The Football tourist

Any football fan can name hundreds or thousands of players who ply their trade in any of dozens leagues across countless nations and every FIFA confederation, but only the most avid fans can name more than a few from beyond their own era.

Players from before the internet age, where multi-million dollar stars are paid hundreds of thousands of pounds a week and hoover up brand and TV deals from every corner, had barely any chance of making their name known outside of the community of the boyhood club most spent their whole career with.

The exceptions to this rule are vanishingly few and far between inside the football-verse let alone seeping through the cracks into wider the wider public conciseness. There are perhaps 4 players who have achieved this incredible feat in England; Sir Stanley Matthews, Sir Geoff Hurst, Sir Bobby Moore and last, but by no means least, Sir Bobby Charlton.

Today I joined the crowd of mourners who applauded his funeral cortege as it passed in front of Old Trafford on the way to the ceremony to mark his passing at Manchester Cathedral. The crowd was 7 deep in most places as the procession made it’s way between the ground and the trinity statue, of which Charlton was an integral part during his on-field career.

Robert “Bobby” Charlton was born on 11th October 1937 in Ashington, Northumberland just 50 miles from the Scottish Border. The middle child of his father Robert “Bob” Charlton and mother Elizabeth Ellen “Cissie” Milburn, he dodged the miner’s life of his father when he was selected to join Manchester United in 1953.

Turning professional in 1954 he was finally handed his debut in October 1956, aged just 19. He bagged a brace under the Old Trafford lights to help his team secure a 4-2 victory over a Charlton Athletic team that would end up being relegated to the second division the following May. If Sir Bobby had any nerves about stepping into the senior team of the defending League Champions he hid it well that night and he would do even better in the return game with a hat-trick to celebrate at full-time.

With Charlton in their team the Busby babes would go on to retain the title, but fall to an agonising defeat 2-1 to Aston Villa in the FA Cup final having played 84 minutes with an outfield player in goal, after starting keeper Ray Wood left the pitch after 6 minutes having sustained a broken cheekbone sustained in a collision with Villa forward Peter McParland.

As the English representatives in the embryonic European Cup during that 1956-57 season Charlton’s United team would make it as far as the Semi-Finals, before succumbing to eventual winners Real Madrid 5-3 on aggregate.

The 1957-58 season was to be a tragic one for Charlton and United. On the way back from their European Cup second leg clash with Red Star Belgrade the team’s plane had to make a refuelling stop at Munich airport. By the time the plane was ready to get airborne once again the weather had turned truly abysmal. After two aborted take-offs and a full disembarkation whilst a technical fault was fixed the plane went to take off again. This is when disaster struck.

The plane veered off the runway and by the time it came to a stop it had been ripped in half. Only 8 of the 16 United players on board survived the crash and a further duo suffered such severe injuries that they never played again. Sir Bobby Charlton was one of the survivors.

How anyone could continue to function after losing half of their team-mates in such traumatic circumstances is a question for the ages and that makes Charlton’s accomplishments after the crash that much more incredible and inspiring.

He continued to play for Man U as they rebuilt in the aftermath of the tragedy and would go on to be an integral part of the club’s Holy Trinity of George Best, Denis Law and Charlton himself. Together with his fellow trinitarians he would help United to mark the 10th anniversary of the Munich Air Disaster in perfect fashion, by becoming the first English club to win the European Cup.

Under Wembley lights on 29th May 1968 92,225 people would watch as his brace would help fire United to a 4-1 victory over Benfica, but it was what he had accomplished at the same stadium 2 years before this victory that catapulted him into national folklore.

Winning the World Cup final 4-2 against West Germany on July 30th 1966, becoming part of the only England team to win it to this day is the first thing most people will recall when asked about Sir Bobby, but it was during the semi-final that he made his greatest personal contribution to this success.

Facing a Portugal team that boasted the mercurial Eusebio amongst it’s ranks Charlton won the game for the hosts with the brace that fired them to a 2-1 win and into the final that would see his team etch it’s name into the history books.

