Hull
City (a) ST
holder sale now, 13pts
Girona (h) ST
holder/member sale now
Brest (h) ST
holder/member sale now
Latest:
New PM installed
Newcastle United confirmed their new
Sporting Director on Thursday, appointing Paul Mitchell in succession
to Dan Ashworth.
The 42 year-old Mancunian was most recently with Monaco, leaving there in
June 2023 since when he'd been linked with posts at several Premier League
clubs.
That followed various recruitment roles at MK Dons, Southampton, Spurs and
RB Leipzig - working with Mauricio Pochettino at both Southampton and Spurs.
Part of Paul's remit at Monaco was in his own words, "creating one
aligned strategy" across both the principality club and Belgian Pro
League outfit Cercle Brugge - part-owned by Monaco since 2017.
Given the noises coming out of Gallowgate recently regarding a multi-club
model, that part of his CV may prove to be significant.
Mitchell's playing career was ended by injury aged 27 when he was on the
books at MK Dons, following spells in the lower leagues at Wigan Athletic
and Halifax Town.
Delving into our footballing family tree, the only connection we can find
between him as a player and a current Magpie is Wigan; his time as a Latic
overlapping with that of first team coach Graeme Jones.
Update:
Miley blow
An exclusive Chronicle report on Wednesday
confirmed that Lewis Miley has suffered a fresh injury blow and will
miss the opening months of the season.
The 18 year-old made the most recent of his 26 senior appearances last
season in the FA Cup Quarter Final loss to Manchester City back in
March.
Missing the remainder of the campaign due to a back injury while on England
duty, Miley has now suffered metatarsal damage that will require corrective
surgery.
Recovery from that procedure is anticipated to sideline the midfielder for
around 12 weeks.
2024/25:
SJP friendly update
Tuesday saw Newcastle confirm their fourth and fifth pre-season fixtures,
with home games on successive days over the weekend before the season
begins.
Rather than the four team Sela Cup format of last year, just three sides are
involved this time round with only two games taking place not four:
Fri 9th Aug NUFC v Girona (7.30pm)
Sat 10th Aug NUFC v Brest (4pm)
That mirrors the arrangements of 2022, when Eddie Howe's side played home
games on the Friday night and Saturday afternoon.
NUWFC will also be in friendly action
against opposition tbc on the Saturday (1pm). Buying a ticket to the Brest
game allows access to that.
Labelled as the Sela Weekender, Friday's game is a stand-alone fixture, with
the winner's of the men's and women's games on Saturday awarded Sela Cups.
A 48 hour window for ST holders and members
to buy tickets began at 10am today (Wednesday) with public sale commencing
at 10am on Friday July 5th.
Prices per game: £25 and £20, concessions £15 and £10. There's no
weekend ticket or discount for purchasing both days together.
It promises to be a busy weekend for Spaniards Girona, who face Bournemouth
at the Vitality Stadium the following evening, Saturday August 10th.
French side Brest aka Stade Brestois 29 meanwhile visit Gallowgate a week
after facing Juventus in Italy.
Both our opponents finished third in their respective leagues last season,
meaning that they will be playing Champions League football next season.
2024/25:
Hull (a) update
The season ticket points
requirement for United's pre-season trip to Hull City dropped to 13 points
at 2pm on Thursday.
The next scheduled reduction is at 2pm on Friday.
Eddie Howe's side will visit the Championship side on Saturday July 27th (2pm)
and have taken an allocation of 4,500 places.
NUFC's re-launched ticket website is online
here
The club confirm that the usual away ticket sale conditions will apply,
including a limited ballot once the main allocation sells out.
They also emphasise that tickets
cannot be resold or transferred and threaten random ticket checks on the
day.
There's no news as yet of pre-season away
games apart from Hull and the two in Japan, Sky Sports mentioning a week-long training camp in Germany to tie in with
activities related to kit provider adidas.
Whether that would include any public games remains unclear though, amid
claim and counter-claim from several EFL clubs whether pre-season games in
Germany must be played behind closed doors.
Update:
New intake:
details awaited
Following social media postings by a pair of
newcomers to Newcastle's Academy, three further young recruits are now
reported to have pledged their future to the club.
