yoanne Wissa and Jacob Ramsey will take nee part coz of injury!)

Bradfaad have sold their entire allocation of 4,900 tickets, so it will be a canny atmosphere in the selloot 52,000 plus crowd come kick off time! 

If the scores are level after 90 minutes then penalties will decide it! (Nee 30 minutes extra time!)

Of course NUFC are odds on favourites to win (1/8) but az we naa from past experiences, it doesn’t aalways gan to plan!🥶

The draw for the 4th roond takes place after ‘10 🛎️s’ tooneet on Sky Sports

A full Geordie Times match report will appear here tomorrow—sometime!—-and we will bring yoo the Leegue Cup 4th roond draw az soon az we find oot! (Let’s hope we are in it and that we are at home again?)

Az per usual! “Watch this space!”

Updated ‘10:27 pm 🔔 s’

Leegue Cup 4th roond draw ⬇️

It’s Sporz at SJP!

🤪👍🏁🏆🥇

THE TOON U19s 2 BARCA U19s 3 *** UEFA YOUTH CUP GAME ONE

 Posted ‘3:34 pm 🔔 bells’ Tuezday 23rd Septembaa 2025

Forst of aall grovellin apologeeez for the late postin of this match report some 5 days late!---But this IZ The Geordie Times---wot did yoo expect?

With the main Champions Leegue game v Barcelona at SJP a few hours later, The Geordie Times decided to take in this U19s UEFA Youth Cup game at Whitley Park in Benton (North Tyneside) which kicked off at '3pm bells'

The forst port o call after gettin off the Metro at 4 Lane Ends woz The and then onwards to The Black Bull closer to the groond where 3 more of the crew were consumin vast amoonts of the goldon liquid variety! (Whey 2 pints each, anyway!)

It woz then time to heed to the match a 10 minute walk from 'The Bull', where digital tickets were the anly form of entry! (We were handed paper tickets after the digi checks)

THere woz a much larger crowd than what they normally get here (Average 250 for U21 games) and there looked to be gettin on for a thoosand present when the game kicked off!

"LIE DOON IF YI LUV THE TOON!!"

The sequence of the 5 goals were az follows on a hot summers day:

26th minute: Barca, the current UEFA U19 Champions take the lead when Gistau crossed the baall and Espart beat George Mair in The Toon goal to put Barca 1-0 up!

45th minute: Just az 3minutes stoppage time woz aboot to start, wor visitors doubled their lead, when an unmarked Gistau looped the baall into an empty net!--- 2-0 to them!  

45+3 minutes: It got even worse just 3 minutes later when Gistau intercepted a poor clearance from Mair and from 25 yards oot lobbed wor keeper to put the UEFA Champions 3-0 up! ---A cricket score looked on the cards at this point!

51st minute: The Toon pulled one back when a free kick on the edge of the penalty area woz laid on for Leo Shahar who hit a sweet shot into the corner of the goal! 3-1 to them!

81st minute: We pulled another one back through Kacey Wooster, who hit a low drive into the Barca net!---The unlikely come back woz on the cards!----Deep into stoppage time Sean Neave missed a glorious chance to level things when heeded agonisingly wide!---and that woz it!  A 3-2 defeat but not humiliated like we thought might happen at the end of the forst half!

Attendance: 657 (looked a lot more than that--like!?)

It woz then onward to The Haymarket station (in the city centre ) on the Metro, for some more liquid lubrications before the big boys game at 8 bells'!  (Scroll doon for a match report on that game, which again, we lost narrowly by 1 goal *** 2-1 this time!)

THE CHERRY 🍒 PICKERS 0. THE TOON 0 *** PREMYAA LEEGUE 2025-2026

 PPPosted just after ‘high noon 🕛 bells 🔔’ Munday 22nd Septembaa 2025 (Will be updated throughoot the day!)

“BLANKETY BLANK TIMES THREE!”

The games keep comin thick n fast with at least 2 games a week for us to gan tee! (Bradfaad City at SJP on Wedinzday, and then The Arse next Sunday, aalso at SJP— then Union SG away in Brussels (U19s in UEFA Youth Leegue and then the main game at Anderlecht FC)

Bournemoooth iz the longest trip of them aall in Ing-er-land at 750 miles roond trip which required an owerneet stay!

