THE WEEKENDER - From Newcastle United and Beyond #4

Something for the summer - a regular weekly feature from the TF bunker - recommended to be read with a boiled egg (soldiers optional), pot of tea or something similar on your Sat-Sunday mornings

Somebody somewhere is playing football and someone is watching it.

If it isn’t internationals U-19s, U-21s, Club World Cup or the Women’s game it is something else. Football is ubiquitous and the appetite to televise it, report on it, discuss it just seems insatiable. Even with no proper football being played for the thick end of a month TV, radio, newslines, social media and whatever else is buzzing with football discussion.

Too much?

Probably. And the football media is looking for non-ending different ways of making up stuff about football, turning something and nothing into well, something.

This week we had the fixtures … in what is fast becoming … “Fixtures Day”, when even sane people piss their pants about the schedule of games for the new season. Whats App groups were electrified with rumours, claims and counter-claims about the new season. “Fixtures Day” is fast becoming something like “Transfer Deadline Day” … more stuff for the football media to blast across the ether in an attempt to catch our attention and get the clicks in that generate the advertising revenue to pay their salaries so they can go on doing it all over again, forever and ever.

You can’t really have this conversation without talking about transfers. Just before sitting in front of my lap-top to write up this old baloney, I clocked something on social media claiming to know the departure and landing details of helicopters travelling between Nottingham and Newcastle. It wasn’t the first … there are people dedicated to splashing this stuff across the internet with the insinuation a transfer is imminent … players are being transported between the cities of two Premier League clubs. As if that wasn’t tragic enough there are thousands encouraging them by reading it and whilst some take the piss out of this exercise it won’t be enough to dissuade the people who do it not to … they love it, they thrive on the intrigue it generates … even though it almost always leads to absolutely nothing.

Not that its just those bedroom run twitter accounts that are promoting this pointless tittle-tattle on the internet. Social media has spawned a monster of multiple accounts which have set themselves up as ITK authorities and every club, including Newcastle United has its fair share. The transfer window is their Christmas morning where they can regurgitate, distort and misrepresent any and every snippet of information. Some would say they go so far as to completely invent news and once again, whilst they have their credibility questioned in brutally dismissive terms there they are season after season rinsing and repeating.

They do it of course because loads of us can’t resist the temptation to click onto it … myself included … and whilst I might be snorting derisively whilst reading it, a click is still a click and that’s all that matters.

Of course it doesn’t just stop with the wannabes with social media accounts. It does extend to the mainstream media … I find it baffling why anyone would listen to Talksport … the whole thing is established to drive engagement rather than inform, entertain and educate. Sensationalism, contentious opinion designed to irk and anger (rage-bait) with the intention to get the saps to ring into those premium rate lines to talk to knuckleheads like Jason Cundy … its not for me but it seems to work as a business model.

This is what the great football public seems to want. They can keep it for me but I doubt that concerns them too much.

As expected all of our best players are being linked with moves away. Many of us find it irritating and react … job done … you’ve engaged, you’ve clicked, you’ve given them what they want. It doesn’t matter if what was posted had even the kernel of truth to it, the object of the exercise is to get the click. Often, like smackheads we can’t resist, we click, we inject the junk-news into our veins.

I’m not writing this to discourage you from reading or listening about football. The modern media offers so much opportunity for absolutely brilliant coverage of the game. There are so many great blogs, books, podcasts … you name it. I won’t get all nostalgic for a period of time when a handful of journalists, largely controlled by their local clubs, had the monoply on writing about football.

But there is so much out there that is just shite, taking up your time with ludicrous click-bait crap stopping you from getting to the really good stuff and increasing our understanding and knowledge of the game we love. The stuff that will stay in your memory, that you’ll recommend to your mates and think of fondly.

Rant over … thanks for reading … enjoy your weekend.