He ended his Untied career in 1973 with 758 appearances to his name, a record that would stand until 2008 when Ryan Giggs surpassed it, and tried his luck as Player-Manager at Preston-North End before returning to United as a key member of their Board of Directors in 1984. He was integral in the move to bring Sir Alex Ferguson to the club and we all know the success Fergie would bring to Sir Bobby’s beloved Red Devils.

He remained the club’s top goalscorer with 249 goals all the way up till 2017 when Wayne Rooney became the first player to score 250 for the club. It was also Rooney who became the first man to surpass Charlton’s 49 international goals for England, scoring his 50th in 2015 from the penalty spot at Wembley in a Euro 2016 qualifying win over Switzerland.

That he remains the 2nd highest goalscorer for his club and 3rd highest for England half a century after the end of his playing career is testament to his era-defining talent.

Sir Bobby’s passing, just 10 days after his 86th Birthday, leaves Sir Geoff Hurst as the last living member of that historic team, Denis Law as the last living member of the Trinity and the entire nation mourning the passing of a true legend.

REST IN PEACE SIR BOBBY CHARLTON

Sunday 5th November 2023: FA Cup First Round Proper 2023/24: The Valley: Charlton Athletic vs Cray Valley Paper Mills (CVPM)

This was a match that stood out to me as a must-see match as soon as the First Round draw was made. The simple reason for this was that a goal-romp as a top half League One team delivered a lesson to their eighth-tier neighbours from just 3.8 miles away in South London seemed too tantalising to pass up.

Charlton’s Under 18’s had beaten CVPM 3-2 in a pre-season friendly so the senior team had to hit them for 5 or 6 right?… Wrong, very wrong indeed!

CVPM had already beaten 5 opponents in qualifying to make it this far, including coming through 3 replays, so they ad a well of self-belief to dip into throughout the match and it served them well as they belied the 117 league place gap to their hosts.

However, Charlton lacked any belief at any level and it showed. Michael Appleton making the full set of 11 changes from the team that beat Wigan up at the DW probably didn’t help matters.

Sure the hosts took the lead in the 9th minute as Scott Fraser latched onto a simple ball through the centre of the CVPM defence, took it round Sam Freeman in goal and stroked the ball home into the empty net. That would be the highlight of the night for the hosts.

Keeping possession of the ball was no problem at all for The Addicks, but doing anything useful with it was far more of a problem. They lacked any cohesion in their playing style and seemed to revert to short, simple, backward passes at every opportunity and a frustrating amount of those failed to reach their intended target.

Their monopolisation of possession in the first half meant that this lack of ideas didn’t come back to bite them yet, with CVPM restricted to a couple of rapid breaks from deep that fizzled out before they could truly trouble Sam Walker in the Charlton goal. The hosts were further helped out by the Millers inability to beat the first man from corners.

Despite some questionable defensive play from their hosts it took 20 minutes for the visitors to carve out their first presentable chance, a cross from the right that was headed high over the bar by an unmarked Freddie Parker in the centre.

The only real positive for Appleton to cling onto at half-time, other than the 1-0 lead, was the excellent job James Abankwah had done of keeping CVPM’s star striker Kyrell Lisbie firmly in his back pocket.

Lisbie had scored 13 goals in 17 games in all competitions this season but failed to get a single sight of goal all half under Abankwah’s tight supervision. Though Abankwah was also guilty of playing keepie-uppies on the edge of the CVPM penalty area when he had the whole goal to aim at instead.

Steve McKimm’s half-time team talk for his 8th tier Millers would have been easier than his opposite numbers. Appleton had to try (and fail) to imbue a fighting spirit into his team, whilst all McKimm had to do was say ‘more of the same lads’ and ‘take the chance when it comes’.

Whatever the true content of the visitors team talk it worked a treat as they started the second half at 10,000mph and got the equaliser within 3 minutes of the restart. A simple ball down the left got Lisbie into space and when his cross was slid across the 6 yard box it was poked home. Cue rapturous celebrations from visiting fans behind the goal.

