March 26 – After waiting 55 years, 10 months, and 1 day since lifting a major domestic trophy, Newcastle United’s long-suffering fans were eagerly awaiting their hero’s open-bus tour through the city, however the club announced there would be instead a party at Town Moor. Cue outrage and the club hastily back tracking.
This coming Saturday, Eddie Howe and his victorious team will celebrate their historic Carabao Cup triumph over Liverpool with the traditional bus tour en route to Town Moor.
The reason for the backtracking was that many fans would have been excluded from the celebration had the event just taken place at the park. Club officials held talks with the city council and Northumbria police to allow a scaled down parade to take place.
Chi Onwurah, the Labour MP for Newcastle Central, said a lot of supporters had contacted her about the issue with “many very upset”, while Karen Kilgour, the leader of Newcastle city council, released a statement saying the council had not “blocked a parade”.
While this compromise has been made, not all Magpies fans are happy as they feel that the party at the park has been hijacked into a money-making exercise.
The celebration could well see a crowd of more than 100,000 people, however many more are expected to pour into the streets of Newcastle to give their heroes the recognition that has ignited a city.
Contact the writer of this story, Nick Webster, at moc.l1742998998labto1742998998ofdlr1742998998owedi1742998998sni@o1742998998fni1742998998