Newcastle United Supporters are a “Toon” Above the Rest

Last night, my boyfriend and I drove to Orlando to watch a soccer game between Orlando City Soccer Club and Newcastle United Football Club.

Now, to give you a little background on these two clubs:

• Newcastle United is in the English Premiere League with other football clubs like Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United. Essentially, they’re in a pretty tough league with some of the best teams in England. Newcastle United has been around since 1892.
• Orlando City on the other hand, is a division three soccer club and part of the USL (United Soccer League). To give you an idea of where that falls in the American soccer ladder, you have MLS which is the major soccer league here in the U.S., then you have the NASL (North American Soccer League), which is a division two league. Orlando City has only been around since earlier this year.

This information is crucial in understanding why supporters of Newcastle United are some of the most loyal and “mental” fans the world has ever seen.

The Toon Army

My boyfriend has been a supporter of Newcastle United (hereafter referred to as NUFC) since 2005. Since then, he has seen his team go through a roller coaster of wins and losses, but mostly the latter. However, THIS is what sets those fans apart. Their unyielding loyalty to their team. Ask any member of the Toon Army (the supporters of NUFC) and they will tell you to get ready for a life full of disappointment, but it never stops them from going to every game or watching every game via TV or Internet and cheering on the Magpies (an alternate name for NUFC).

I didn’t understand this mentality until I went to my first NUFC game last night. This new experience started off with my boyfriend buying me a replica practice jersey (which comes into play later on). This got me really pumped up. Then we found a place to stand in the general admission section. Not three seconds later, a Newcastle native proceeded to tell us we could jump the fence right next to our section and be in the NUFC supporters section. What are a couple of fans to do but follow her advice? And follow it we did.

As soon as we jumped the fence, we were in a whole new world. A world full of Geordies. Geordies are people from a section of north east England and have a very distinct accent. They are also wicked cool and very welcoming. My boyfriend and I spent the first half of the game yelling out chants and doing what football supporters do best: drink!

We came back to a quiet second half, which turned out to be a disappointing second half as Orlando City scored a goal sending NUFC back home with a loss. Granted, this is preseason for the Magpies and in the middle of Orlando City’s season. It still doesn’t excuse the fact that Newcastle should have won.

Though, to me, It didn’t matter that they didn’t win. I am HOOKED! Especially after I waited around for an hour after the game and got seven signatures from players and NUFC staff on my brand new jersey. I told you it would come into play later.

So with all the excitement of the game, the slight disappointment with the loss (though always keeping optimistic and hoping for future wins), as well as the pandemonium of trying to get signatures without having any form of writing utensil, I am proud to say that I am a Newcastle United fan and will gladly take on all the disappointment in the world if it means supporting a team like this one with fans as amazing as these.

I leave you with this: “We are the Geordie, the Geordie boot boys. For we are mental, for we are mad. We are the loyalest football supporters the world has ever had.” No words are more true.

Do you all have a team you feel the same way about? Or are there any other NUFC fans that share this sentiment?

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