Premier League:
Another guard of
honour required



A 2-1 victory for Leicester City at Old Trafford on Tuesday ended any faint hopes Manchester United had of winning the title - and confirmed Manchester City as Premier League champions ahead of Friday's visit to SJP.

The Newcastle players are expected to form a guard of honour on the field before kick off in that game - the second successive season that they've done so, having welcomed Liverpool in similar fashion last July.

PS: some unkind readers have suggested that Pep Guardiola's side should be the ones saluting Newcastle, for our epic achievement in avoiding relegation...

Premier League:
Ballot results out

Season ticket holders who were successful in the ballot for Sheffield United home tickets started receiving emails on Tuesday afternoon.

Tickets will need to be ordered online via club accounts before 10am on Friday (14th). The club have said that paper tickets will be issued and posted out, with no facility for matchday collections.

A health questionnaire will be emailed 72 hours before the game and must be completed and returned in order to gain admission.

NUFC have published specific guidance online here about mask wearing, identity checks, food and drink etc - pay particular attention to MATCHDAY FAQS.

2020/21:
Manchester City (h)

Newcastle play their penultimate home game of the season on Friday night, when they host Manchester City in an 8pm kick-off, shown live on Sky Sports.

Pep Guardiola's side arrive at SJP confirmed as title winners, after nearest challengers Manchester United lost at home to Leicester City on Tuesday.

That means there's to be no repeat of May 1968, when the Citizens clinched the First Division Championship following a 4-3 victory at Gallowgate.

NUFC: Jamaal Lascelles, Isaac Hayden, Karl Darlow and Ryan Fraser remain out, while Fabian Schar serves the second of his three match suspension.

With two home games left to play, Steve Bruce's side have collected 20 points at SJP this season: that's six less than last season and two less than their lowest PL tally of 22 set in 2008/09.

Callum Wilson's club season is now over, following a hamstring injury picked up during the win at Leicester.
 

U18s:
Derby day delight

Newcastle U18s  4  mackem U18s  3
 
Newcastle's U18 side were in derby action today as they played their penultimate league game behind closed doors at Whitley Park, coming from two goals down to beat their local rivals.

The two sides shared eight goals on wearside last week and both came into this game following victories - the mackems winning 4-3 at Everton while United put six past Wolves without reply.

The hosts named two trialists in their starting line-up, central defender Andrew Nelson from Boro's Academy and Cameron Ferguson - son of ex-Magpie Duncan and like his dad a striker, latterly with Tranmere Rovers U18s.

And it was a similar story for the red and whites, with a handful of trialists lining up from various clubs.

United's youngsters fell behind in the 11th minute when Ryan Grant's ball over the top played in Ethan Kachosa, who finished well. The Zimbabwean youngster was in the Leeds side beaten here a month ago.

Ferguson junior then saw his effort just before the half hour chalked off due to offside and struck the woodwork from close range four minutes later.

The visitors doubled their lead against the run of play on 35 minutes, when an early ball into the box caught out the defence and striker Shane Temple shot home.

Following the interval, the game followed broadly the same pattern with the black and whites on top without being particularly threatening in front of goal.

Lucas de Bolle poked the ball past the visiting goalkeeper in the 57th minute but a defender was on hand to clear his goalbound shot.

Newcastle got one back in the 61st minute when Joe Oliver sent over a low cross and Ferguson was well-placed to knock in.

Home substitute Michael Ndiweni had come off the bench to net the first of his two goals last Saturday within eight minutes - and repeated the feat here just seconds after arriving, with his first touch of the ball.

The striker has struggled for fitness this season but made an instant impact here, latching onto Reagan Thomson's cross from the left and shooting home via a post in the 71st minute.

Newcastle then took the lead for the first time in the game on 78 minutes, Thomson's persistence releasing Kyle Crossley down the left and his centre met by Ndiweni, who took a touch before pivoting and firing into the net.

Lucas de Bolle's dribbling solo run through the visiting defence seven minutes from time end with the ball in the back of the mackem net via defender Cameron Jessup (on trial from Crystal Palace) - and made it 4-2 to United.

The visitors pulled one back three minutes later when Kachosa sneaked his shot between Max Thompson and the post. However, the young Magpies saw out the final few minutes without any incident to record a third successive home win - their best run of form since 2018.

Team: M.Thompson, Oliver, Scott, Carlyon (Ndiweni 70), Barclay, Nelson, de Bolle, Miley, Ferguson (Chrystal 80), Thomson, Crossley (Robertson 88).
Subs n/u: Banda, Green.

The Borrowers:
Loan lads

Current movements of our six loanees:

Elias Sorensen (Almere City)
Needing to beat PSV II at home in their final game on Wednesday night to stand any chance of automatic promotion from the Eerste Divisie, Almere could only draw 1-1. Sorensen wasn't in the squad.

Victory for Go Ahead Eagles saw them clinch the second promotion place, with fourth placed Almere entering the six team playoffs, hosting NEC Nijmegen on Sunday.

Florian Lejeune (Deportivo Alaves)
Tuesday saw Alaves improve their chances of avoiding relegation thanks to a 2-0 victory away at fellow strugglers Elche.

Flo played the full game while former SJP colleague Joselu netted for the tenth time this season in the league.

The three points elevated Alaves five points clear of relegation and up into fifteenth place with two games left - although four of the five sides beneath them now have a game in hand.

Yoshinori Muto (Eibar)
Bottom-placed side Eibar collected what could yet be a priceless 1-0 victory away to Getafe on Sunday, with Muto remaining unused on the bench.

That left them rooted to the bottom of La Liga, but just two points from safety with three games remaining of the season.

The next instalment comes on Thursday, when Eibar host Real Betis.

Lewis Cass (Hartlepool United)
Aldershot (a) National League, Saturday.

With three games left, 'Pools are fourth in the table. Promotion works as follows:

Champion gets automatic promotion
2nd/3rd take playoff SF places
4th-7th take playoff QF places

Were they to end up in the playoff final, that is currently scheduled for June 19th at a venue yet to be confirmed.

Freddie Woodman (Swansea City)
City will face a two-legged semi-final against Barnsley, with the first leg at Oakwell on Monday (17th) and the return at the Liberty on May 22nd).

The winners will face Bournemouth or Brentford in the playoff Final at Wembley on May 29th.

2020/21:
Fox hunters!

Leicester City  2  Newcastle  4
 
Match report

Old boys:
Hoyoots

Former Magpies leaving their current clubs include:

Demba Ba (Istanbul Basaksehir)
Nicky Deverdics (Gateshead)
Louis Johnson (Marske United)
Nile Ranger (Southend United)

U23s:
Bottom

Having finished their season with a 1-2 home loss to Aston Villa on Friday, Newcastle's U23 side were then confirmed as last place finishers in Premier League 2 Division Two on Monday.

That came as a result of basement dwellers West Bromwich Albion ending their own fixture programme with a 3-2 home victory over Norwich City.

And to make matters worse for the young Magpies, a point for the mackems in their final game on Monday saw them gatecrash the end of season promotion playoffs at the expense of Boro.

That's a substantial improvement from the wearsiders, who failed to win a single game last season and collected just one point.

Thankfully there's no relegation from our division, but it's hardly encouraging to note that of the dozen teams that finished above us, five came from clubs currently outside the Premier League.

PS: Taking just 25 points from 24 games means that United matched last season's points total - however that 2019/20 campaign was halted after 18 games.  

U23s:
A spot of bother

Newcastle U23s  1  Aston Villa U23s  2
 
Match report

2020/21:
Tozer's trophies