Keep On, Keepin’ On …

Michael Martin @TFMick1892.bsky.social

Other Stuff

Palestine Football Association - from 17/Jun/25

@Palestine_fa

Today Israeli Occupation Forces threw gas canisters against the building of the Palestine Football Association and the Faisal Husseini Stadium. The gas entered the PFA building making several employees get breathing difficulties and burning eyes. The attack also burnt parts of the grass of the Faisal Husseini Stadium. This is not the first attack suffered by the PFA headquarters and the Faisal Husseini Stadium. The PFA strongly condemns the latest Israeli attack and calls upon FIFA to take concrete measures against the Israeli attacks and violations against Palestinian football all over Palestine. Since October 7th Israel has totally or partially destroyed 10 football stadiums in Gaza and killed hundreds of footballers. In the Occupied West Bank, Palestinian footballers have been victims of humiliations in checkpoints as well as stadiums have been partially used as centers of detention and torture by Israeli Occupation Forces. The Palestinian league has been paralyzed due to such attacks, in addition to terror attacks by Israeli settlers.

Link here

Getting Shirty

Interesting piece in The Guardian from Paul Macinnes about classic football shirts some of you might enjoy reading. I thought it was canny anyway. Click here

Talk, Talk

The TRUE FAITH Podcasts are by common consent, absolutely mint … for a pittance you can get a massive amount of high quality content doon your lugs most days and its only ever about our beloved Newcastle United … click here and very soon you’ll become a TF Patreon.

Favourite Shirt

Well in to the Newcastle United Supporters Trust, the Fans Advisory Board and of course Newcastle United for their continuing support to the Newcastle United Fans Foodbank via the donation of £5 from the sale of every club shirt sold.

Obviously this news coincided with the release of the new adidas kit for next season (worn for the first time v. Everton at SJP). This kind of stuff is a classic example of club, supporters and community working together to help those in real need. Excellent work.

Click here

American White

Most of the Premier League is US owned now. England’s leading clubs are owned by US franchises, billionaires and other assorted dollar hungry ghouls who are transforming our game into something we won’t recognise in a few years time. Not that makes Middle Eastern owners any more virtuous. Anyway, back to the Yanks … this is an excellent piece from the superb The Pitch Inspection. Recommended to you good people - click on the image above to get to the piece.

Wor Flags

Didn’t they do a wonderful job for us again last season? Remember that massive flag at Wembley and the countless tifo throughout the season? The lads and lasses of Wor Flags have done us proud.

Next season is going to be a greater challenge for them again with all of this Champions League stuff and the need for Newcastle United supporters to show what we’re all about on the continental stage.

Wor Flags is a supporters led and funded group. They can’t do these fabulous displays without our support.

Give what you can but think on to make a regular donation to keep these displays a part of life at St James’ Park and beyond. Click here

World of Shit

You might not get a better read about the gruesome Club World Cup than our very own Matthew Philpotts’ piece this week - click here if you missed it. But this piece in The Independent from Daniel Story is a good companion to it if the subject interests you - click here

Newcastle United Fans Foodbank

Its the close season now but the needs of the foodbank’s users don’t take a summer holiday unfortunately.

If you can afford to donate to the Foodbank, please do. Click here.

Green Fields

If you are a hardcore boring speccy middle-aged wanker (hello there) with any interest in Ireland and Irish football you might find this series of Podcasts interesting.

Survey Results 2025

If you missed the Newcastle United Supporters Trust survey results, fear not here they are in all their glory. This report will form the basis of what the Trust takes forward as discussion topics on behalf of Trust members. Click on image above to access the full report.

Scot’s Wahey!

Not surprisingly, United’s pre-season friendly at Celtic has sold out which means we will take the thick end of 7500 Mags to Glasgow on the 19/Jul/25. If any of you are stopping over in a brilliant football city, we’d recommend tours of Ibrox and Celtic Park which are excellent. However, thanks to the Newcastle United Supporters Trust there is a discount on a tour of Hampden Park and the Scottish Football Museum. We’ll likely see some of you there.

Details here.

Join Newcastle United Supporters Trust - our club’s only members-led, democratic, campaigning, properly constituted, long-standing, accountable supporters organisation. Join here

Thanks for reading.