The only thing missing from the equaliser was clarity over who got the final touch on it. Originally the stadium’s screen credited the goal to Freeman, CVPM’s keeper, but as he was still in his own 6-yard box this seemed exceedingly unlikely.

In the end it turned out to be the most obvious scorer of all, a Charlton defender!

Lucas Ness was the unfortunate individual to turn the ball home as he waved a leg at the cross which diverted it past the statuesque Walker. Given the inept nature of some of Charlton’s play up till this point it was a truly fitting way for them to throw away their lead.

This latest screw up from the hosts was feeding into a growing tidal wave of frustration in the home stands and during the next 10 minutes this was all turned on just one man, Charlie Kirk.

Kirk had been plying his trade rather anonymously on the left flank up to this point of the match but two glaring misses with the goal at his mercy from point blank range suddenly made him stand out like a pacifist in the armed forces. The first of these chances came less than a minute after the equaliser as he headed over from 2 yards out at the back post, despite being completed unmarked.

He followed this up by blazing over the bar from a similar distance when latching on to a brilliant cross field ball that dropped invitingly into his stride. Having missed these two winners in waiting it was no surprise when the home fans booed him off as he was replaced by Alfie May on the hour mark.

That substitution was part of a triple roll of the dice by Appleton, but it seemed to make little difference to the pattern of play.

Sure Alfie added steel to a midfield that had been steadily losing its iron grip on possession, but without a proper target to aim his array of passing abilities towards Charlton remained infuriatingly ineffective in the final third.

As the game enter the final 10 minutes of normal time it was the visitors who looked far more likely to provide the winner.

Despite failing to get the winner their second half performance deserved the away fans exploded into a tsunami of joy at the final whistle, whilst the hosts were unanimously booed straight down the tunnel. In truth this was no-more than the hosts deserved for the sheer ineptitude of their play and if they play like that during the replay they will knocked out by their 8th tier neighbours.

Before the match Cray Valley would have ripped you hand off for a draw and a chance to finish the job back at their place, but I have a sneaking suspicion that many of the away fans will have left filled with disappointment that they didn’t get the job done in one sitting.

They will have a second chance back at the Badgers Sports Ground, whose capacity has been specially increased to 1,500 (up from a normal 1,000) for the occasion.

That match will kick-off at 19:45 on Wednesday 15th November and if Cray Valley can get Kyrell Lisbie back on form for it then Charlton have no chance of winning unless they up their play by 1,000 levels from where it was today. A trip to League 2 Gillingham awaits in the second round.

So if the Millers win the replay they have a tantalising opportunity to make it to the fabled Third Round and a potential trip to a huge Premier League team.

McKimm’s job is to keep his players calm and focused on just the next game, but the fans will already be dreaming of where this FA Cup fairy-tale could take them.

There is an old adage well known throughout life and football; Never Go Back. Every rule has it’s exceptions though and Neal Maupay going back to Brentford may well be the exception to this one.

His first spell at the club, 2017-2019, saw him become an integral part of the Bees irrepressible BMW front line that fired them to the brink of promotion to the Premier League. It was only their play-off hoo-doo that kept them from the top table during that spell.

That BMW front line disintegrated after his departure to Brighton after their 2019 promotion to the premier League, his strike team companions following him to Premier League teams the next summer. It is undeniable that his move away from west London has been the least successful of the trio.

Whilst Said Benrahma’s West Ham have made it to European competition and Ollie Watkin’s form in firing Villa to Europe has earned him a call-up into the England squad. On the other side of things, Maupay was considered surplus to requirements at a Brighton team also Europe-bound and spent last season struggling to get into an Everton team that seemed destined for relegation.

No wonder he wanted out of that situation and when a Brentford team in dire need of strikers, with Ivan Toney banned and Kevin Shade injured, he jumped at the chance to return to West London.

His debut came in their first home win of the season last weekend, a 3-0 victory over Burnley, and the fact that both of these events happened in the same game was no mere coincidence.