Aa took an owerneet bag, but when aa got to The Central (station) on Saturday, mee other 3 travellin companions just had carrier bags?

The reason bein, that straight after the match we would have to make a mad dash back to Bournemoooth station to catch the train back to Waterloo in London!

Apparently my bag woz too big to get into their groond and aa didn’t have time to gan back to the hotel after the game to pick it up, az it woz off route to the station, so the original plan woz to dump mee bag in a wheelie bin and collect it on the way back from the match!!!!(And hope the binmen divvint work Sundays!)

Aa ended up dropping it off at a bag drop shop for £6 near the station on the Sunday mornin before the match! (Wot a carry on!)

THE TOON ARE IN WOR CHANGE GREEN STRIP

Anyway! to the match, which woz yet another away bore 0-0 draw for the third successive time this season!

7 changes to the startin line up from the Barcelona game on Thorzday!

Woltemade led the line and the main incident of the game came in the 2nd half when wor giant number 27 had his shirt pulled back by a Bournemooth defender in the box , sendin him crashing to the floor BUT!— it didn’t even gan to VAR az the Toon fans howled for a penalty!

Thiaw woz lucky not to get hiz marchin orders, after upending a home player near the edge of the box az the Bournemoooth fans howled for him to be sent off!

VIEW FROM THE FRONT ROW

Apart from a goal for ‘The Cherry Pickers’, which woz ruled offside straight away, this woz yet anothaa game on the road to forget aboot! 0-0 at Villa—0-0 at Leeedz and now 0-0 here!  

In aall the years that av followed the Toon away, gannin way back to the 1960s, av never seen 3 scoreless away games in a row!

After the match it woz back to the station and we eventually got back to The Toon at ‘midneet bells 🔔’—Just too late to catch the last bus yem!🥶

“TAXEEE!” 👍 🚕 

 Footnote: We say The Cherry Pickers az Bourmoooth’s nickname iz The Cherries! 🍒 

Attendance: 11,202 (1,350 Toon fans in the sold oot away section!)

The neet before the game we stopped in a very spooky guesthouse! Hotel prices were through the roof, thanx to The Liberal Democrats conference and 3 hotels filled with illegal immigrants on the seafront!

THE LINCOLN HOUSE ‘HOTEL’? TWINNED WITH BATES MOTEL IN THE PSYCHO MOVIE!

We decided to walk to a boozer near the seafront using Google maps!

It led us onto a very dark narrow path where down and outs and scruffy lookin weirdos were drinkin’cans of beer!

There were a lot of foreign voices amongst them (Illegals) and one of wor group caalled Graham put hiz phone torch on to lead us through the darkness!

(NOT a wise move under the circumstances!) ⬇️

And then ‘sanctuary’, there woz light at the end of the dark tunnel and the drinkin den we were looking for woz reet in front of us!

We’d somehow made it withoot gettin mugged! ⬇️

It woz decided (wisely) to get a taxi to the next boozer! ⬇️

We stopped there for a while and there woz a band onstage playin some absolutely crap music! They had lights for eyes 👀 and looked absolutely ridiculous! ⬇️

I went back to the bar to order some more ‘liquid lubrications’ and one of the bar staff spotted mee Toon badge on mee T shirt! “Have you got a jacket?” he asked me! (strange question?) “Yes!” I replied!

“Can you put it on as there are NO football colours allowed!” (And this wasn’t even match day!)

I agreed and took absolutely nee notice of hiz demand, az I sat back doon in the packed bar!

“If he spots me, aa’ll drink up and move on!” aa telt mee mates! (He didnt)

Anyway! it woz dead late by this time and (wisely!) we walked on a well lit road back to wor digs for some much needed shuteye! 😴 

Next day we did 2 more boozers before the match ⬇️

THE CRICKETERS

Then it woz time to heed for the groond for the ‘2 bells 🔔 kick off!

(See match report above! ⬆️)

When we got back to London post match we went to a favourite haunt near St Pancras station before catching the train back to Tyneside!⬇️ (Betjeman Arms)

In total 5 boozers were visited (4 new ones never previously visited) bringing the seasons total to 19 different boozers visited!