Teenage striker Kayden Lucas was pictured on Monday completing the formalities
of his scholarship at Newcastle.
Nicknamed "Chumpy", Lucas has been playing for Somerset-based
Clevedon Town.
Fellow 16 year-old Aaron Epia has joined the Magpies following
his release by Everton. The central defender featured for United U18s on trial late last
season.
The Chronicle meanwhile state that former West Ham and Chelsea
defender Ezra Tika-Lemba has agreed to join Newcastle.
And two further player links continue to bounce around cyberspace; that of
Blackburn Rovers midfielder Rory Finneran and Portsmouth midfielder CJ
Afumuzor.
Compo:
Hat giveaway
In addition to their
club-specific hats, Football Bobbles also boast a selection of
England headwear in their catalogue (NB: other countries are available).
We have one of their Shearer 92 bucket hats and to be in
with a chance of winning it, email your answer to
the question below to
[email protected]
subject Hats:
Which future Newcastle United left back lined up with Shearer on the
occasion of his England debut against France at Wembley in February 1992?
Closing date is 11pm on Friday July 5th. No age limit, open to
anyone on the planet but delivery must be to a UK address. One entry each
please per person.
Shearer 92 bucket hats are reversible and made in Portugal exclusively for Football
Bobbles. They are available online here
Internationals:
Copa America:
mixed fortunes
Group D at the Copa America concluded
overnight, with differing fortunes for Newcastle's two participants:
Bruno Guimaraes (Brazil):
A 1-1 draw with Colombia in Santa Clara saw Bruno complete 86 minutes at the
cost of a booking.
Undefeated in their three group games, five points sees Brazil finish second
in the group and progress to a quarter final tie against Uruguay (Sunday 2am
BST).
Miguel Almiron (Paraguay):
A rather different story for Miggy, playing the opening 45 minutes of a 1-2
defeat by Costa Rica in Austin and also yellow-carded.
A third successive defeat left Paraguay bottom of the group, pointless and
eliminated from the tournament.
Update:
Sacrifices made
Formal confirmation of two player sales by
Newcastle United arrived early on Monday:
Elliot Anderson
joining Nottingham Forest and Yankuba Minteh signing for Brighton.
Sky Sports reported transfer fees of £35m for the 21
year-old Geordie and £33m for the 19 year-old Gambian. Both have signed
five year contracts with their new clubs.
Athletic journalist David Ornstein revealed both deals on Sunday, as the
Magpies and other Premier League clubs raced to comply with Profitability and
Sustainability Rules (PSR) on the last day
of the financial year.
Anderson moves on after playing 55 times for Newcastle since his debut in
early 2021 but failing to net in a competitive fixture - the closest he came
was when having an effort away to Nottingham Forest wrongly disallowed.
Minteh meanwhile leaves without ever kicking a ball for the club, having
spent the entirety of his year as a Magpie on loan to Dutch side Feyenoord.
Seeing two prospects leave Gallowgate while a crop of other older players
remain is a blow, but current regulatory restraints mean that their sales
come in a radically different context to the departures of Gazza etc.
Avoiding the very real threat of a points deduction, the transfers also
meant that Howe's "crown jewels" remained intact; Anthony Gordon,
Alexander Isak and Bruno Guimaraes all still in his squad.
It remains to be seen how credible media claims of bids for those players
were, or whether the PR message was managed in order to lessen the blow.
Quite how we managed to sail so close to the wind in the first place though
is another matter, with the wisdom of the Sandro Tonali and Harvey Barnes
deals now questionable with the benefit of hindsight.
Summarising Newcastle's attempts to meet their PSR commitments, The
Athletic speak of "frantic attempts to sell players" to avoid
a "double digit points deduction", with "more than half a
dozen members of the first team squad" linked with potential exits.
They also talk of being unable to conclude any deals with clubs in Saudi
Arabia - their transfer window opens today.
Interestingly, there still seems to be some doubt over whether Newcastle
managed to comply with PSR, with claims that a third player sale was
investigated on Sunday.
Update:
'Keepers arrive
Parallel to Anderson's City Ground move, Newcastle
completed the signing of the Forest goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos
for an undisclosed fee.