Back at the centre of a front 3 Maupay seemed at one with the beautiful game once more. From the first set play, where he had the ball in the net with a point-blank header only for it to be ruled out for an offside in the build-up, to his being substituted to rapturous applause in the 88th minute he ran Brentford’s attacking play.

Both his slick interplay with midfielders Mathias Jensen and Frank Onyeka and his telepathic chemistry with new strike partners Bryan Mbuemo and Yoane Wissa were integral to his masterclass in destroying the opposition.

He was at the heart of every move as Brentford overpowered their visitors from Lancashire, even providing the assist for Mbuemo’s screamer of a second for the hosts.

Finding the right pass to cleave open the Burnley defence when there seemed to be nothing on was his signature move on this second Bee’s debut. The only thing missing from his performance was a debut goal.

Chances for him to score this goal were multiple and varied, even carving out a 1-on-1 with James Trafford in the first half after a gut-busting run from midfield that saw him glide past 4 opponents as though they were mere apparitions.

The genius football wizardry that he showed at times was breath-taking to the point that I will never be able to express how impressed I was with just how well he has taken to his new task in West London; Firing Brentford up the table without the talismanic Toney.

He showed no sign of having been withered away by being left out of a team that struggled to score last season on their way to a final-day great escape as he set up every attacking play the Bees had and carved out many personal chances to score.

The only way he can improve on his opening performance, when Brentford visit Stamford Bridge on the 28th, is by scoring a goal or two to help the West Londoners to back-to-back wins for the first time this season.

Welcome back Neal Maupay and thank you for a scintillating second debut!!

As I made my way down to this match, between Brentford and Burnley, there was one thing I knew both teams had in common and that was some seriously poor form.

Neither team had more than a single win to their name this season coming into this match, with only the hosts having secured a clean sheet in the league

I travelled down to this match expecting a glut of goals and at least one team didn’t disappoint.

Brentford were on top from the first whistle as they set to the task of swarming all over their visitors. Barely allowing Burnley a kick it took the swaggering hosts just 2 minutes to get the ball in the net.

Bryan Mbuemo swung a free-kick up to the back post where Nathan Collins was waiting to swing a leg at it and send it looping across to the near post where Neil Maupay headed the ball over the onrushing James Trafford and in off the bar.

It would’ve been a lovely way for Maupay to mark his 2nd debut with the Londoners, but the spoilsport linesman had his flag up before the ball had crossed the line for an offside against Kristoffer Ajer in the build up. How Ajer could be counted as offside when he got nowhere near interfering with play is a question only the officials can answer.

Having had that opener unceremoniously ripped from under them it took the Bees a full 25 minutes of relentless pressure and a string of great chances to finally open their account.

Frank Onyeka pinched the ball in midfield and fed Maupay, who flicked the ball right to Mbuemo. Bryan ghosted past his marker before hitting a teasing ball across the 6 yard box to the back post where Yoane Wissa was steaming in to turn it home from point blank range.

How the hosts did not add to this opener before half-time only they know. They were all over Burnley for the rest of the half and created a glut of glorious opportunites to extend their lead.

The most glaring of these fell to the returning Maupay, whose gut busting run from midfield saw him burn past a could of opponents before carving through a gap in the backline to leave him with just Trafford to beat. He unleashed his effort low to the keepers’ left but the under-21 Euros winner was equal to the effort, blocking it with a huge left hand to deny Maupay his debut goal once again.

Despite being at the centre of everything good in an incredible opening half for the hosts Maupay would not get his goal and none of his teammates would add to the hosts tally before half-time either.

Brentford created so many chances in their masterclass first half that in truth they should have been 3 or 4-0 up and out of sight, but they weren’t and as the teams trudged down the tunnel at the break Burnley still harboured hopes of salvaging something from the match.

With those fires of hope still smouldering away, Burnley came out fighting at the start of the second half and it looked like the Bees would return to their early season fragility as they retreated deeper and deeper into their own defensive third.