THE CHERRY PICKERS V THE TOON *** TOMORROW AFTERNOOON!

 Posted ‘6:00pm 🛎️ bells’ Saturday 20th Septembaa 2025 on the train from Waterloo (London) to Bournemoooth!

LAST SEASON AT THE VITALITY DREW 1-1

We are on wor way to Bournemoooth az we speak for this Sunday ‘2 bells’ 🔔 kick off! 🚂 

At a roond trip of 750 miles makes it the longest in the Premyaa Leegue!

We divvint naa which team will run oot, but we can anly hope that Nick Waltemade iz in the startin line up?

However Fab Schar will be missing for a few games after sufferin a heed injury against Barcelona!

With wor new 9 Wissa who haz yet to play a game for us, still crocked, we invisage that Woltemade will lead the line, with Anthony Gordon servin the last of hiz 3 games suspension for hiz sendin off v Livaapoool!

It’s certainly been tough withoot a proven striker for the 5th game in a row!

A full Geordie Times match report will appear here, eethaa on the train 🚂 back from Bournemoooth on SundayOR on Munday at ‘high noon bells 🔔’

Az per usual: “Watch this space!”

THE TOON 1. BARCELONA 2 *** CHAMPIONS LEEGUE GROUP STAGE GAME ONE

 Posted ‘3:00pm 🔔s Friday 19th Septembaa 2025

“7 MORE CHANCES TO QUALIFY!”

This woz the best atmosphere since we played PSG in the Champions Leegue 2 seasons ago and the groond woz rockin’ come kick off time!

Thiz woz NUFCs 154th European game in wor history (This includes the 13 we have played in the Anglo Italian Cup)

On a personal note, I have seen every home game since the first one in 1968 v Feyenoord and this woz mee 120th European game in a row, home and away since 1977—Includin 6 in the Anglo Italian Cup 

The Wor Flags display woz brilliant (see above video) az the teams ran oot to Thunderstruck by AC/DC, Blaydon Races and The Champions Leegue theme tune!---MAGIC!

Barcelona are one of the favourites to win the competition, whereas NUFCs chances, realistaclly are the knockoot stages at best!

Suprizingleee! new record signin’ Nick Woltemade woz not in the startin line up, but woz one of the substitutes az Anthony Gordon led the line! (A 'Rash' decision by Eddie?---read on!)

We attacked the Leazes End in the forst half, where just 800 Barcelona fans were perched in the corner, high up in the Gods! ⬇️

We held wor own and every pass and block woz cheered by the crowd, most of them ‘on the drink’ aalday!

Anly one really good chance fell to us when Elanga crossed for Harvey Barnes, who fired a shot which Garcia in the Barca goal managed to parry away!

Az the half continued Barca started to dominate, but heroic defendin thwarted them and we went in 0-0 at the break!

In the second period we again tried in vain to make the breakthrough, but 'alas' it came at the Leazes End, when Moan U reject Marcus Rashford heeded home in the 51st minute! 1-0 to them

Just after this Steady Eddie made 4 subsitutions, includin Woltemade (Thiaw, Willock and Jacob Murphy were the others!) 

But I couldnt help 'Fink'in that it woz indeed a 'Rash' decision not to play wor giant number 27 from the start, and not wait til we were a goal behind!?)

Just 9 minutes later Rashford scored with a stunnin shot which beat The Pope in The Toon goal!---Game ower, perhaps? 2-0 to them!

The crowd didnt desert wor team and roared them on at every oppotunity and on the 90th minute Anthony Gordon scored from close in at The Gallowgate End from a Jacob Murphy cross, to give us a faint hope of an equaliser!---Sadly it wozzint to be and we ended up pointless but not disgraced!

Under the old rules this game would have been ower 2 legs and the very real possibility on exitin the competition!

But under this format we still have 7 chances to try and finish at least in the top 24 oot of 36 to reach the play offs!

NUFC are in 26th position after one roond of games!

Union SG of Belgium away next month in Brussels!---We can dee it!

Attendance: 52,084 (Like we say just 800 Barca fans)

Before this game we took in wor U19s game v Barcelona U19s in the UEFA Youth Leegue!---lost 3-2 at Blue Flames in Benton (aka Whitley Park)---A match report on that game much later!