The 30 year-old German-born Greek international arrived from Benfica last
September but made just seven appearances before losing his place to Matt
Turner and then SJP old boy Matz Sels.
Vlachodimos made his senior club bow for Stuttgart and also played for
Pananthinaikos before moving to Benfica in 2018. He was between the posts
when Newcastle lost 2-3 at the Estadio da Luz in July 2022.
He becomes the third Greek international to join United, following defender
Nicos Dabizas and midfielder George Georgiadis.
A second goalkeeper has joined United, 37 year-old custodian John Ruddy
signing a short-term deal following the expiration of his contract at
Birmingham City.
The much-travelled player made his debut for Cambridge United in 2004 and
the bulk of his 550 senior games came for Norwich City, along with
significant stints at Motherwell, Wolves and Birmingham.
Interviewed on the club website, Ruddy admitted that his primary role was to
work alongside the club's 'keepers in training.
With Loris Karius gone and Martin Dubravka set to leave, bringing in Vlachodimos
alongside Nick Pope and Mark Gillespie may well reflect budget
considerations that didn't seem to be in play when deals for Burnley's James
Trafford and Giorgo Mamardashvili of Valencia were recently rumoured. Were
Pope to be sold of course all bets would be off.
PS: The previously-announced deal taking former Bournemouth defender Lloyd
Kelly to United kicked in, while confirmation of the permanent
signing of Lewis Hall was also forthcoming on Monday morning.
Update:
Dan deal done
Confirmation also came on Monday that Newcastle
and Manchester United had reached agreement on a compensation
package for Dan Ashworth, allowing the Sporting Director to begin
work at Old Trafford.
NUFC announcement:
Newcastle United and Manchester United have reached an agreement for the
immediate release of Dan Ashworth from his contractual obligations at
Newcastle United.
The terms of this agreement will remain
confidential between the clubs.
Newcastle United thanks Dan for his
service and wishes him well for the future.
With negotiations apparently deadlocked and Red Devils shareholder Jim
Ratcliffe making unhelpful public pronouncements about the situation,
arbitration had looked likely.
Instead though the two clubs are said to have achieved a settlement that
ends the five month period of gardening leave that Ashworth was placed under
when news of an approach for him became known.
No details of the compensation amount have been divulged as yet, but it
appears that it was agreed in time to count towards the club's PSR
calculations in the financial reporting period ending on Sunday. Whether
that weakened Newcastle's position in the negotiations remains
uncertain.
The little matter of Newcastle securing a replacement Sporting Director can
now also proceed, assuming that they intend to retain that existing
management structure.
Euros:
Trio in last eight
The remaining three Newcastle players at the Euros are set to meet on
Saturday, when Kieran Trippier and Anthony Gordon's England face Fabian
Schar's Switzerland in Dusseldorf.
Selected venues:
Anarchy Brew Co will have the game on two giant
screens in their tap room off Benfield Road. Nearest Metro Walkergate.
Book online here,
via @anarchybrewco or by calling 0191 389 7580 before 5pm on Friday.
Wonder Bar in The Gate offer free entry to all ties. Advance booking
is advisable here
Market Shaker in the Cloth Market also offer entry free of charge
- first come, first served, details here
Walk-ins also available at:
Pumphreys, Cloth Market
Frate, Highbridge
Dog & Parrot, Clayton Street West
QF ties:
Fri 05.07.2024 Spain v Germany (5pm)
Fri 05.07.2024 Portugal v France (8pm)
Sat 06.07.2024 England v Switzerland (5pm)
Sat 05.07.2024 Netherlands v Turkey (8pm)
Five ex-Magpies remain involved: Joselu, Mikel Merino, Ayoze Perez
(Spain), Ivan Toney (England) and Gini Wijnaldum (Netherlands).
Coral price
the Euro 2024 victors as follows:
England
7/2
Spain 4/1
Germany 9/2
France 9/2
Netherlands 13/2
Portugal
17/2
Switzerland 14/1
Turkey 33/1
New customers gain a £40
bet when staking £10
here (T's & C's apply).