Having seen the hosts surrender a league high 11 points from winning positions this season many of those in the home ends began to fear the worst but Mbuemo expunged these worries in spectacular fashion just after the hour mark.

Maupay set the ball up for him to run onto just inside the D, after a sweeping team move down the right, for him to run onto and curl a beautiful first time shot into the top left corner of the Burnley goal.

Having watched Mbuemo’s goal from the bench Samman Ghoddos decided he could do even better and proved his point after being brought on with 5 minutes of the 90 left to play.

The Iranian had been on the pitch barely 2 minutes when the ball dropped to him 25 yards out, he brought it under control with his chest then fired a thunderbolt past the stricken Trafford on the half volley. There is not a keeper in the world that would have saved it and as ways to break a 2 year goal drought go… not bad at all.

Conceding the third was enough to convince legions of the vociferous away support to head for the exits as any hopes of a comeback evaporated.

Things could have been so different for the visitors though if half-time substitute Luka Koleosho had converted a tap-in chance at the back post at 2-0. He had terrorised the makeshift Brentford defence since his introduction, but when presented with the easiest finish ever, unmarked 6-yards out at the back post, he fluffed his lines and submitted his application for the miss-of-the-season award.

That was the only presentable chance for the visitors in what was a far more even second half as Brentford secured their second 3-0 win of the season and their first at home. It also moves the Bees into double figures for the season and by holding onto a lead it may even signal the end of the hell times for home fans.

Three goals by three different scorers for Brentford, maybe the bad times are finally over. Chelsea away is next up for the buzzing Bees, where we won 4-1 in our first Premier League visit and 2-0 last season. Anyone fancy a hat-trick?

Saturday 7th October 2023: League 2: Wham Stadium: Accrington Stanley vs Forest Green Rovers

To many people missing out on tickets to watch your team at Old Trafford would be a huge disappointment, but I chose to see it as a huge opportunity instead.

I decided to use this opportunity to dive deep into the Lancashire valleys and explore a team that has left an indelible mark on the English psyche, Accrington Stanley.

They have always been a team I’ve wanted to see in action and when I’ve imagined that day it has always ended in a Stanley victory. So I figured the visit of 2nd from bottom Forest Green Rovers would be a good game to choose.

The Green had a paltry 2 wins to their name from their 11 games this season and the last of those was over Sutton, the only team below them in the table, all the way back on September the 2nd. They have also managed just 10 goals in the league all season, to Accrington’s 15, so I figured the chances of them spoiling today’s script was minimal.

It was the visitors who got us underway, but it would be a full five minutes before Stanley let them have another touch.

The ‘Owd Reds ran their opponents ragged early doors, with Jack Nolan finding the going particularly easy out on the right. It was through Nolan’s mastery of this wing that Stanley took the lead in the 18th minute.

He tied his marker in knots to win a free kick and when this was quickly fed to him in space he whipped the ball into the centre for Josh Andrews to fire home past James Belshaw between the Rovers posts. The home defence melted away as the cross came in and Andrews will rarely have had an easier finish.

Rovers initially responded well to going behind but, after a 5 minute renaissance, they were quickly on the back foot again.

Matt Lowe was next to go close for the hosts, after Nolan fed him the ball, but his piledriver from close range was expertly directed over the top by Belshaw’s legs.

Belshaw was by far the busiest of the visitor’s players throughout the half but he was not called into action when Shaun Whalley contrived to balloon the ball over from 15 yards out, when intricate interplay between Nolan and Lowe had delivered it to him in acres of space.

There was precious little in the first 45 to excite the few hundred fans that had travelled the 176 miles north hoping to see their heroes reignite their season with a much needed victory. They barely threatened to break through the Accrington back line once, let alone came close to actually doing so.

A double substitution at the break seems to be just the ticket to re-invigorate the visitors though as they came out all guns blazing at the start of the second half. Till Stanley administered the sucker punch that was..

On their first attack of the half they were heading down a blind alley on the right. The covering Rovers defender decided to commit to an utterly unnecessary body check to concede a needless free-kick.