THE TOON v BARCELONA *** CHAMPIONS LEEGUE GROUP STAGE GAME ONE

 Posted high noon bells' Thorzday 18th Septembaa 2025

“WE’VE GOT BRUNO ⬆️ IN THE MIDDLE!” 

Whey! the big day haz finally arrived with NUFCs biggest home game for many as year when we welcome Barcelona to SJP for the thord time in The Champions Leegue!

NUFC have won 1 (3-2 1997) and lost 1 (1-3 in 2003) against the Spanish giants, who gan into this game havin thrashed Valencia 6-0 in La Liga on Sunday in front of a home crowd of just 6,000 at their resorves stadium!--- The Nou Camp iz bein rebuilt and it will hold a staggerin 105,000 when its completed in the summer of next year!

Before the big game tooneet theres another one at Blue Flames (aka Whitley Park), Benton, when wor U19s take on Barca's U19s in the UEFA Youth Leegue at '3 bells'!

We'll be heedin there forst to see how wor youngins fare against the current European U19s champions! (A match report will appear after the 'main event' game)

Then it off to SJP on the Metro to see how we fare in the 'big boys game'!  

Below iz the list of teams and their protected finishing position  in The Champions Leegue group stage!---NUFC are projected to finish 10th, which would put us into the play offs to progress to the knockoot stage! (Top 8 automatically qualify for the knockoot stage!)

*Below are the predicted percentage chances of winnin' The Champions Leegue Cup!---NUFC have a 3% chance accordin to OPTA  

*Below iz the table of the richest clubs in Europe and their turnower!

NUFC are the 15th richest club in Europe with a turnower of £371.8 million

*

HECTIC DIARY COMIN’ UP!

 Posted ‘high 🕛 noon 🛎️ bells’ Tuesday 16th Septembaa 2025

MEE BARCELONA TICKET IZ DOONLOADED ONTO MEE MOBILE TELLING BONE! 📱 

Havin beaten Wolves 1-0 on Saturday, we gan into a hectic few weeks with 3 games per week comin’ soon!

In The Geordie Times case, that starts tooneet (weather permitting!) when we heed to the Dunston v Ossett United game in a Northern Premyaa Leegue fixture— and then a double heeder on Thorzday when NUFC U19s take on Barcelona U19s at Blue Flames, Benton (aka Whitley Park) in The UEFA U19s Youth Leegue at 3 🔔bells’, followed by wor biggest game home game in years against Barcelona’s forst team in The Champions Leegue at SJP at ‘8 bells’ 🔔 which iz sure to be a great occasion!

Then on Saturday afternooon we leave for wor longest Premyaa Leegue trip to Bournemoooth, az the 2pm 🕑 🛎️ bells’ kick off on Sunday, makes it virtually impossible to get and back in a day by train 🚂—750 miles roond trip! (via London)

Then next Munday wor U21s are at Blue Flames v Norwich U21s

Bradfaad City are next on Wedinzday week in the Leegue Cup, 3rd roond at SJP—followed by Dunston v Gainsborough in the FA Cup 3rd qualifying roond on Saturday 27th Septembaa—THEN The Arse at SJP the day after at SJP at 4 🔔s

And then!(deep breath! 😵) we are away in Belgium on Wedinzday 1st Octobaa in Champions Leegue action v Union SG at 5.45pm 🔔s in Anderlecht’s Lotto Park, with wor U19s v USG U19s playin’ before that! kick off time or venue not known yet?

But we are hopin that the U19s game iz at USGs home groond? az we’ve been to Anderlecht before! (USGs groond iz not up to UEFA standard, thats why it’s at Lotto Park!)

Thats TEN games we plan to gan tee in the next 16 days!  (8 involvin NUFCs 1st team, U21s and U19s!)

Cannit remember ever deein that many in such a short space of time!

We’re not caalled The mad-sad groundhoppers for nothing!

THE TOON 1 WOLVERHAMPTON WANABEEZ 0 *** PREMYAA LEEGUE 2025-2026

 Posted ‘high noon 🕛 bells 🔔 Sunday 14th Septembaa 2025

“WOLTE-MADE IT LOOK EAZY!”

Both teams went into this game with nee wins in 3 attempts so far this season!

