(54) Juanpi for Castillejo
(73) Alberto for Santa Cruz
(73) Angeleri for Se.Sanchez
(73) Juanami for Darder
(86) Perez for Horta
(86) Sa.Sanchez for Duda

Referee: Christian Bandurski, a 31 year-old lab technician from nearby Oberhausen who usually officiates in the second tier of the Bundesliga.

Attendance: 15,704 - the lowest crowd to see any senior game since the Arena opened in 2001.
NUFC sold 600 tickets in advance, with others paying on the day and dotted around the ground.

Let the record show that Newcastle fans chanted "Oh Gabby, Gabby Obertan" after he scored. In years to come, this will doubtless be denied.

Diary - Friday:

Newcastle and West Ham fans arrived in Germany via various routes, basing themselves mostly in Cologne and Dusseldorf, with smaller numbers billeted in Essen and Gelsenkirchen. 

Some chose to take in the Bundesliga Second Division game between Fortuna Dusseldorf and Eintracht Braunschweig game, while others found their own entertainment: 

Dusseldorf police spokesman:

"There were 300 English fans in the city centre. The fans from both clubs met and first of all they had some beers on their own, and when they met the other club there has been some verbal arguments. After that they had a physical fight.'

‘We put 100 policemen in the city centre so that things would calm down and it calmed down very fast but we made 21 short term arrests.’

Saturday - Saturday:

The opening game of this inaugural tournament kicked off at 3.30pm local time, with Newcastle facing Malaga. A reasonable number of home supporters occupied the North Stand with smaller numbers in the lower tier of the East Stand. Malaga had no section at all, with only around ten followers spotted, clustered round a couple of flags near to the dugouts on the West side.

Toon fans were given the usual standing away enclosure in the South East corner, with a small seated section immediately in front and a larger area to the left stretching towards the goal. The dividing line between Newcastle and West Ham followers was a line of tape and some inoffensive- looking stewards, but the low numbers in those areas meant there were acres of empty seats.  

West Ham followers were allocated the South West corner of the ground and adjacent section behind the goal (all sold at a higher price unlike the NUFC sitting and standing options) and began arriving during the Newcastle game, beginning to spread towards the sitting NUFC section as they began laying flags on seats etc. 

It was apparent that once entrance had been gained through the appropriate turnstiles, fans were free to wander at all will around the entire stadium and enter most parts without any challenge or ticket check. This was to become significant. 

There was a spontaneous round of applause on 17mins for John Alder and Liam Sweeney that fans of other clubs joined in.

During the second half of our game, Newcastle fans in the standing area diverted their attention away from the pitch and towards the two exits - where a disturbance of some sort was going on out of sight. It later became apparent that an NUFC flag draped over the entrance to the next seating area had been taken by West Ham fans.

Standing Newcastle fans altered their repertoire to include "we hate cockneys" and "poor little hammer" which looked to rouse the West Ham fans, some of whom advanced towards the line of stewards, making taunting gestures but no serious attempt to break through. At this point, the missing NUFC flag was being waved in the West Ham area.

The existing stewards were then augmented by more venue security staff, looking more of the doorman variety. They in turn were then joined by around 20 riot police, as Newcastle fans sang "you've let your country down".

Things quickly calmed down, as the black and white clad owner of the flag advanced to the police line and tried in vain to negotiate for the return of his flag. Noticeable was one individual wearing a blue vest with a small cross of St.George, who turned out to be a Metropolitan Police spotter - and was less than impressed at the absence of an opposite number from the Northumbria force.

Further West Ham fans arrived in the closing stages (and were still doing so well after kickoff in their game) but there were no further incidents. Newcastle fans exiting at full time were funnelled out and down a narrow walkway leading away from the ground, escorted by police to waiting buses that dropped them off back near the railway station.

Those toon fans who remained to see the second game were then able to wander around at will once again soon after, with the lax stewarding seeing a group of West Ham fans avoid a loose cordon around the back of the stand by using the exterior walkway - the only confrontation involving that group though was verbal and having found nobody to fight, they turned back.

It later became evident that in addition to West Ham fans ending up at the back of the Newcastle section before and after our match, Newcastle fans - including at least one with a young child- had been subject to physical and verbal abuse before kickoff, with beer thrown over them.

Stadium:

Opened in 2001 as a replacement for the adjacent Parkstadion that hosted games in the 1974 World Cup, the Veltins Arena (originally christened the Arena Auf-Schalke) was built on the site of a former coal mine, which lies 800m beneath the surface and was in use until 2000.

The Arena has a football capacity of almost 62,000, which reduces to 54,000 when standing terracing is converted to seating. A two-section retractable roof can be closed in 30 minutes.

The pitch is designed to slide out of the stadium when not in use (taking 4 hours using hydraulic jacks), allowing it to grow outdoors and eliminating issues of light and air circulation that affected other arenas of a similar architectural design. It also means that other events including concerts, trade shows and even ice hockey matches can be staged without fear of damaging the pitch.

Staging the 2004 Champions League Final, it also hosted five games in the 2006 World Cup Finals, including England's defeat on penalties by a Portugal side featuring SJP old boy Hugo Viana.  

The product of naming rights holder Veltins Brewery is sold in the stadium and what is claimed to be Germany's longest continuous beer line makes a 5km loop round all of the bars and can supply up to 52,000 pints per matchday - we're not talking a fridge full of cans in the East Stand here... 

Drinking in sight of the pitch is allowed, with an innovative folded cardboard carton allowing six pints to be carried with ease. In common with other venues of this type including the Amsterdam ArenA, a cashless system operates where "Knappen cards" have to be bought from kiosks in the ground and exchanged for food and drink.

A club-branded tram - possession of a match ticket entitled fans to use public  transport free for the whole day in the Rhine-Ruhr Transport Authority region

Veltins Arena viewed from the South - Newcastle fan sections to the right

Looking South across the car park - the rails are what the pitch slides out on

Entering the Arena from the East side

Close up of South Side of the Arena

Newcastle fans begin to fill up the standing section

View from the away end during the warm-up, with the roof fully open.  The threat of storms then saw the roof begin to close by kickoff.

Going, going, gone - the roof closing during the first half

0-1 down, Alan Pardew fails to see the light

wandering into the "Nord Curve" revealed a full length net draped in front of home fans