Hull City (a) ST sale now, 4pts
Girona (h) Public sale now
Brest (h) Public sale now

2024/25:
New faces

Under the watchful eye of Eddie Howe, the first contingent of senior players reported for pre-season training on Thursday.

Among those spotted at Darsley Park were Joe Willock, Joelinton, Callum Wilson, Jacob Murphy, Dan Burn, Tino Livramento, Lewis Hall, Harvey Barnes, Mark Gillespie, Nick Pope, Harrison Ashby and Sandro Tonali plus newcomers Lloyd Kelly, Odysseas Vlachodimos and John Ruddy. Jamaal Lascelles was also in the treatment room.

Willock has been out of action since April after an abortive comeback from injury, but recently posted footage of himself training on social media as he nears a playing return.

Post-season international duty means that Bruno Guimaraes, Martin Dubravka, Fabian Schar, Anthony Gordon and Kieran Trippier won't feature in the initial part of pre-season.

That is anticipated to include a training camp in Germany at or in the vicinity of the adidas HQ in Herzogenaurach.

One or more games are expected to be played during that period, but the lack of detail seems to back up claims that they will be behind closed doors - due at least in part to the terms of Tonali's ban.

Sven Botman, Lewis Miley and Lascelles remain in various stages of recovery from injury while we're unsure whether Matt Targett is fit again as yet.

Meanwhile news of departures for unwanted trio Ryan Fraser, Isaac Hayden and Jamal Lewis is still awaited.

PS: While 37 year-old Ruddy begins training on Tyneside, teenage son Jack - also a goalkeeper - is beginning a scholarship at Norwich City, one of his dad's old clubs.  

Euros:
Oranje crushed 

England made it to their second successive Euro final on Wednesday evening, thanks to a last-gasp 2-1 victory over the Netherlands in Dortmund.

Kieran Trippier kept his starting place but was withdrawn at half time as a precaution due to a groin issue.

Anthony Gordon remained on the bench again while SJP old boy Gini Wijnaldum was an unused replacement for the Dutch.

Gareth Southgate's side face Spain in Berlin on Sunday (8pm), with ex-Magpies Mikel Merino, Joselu and Ayoze Perez all part of their squad.

Anarchy Brew Co have two giant screens in their tap room off Benfield Road. Nearest Metro Walkergate. 

Online booking is advisable here and there's no guaranteed seating. Doors open 4pm and there's a live band and pizza van.

Wonder Bar in The Gate offers free entry - 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
Dog & Parrot, Clayton Street West
The Prince, Pudding Chare

Latest Euro odds from Coral:

Spain 4/6
England 11/10

New customers gain a £40 bet when staking £10 here (T's & C's apply).

2024/25:
Spurs (h) KO set

The missing kick-off time from last week's Premier League live TV selections involving Newcastle  is as follows: 

Sun 01.09.2024 Spurs (h) 1.30pm Sky

Update:
Duo to depart

From The Athletic, Wednesday:

Newcastle United co-owners Amanda Staveley and Mehrdad Ghodoussi are to leave the club after three years at St James’ Park.

Staveley, 51, played a key role in orchestrating the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund’s (PIF) purchase of an 80% stake in Newcastle for £300m  in 2021, helping bring to an end Mike Ashley’s 14-year ownership of the club.

As part of that deal, she acquired a 10% stake in Newcastle, having made three failed attempts to buy the club from Ashley in 2017. The Reuben family also bought a 10% share. 

After being stripped back under Ashley, Newcastle now have a more rounded corporate structure, with Darren Eales in place as chief executive and Paul Mitchell recently replacing Dan Ashworth as sporting director. 

All parties have reluctantly concluded that the time is right for Staveley and Ghodoussi to step back and sell their shareholding and for the club to move on.

A Companies House update earlier this year showed that Staveley’s stake has been diluted to 6%, with the Reuben family’s shares increasing.

Ex-Mags:
Old boy in the chair

The Football Association of Wales confirmed Craig Bellamy as the new manager of the Welsh national team on Tuesday, in succession to Rob Page.

The SJP old boy will take charge of The Dragons for the first time in September, when they face Turkey and Montenegro in the UEFA Nations League.

Cardiff-born Bellamy had been acting as interim boss of Burnley after the departure of Vincent Kompany, but has left Turf Moor following the permanent appointment of ex-Magpie Scott Parker.

Other old boys in the news include Moussa Sissoko, who has rejoined Championship side Watford. Now 34, the midfielder left Vicarage Road for French side Nantes in 2022.

Allan Saint-Maximin meanwhile is set to end his stay in Saudi Arabia by joining Turks Fenerbahce.

Recently-released Matt Ritchie  is reportedly considering a contract offer from Sheffield United; former club Portsmouth also credited with an interest in him. 