QF ties:
Fri 05.07.2024 Spain v Germany (5pm)
Fri 05.07.2024 Portugal v France (8pm)
Sat 06.07.2024 England v Switzerland (5pm)
Sat 05.07.2024 Netherlands v Turkey (8pm)
Five ex-Magpies remain at the Euros: Joselu, Mikel Merino and Ayoze Perez
(Spain), Ivan Toney (England) and Gini Wijnaldum (Netherlands).
Coral price
the Euro 2024 victors as follows:
England
7/2
Spain 4/1
Germany 9/2
France 9/2
Netherlands 13/2
Portugal
17/2
Switzerland 14/1
Turkey 33/1
New customers gain a £40
bet when staking £10
here (T's & C's apply).
Nippon
5:
Totally wired
Ahead of United's first games there in almost 30 years, our Japan
correspondent Simon Moran recounts his early online experiences
here
2024/25:
Saints up first
Newcastle's Premier League season begins with
a home game against newly-promoted Southampton
on Saturday August 17th.
That game wasn't selected for live UK TV transmission and has a 3pm kick-off.
Fixture
list is online here
Notes:
Dates and kick-off times are subject to alteration, aside from the
Southampton home opener and the final day fixture round.
Re: rescheduling, the PL are "committed to giving supporters a
minimum of six weeks’ notice on UK broadcast selections until December
2024, and five weeks’ from January 2025 until Matchweek 37."
They've now also published "windows" during which those
changes will appear, rather than specific days as in previous seasons:
Aug/Sep: 18th June to 5th July
Oct: 22nd July to 19th August
Nov: 2nd to 13th September
Dec/Jan: 16th September to 14th October
Feb: 14th November to 9th December
Mar: 2nd to 24th January
Apr: 27th January to 28th February
MW35: 17th to 21st March
MW36: 24th to 28th March
MW37: 31st March to 4th April
MW38: Following MW37
The mid-season break has been removed.
For the ninth time in ten top-flight seasons, Newcastle kick off with a home
game, while their season ends on Tyneside for the first time since 2020.
Both meetings with Liverpool are scheduled on Wednesdays but we'll
face Everton home and away at the weekend. Scheduling our Goodison visit
ahead of an international break means that it cannot be on the Monday.
The only obvious change required due to PL sides playing in Europe is
October's visit to Chelsea, assuming they win their two-legged Conference
League playoff tie in August.
All PL festive games are listed under the following three dates: December
26th, December 29th and January 4th. Regardless of that, games will move for
TV transmission and be scheduled throughout that period with the exception
of December 24th/25th.
The final season of Amazon's involvement as UK PL rights holders will see
then transmit 20 live games over two fixture rounds - these will be the
early December midweek one when we host Liverpool and the Boxing Day visit
of Aston Villa to Gallowgate.
The FA Cup Final is on the penultimate Saturday of the season; with no PL games on Friday
May 16th or Saturday 17th. All games that weekend including our visit to
Arsenal are listed as Sunday 18th. It's feasible that one or more games
could be Monday 19th.
Aside from the FA Cup Final as explained above, the only time that PL games are
scheduled on the same weekend as an FA Cup Proper round is the
Semi-Finals. We're due to host Ipswich Town that weekend.
That means that those PL sides who fail to reach the Quarter-Finals face
being idle for over two weeks in mid to late March.
2024/25 season Magpie Mover tickets are on sale to season ticket
holders here.
The price remains £25, more details here.
NB: ST holders must be logged on to their NUFC ticket account on order
to purchase Magpie Movers.
Due to transport funding restrictions,
NUFC members cannot purchase Magpie Movers.
White
here, White now:
Len remembered
Coinciding with the thirtieth anniversary of his
passing, a special charity edition badge from Magpin
celebrates the great Len White.
The badge is on sale here
now and at the request of Len's family, all proceeds will
be donated to the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation.
Although still omitted from the club's hall
of fame, Len's place in Newcastle United history is beyond doubt; his tally
of 153 goals exceeded only by Alan Shearer and Jackie Milburn and making him
a worthy edition to the Geordie Legend badge series.
Signed from Rotherham United in 1953, the Yorkshire miner served the Magpies
until 1962 - injury limiting him to 269 games in our colours and depriving
him of the England caps many observers had predicted.