The hosts took full advantage of this gift by whipping it into the mixer, where Josh Andrews rose highest to nod home his second of the night to double Accrington’s lead just 6 minutes into the half.

Troy Deeney should have pulled The Green level 3 minutes earlier though when he directed his free header wide of the left stick from just 12 yards out.

Coming so close to an early equaliser galvanised Rovers and despite quickly seeing their deficit double they threw everything they had at their hosts to try and salvage at least a point from proceedings.

Despite creating many tempting openings throughout the second half they were unable to score without serious home help, which they only received once and by then it was far too late to affect the outcome.

So Andrews first ever league brace proved enough to condemn Rovers to a club record 6th straight defeat despite the best efforts of the man who replaced him.

Josh Woods had been on the pitch for less than 2 minutes when he chased a ball going out for a home throw, caught up with it and laid it beautifully into the stride of Fankaty Dabo. Who slid it through perfectly for fellow substitute Matty Stevens to stroke home from point blank range.

Even a gift so exquisitely presented to them was not enough to launch a comeback for the southerners to draw themselves level in the 7 minutes of normal time that remained.

This defeat combined with Sutton’s huge 4-0 victory over Walsall sees Rovers sink to the bottom of the 92 on goal difference. Whilst Accrington close the gap to the playoffs to just 3 points.

Brentford vs Arsenal: Wednesday 27th September 2023: League Cup: Gtech Community Stadium

So in the middle of a dreadful week for the Bees I finally made my return to the stands, but watching my injury ravaged heroes gift the high flying gunners one of the softest goals imaginable was not quite how I’d pictured the match going.

Particularly as Arsenal were also dealing with an injury list as long as a giraffe’s neck. There situation was so bad that they turned to a 19-year old debutant, Sagoe Jr. , to lead the line for this league cup showdown. Or Arteta knew how easy his team would have it in the first half.

Brentford barely laid a glove on their assailants as the Gunners swarmed all over their hosts, barely giving them a kick all half. The main surprises of such a one-sided 45 minutes were that it took Arsenal 8 full minutes to open their account and that they failed to increase their lead before the break.

The visitor’s failure to lead more than 1-0 at half-time was made even more surprising given quite how their opener came about.

The Bees were dithering on the ball in midfield and a weak pass back to Pinnock was pounced on by Eddie Nketiah who was able to advance unimpeded to the edge of the box. From there he laid it off to Reiss Nelson to stroke home from 15 yards out.

None of the home players were able to read what was happening or get across to cover, giving Nelson all the time in the world to pick his spot.

When I checked the stats at half-time it was exceedingly disheartening to see that the hosts had failed to register a shot on target. Their whole half was succinctly summed up in the 37th minute when a Flekken goal kick, aimed for an unmarked Yoane Wissa, soars over it’s target and out for an Arsenal throw-in.

In fairness to my beloved Bees they came out swinging for the second half and forced the visitors onto the back foot. The contrast with the utterly insipid first-half performance was as stark as the difference between a midsummer Saharan day and an everlasting polar night.

Arsenal were being so overrun in midfield that Arteta was forced to drag the big guns off the bench. Gabriel Jesus, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Martin Odegaard were all introduced in the second half as the visitors struggled to stem the tide of chances raining down on them as the free-flowing hosts threw the entire kitchen into dragging themselves level.

In spite of this herculean effort the hosts were unable to smuggle the ball past Aaron Ramsdale, though Wissa came close, and they slumped out of the cup thanks to their own mistakes.

The amount of chances Brentford produced in the second half was truly brilliant, but their finishing far less so. Wissa showed the most promise of the team’s current strikers, with Mbuemo not even managing his traditional woodwork bonanza to keep the home fans on the edge of our seats.

Whilst the despicable defending of the first half shows just how much the Bees are struggling to replace the departed duo of David Raya and Pontus Jansson, whilst also compensating for the loss of the talismanic Rico Henry to injury, it was the gaping hole left in their attacking line by the banned Ivan Toney that was on full display in the second half.