It woz vital that NUFC got a win under wor belts, but it woz Wolves who made the orly pressure, when from the kick off they raced doon the pitch towards the Gallowgate End and a shot from Gomez woz parried away by The Pope in The Toon goal and from the resulting corner Chan had a great shot saved by wor ‘man of the cloth’!

Not a great start, but we soon got into the groove when Jacob Murphy had a great shot which wizzed past the post not lang after at The Leazes End!

Murphy had another great shot blocked not lang after but Johnstone in the visitors goal made a great block! (Unfortunately!)

The one and anly goal of the game came in the 30th minute from record signin Nick Woltemade, when Murphy sent a great cross in from the right, for wor brand new 6foot 6 number 27 to rise above the Wanabeez defence to send an unstoppable bullet heeder past Johnstone, to put us 1-0 up!

The heeder reminded me of wor old number 9 Wyn Davies, who woz a brilliant heeder of the baall in hiz days in the 1960s! (Wyn sadly passed away a few weeks ago!)

Woltemade made most of the goal by celebrating wildly in from of The Leazes End, with hiz huge arms ootstretched in appreciation!

Sandro Tonali, who woz in brilliant form nearly doubled wor lead, bang on half time, when hiz shot hit the inside of the reet hand post, but the baall went agonisingly alang the goal line to safety!          HT 1-0 to ‘us’!

The second period woz a very scrappy affair, with Bruno in particular losin possession on several occasions, but we couldn’t increase the lead against a very poor Wolves side!

Harvey Barnes had a great chance, but hiz shot flew ower the bar at The Gallowgate End!

Wolves tried in vain for an equaliser late on and went close a couple of times, but thankfully the clock ticked doon to the final whistle with 7 minutes stoppage time added!

A poor game for certain, but the win lifted us up from 17th place to 9th in the table (for the time being at least!) while The Wanabeez from Wolverhampton suffered their 4th defeat in a row and sit at the foot of the table! FT 1-0 to us!

It’s Barcelona next in Thorzday neet at SJP in the Champions Leegue!

If we play like that then we will be very lucky to come away with a draw!

Hopefully wor new number 9 Yoane Wissa will be in contention after missin oot on hiz debut yesterday through a knee injury while on International duty with DR Congo (However, rumour haz it that he may be oot for a few weeks at least?) (Az will Jacob Ramsey, who got injured at Leeedz)

It’s typical —isn’t it!  Wissa woz hardly ever injured at Brentfaad, but az soon az he comes to NUFC he’s crocked withoot even kicking  baall in anger for us! 

Anly at The Toon!

DEBUTANT WOLTEMADE PICTURED

Attendance: 52,145 (2,500 of so Wanabeez)

*

THE TOON V WOLVERHAMPTON WANABEEEZ *** PREMYAA LEEGUE 2025-2026

 Posted ‘high noon 🕛 bells ‘🔔 Friday 12th Septembaa 2025

SJP FROM ‘THE STACK’

Both NUFC and Wolves gan into this game winless so far this season!

We have 2points from 2 draws and 1 defeat and they have 3 defeats in a row and are pointless!

But this iz far from a ‘pointless’ game az we aim to climb the table with hopefully a good win!?

Record signing Nick Waltemade ‘The 2 Metre Messi’ makes hiz debut for us, 🤪👍 but unfortunately, ‘Wizz Kid Wissa’, Joelinton and Jacob Ramsey are big doubts? 😵‍💫

Anthony Gordon iz servin the 2nd if his 3 game ban for hiz sendin off against Livaapoool!

A match report will appear here, sometime on Sunday!

Az per usual “Watch this space!”

Meeenwhile! Tickets gan on sale for wor forst European away game at Union SG from Brussels, in little under 2 weeks time!  

We anly get 1,050 tickets for this game, which iz bein’ played at Anderlecht FCs Lotto Park, az Union’s Joseph Marion groond isn’t big enough for Champions Leegue games! 

We hear that ower 6,000 have applied for tickets, so there will be quite a few disappointed fans, come this afternooon when we find oot who haz been successful? 🙏🏻 and who haz not? 😵 in the LOTTOry(sic!) (Anderlecht holds 21,500– Union holds just 9,400!)