And Joselu will be heading to Qatar once his Euro adventure concludes, having signed for Al-Gharafa.

2024/25:
TV times

The Premier League live UK TV picks until the end of September have been released, with. our of Newcastle's first six PL games selected: 

August:
Sat 17 Southampton (h) 3pm no UK TV
Sun 25 Bournemouth (a)+ 2pm Sky

September:
Sun 1 Spurs (h) 1.30pm Sky
Sun 15 Wolves (a) 4.30pm Sky
Sat 21 Fulham (a) 3pm no UK TV
Sat 28 Manchester City (h) 12.30pm TNT

+ Engineering works on Sunday August 25th mean that there are no timetabled South West Train services between London and Bournemouth and no sign of any bus replacement services as yet.

Cross Country services continue to serve Bournemouth that day, with connections via Reading available.

Fixture list is online here 

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. 

Internationals:
Bruno beaten

Newcastle's interest in the Copa America has ended, with Brazil's exit to Uruguay at the Quarter Final stage.

90 minutes failed to produce a goal in Las Vegas, with Bruno Guimaraes in the starting lineup but withdrawn in the 87th minute.

With no extra time, the tie went straight to penalties and Uruguay triumphed 4-2.

Nippon 6:
Going home

Ahead of United's first games there in almost 30 years, our Japan correspondent Simon Moran tells some tales of Tyneside here

2024/25:
Home friendlies:
public sale now

Tickets for Newcastle's two home pre-season games are now on general sale priced at £25 and £20 each, with concessions £15 and £10.

There's no weekend ticket or discount for purchasing both days together. 
 
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 includes 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.

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.

Incoming:
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

The Chronicle report 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:
Hull (a) update

The season ticket points requirement for United's pre-season trip to Hull City dropped to 4 points at 2pm on Thursday.

The next scheduled reduction is at 2pm on Friday.

Eddie Howe's side travel to the Championship Tigers on Saturday July 27th (2pm) and received 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

Official confirmation of new additions to Newcastle's Academy is yet to arrive, but social media postings reveal the following:  

Kayden Lucas striker, Clevedon Town.
Aaron Epia defender, Everton.
Ezra Tika-Lemba defender, West Ham.

Also pictured after accepting scholarship offers are two midfielders who were already on our books:

Matheos Ferreira
Mohamed Waddani

PS: claims of two further midfield arrivals continue to bounce around cyberspace; Rory Finneran of Blackburn Rovers and CJ Afumuzor from Portsmouth. 

Update:
Transfers

First team arrivals and departures:

Inbound:
Odysseas Vlachodimos Nottingham Forest
John Ruddy unattached
Lloyd Kelly unattached
Lewis Hall Chelsea 

Outbound:
Elliot Anderson Nottingham Forest
Yankuba Minteh Brighton
Paul Dummett unattached
Matt Ritchie unattached
Loris Karius unattached
Kell Watts unattached
Jeff Hendrick unattached  

Old boys:
Unlikely lads

SJP old boys with new clubs/jobs include:

Craig Bellamy Wales Manager
Kyle Cameron St.Johnstone (loan)
Adam Campbell Hartlepool United
Lewis Cass Grimsby Town
Ian Cathro Estoril (Portugal) Head Coach
Luke Charman Hartlepool United
Stephen Clemence Barrow Head Coach
Kyle Crossley South Shields
Ryan Donaldson Blyth Spartans
Cameron Ferguson Inverness CT (Scotland)
Owen Gallacher Stockton Town
Dan Gosling Westfield
Jamie Holmes North Shields
Jack Hunter Hartlepool United
Joselu Al-Gharafa (Qatar)
Dan Langley Morpeth Town
Michael Newberry Cliftonville
Scott Parker Burnley Manager
Ben Pollock Chester
Moussa Sissoko Watford
Dylan Stephenson Dagenham & Redbridge
Jude Smith Carlisle United
Lewis Suddick North Shields
Ben Tozer Forest Green Rovers
Dan Ward South Shields
Kell Watts Cambridge United
Callum Williams Tow Law Town

Ex-Magpies looking for new clubs include:

Mehdi Abeid Istanbul Basaksehir (Turkey)
Chris Basham Sheffield United
Ciaran Clark Stoke City
Shane Ferguson Rotherham United
Dwight Gayle Derby County
Paul Huntington Carlisle United
Kazenga LuaLua Charlton Athletic
Jonathan Mitchell Harrogate Town
Islam Slimani Anderlecht (Belgium)
Patrick van Aanholt Galatasaray (Turkey)
Josef Yarney Tranmere Rovers

Off-field departures include:

Habib Beye Red Star Paris (France)
Emre Ankaragucu (Turkey)
Steve Guppy Nashville SC (USA)
Kevin Nolan West Ham

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