Unless the return of the prodigal Neil Maupay, who came on for the final fifteen of the draw against 10-man Nottingham Forest, hoovers up a ton of goals between now and Christmas, my beloved Bees could be deep in a hole that even Ivan Toney can’t pull us out of once he returns in January.

Whatever happens over the rest of the season it has been a dreadful start to the season for Brentford, the only bright moment of which has been the derby victory at Craven Cottage.

It’s comforting to know that no matter how bad our form and abysmal our performances may be, we can still defeat the Cottagers in their own home.

I have been working on new posts ever since my most recent one was published, over a month ago, but there have been many issues getting in the way of completing and publishing any new material.

My work shifts have been falling far more on game days and it has become far more difficult to switch with colleagues to free myself up to get to matches.

Even when I have managed to get the day off for games it has become exceedingly difficult to get tickets, with even Brentford’s ticketing site having problems when I have recently tried to book tickets for upcoming away games.

I have the days off for the back to back away games in Nottingham and Manchester this week, but the website would not allow me to purchase tickets, even though I am above the required TAP’s level.

I was attempting to purchase them as soon as they became available, so there is a vanishingly small chance that they had sold out.

Another issue that has been slowing down my writing of a blog about the League Cup game that Brentford lost 1-0 to Arsenal this Wednesday just gone is my recorder has run into technical difficulties picking up my voice. It has worked perfectly for the last 2 seasons and worked fine for the games last month, but this month it has given up the ghost.

Far above and beyond these issues is the big one, my motivation and joy for the beautiful game has evaporated since I took the break over the summer.

There are lots of important things happening within the game: The Saudi summer spending spree controversy, Brentford’s gutted spine, Luton’s first Premier League win ever and Manchester City losing back-to-back matches to name but a few….
The issue for me right now though is that every time I go to write about any of them the words just won’t come, I have managed no more than a sentence on each.

This post, on the other hand has poured from my fingertips in the timespan of half an episode of Strictly Come Dancing.

I have managed to secure tickets to matches on 3 of the next 4 weekends though and hopefully they can get this blog back on track, but as things stand right now I can make no promises

When their beloved Magpies qualified for this season’s Champions League even the most ambitious of the Toon Army could scarcely have envisioned that their return to the top table would see them dropped into the group of death.

Sure they avoided either of the Spanish juggernauts or the rulers of Germany, but even without trips to the Camp Nou, Santiago Bernabeu or Allianz arena in their travel plans the North East’s greatest still have a scary schedule on their hands.

From Pot A they drew the French Emperors, Paris Saint-Germain, who have won a staggering 9 of the past 11 Ligue 1 titles. This trip to Princes Park was swiftly joined by a trip to the Borussia Dortmund’s Westfalenstadion, with it’s intimidating Yellow Wall and finished off by a trip to the legendary San Siro to take on AC Milan.

Whilst this draw looks like it’s throwing the magpies to pack after pack of Lions it’s also a dream return to European competition for Newcastle, after a full 2 decades confined to domestic fights. Eddie Howe will be the first manager to lead the Toon Army on a European crusade since the late, great Sir Bobby Robson.

With Howe at the helm, Europe will be descended upon by a delirious Toon Army ravenous for success after so many lean years and with this support the Magpies will hold out hope of swooping into these Lion’s dens to steal the shiny 3 points on offer in each and return the treasure to the frigid North East.

It is the fans who hold the key to Newcastle’s successful reintegration to the top table of European football. Whilst their away games will cause some trepidation amongst their ranks no fans will spark more fear into travelling fans than the Toon Army themselves.

The fear factor of their army is the biggest ace in Howe’s pack and his team have to make the most of it to deliver the full set of 3 home wins if they hope to progress to the knockout stages. Nine points from their home games added to perhaps a point or 2 on the road could be enough to see them ride into the knockout stages having finished as victors over the group of death.

Drop any points at home however, and they will face the equivalent of climbing Everest, K2 and the north face of the Eiger on consecutive days in order to qualify.

Good Luck with that….