Nottingham Forest (h) Fwding/resale now
Liverpool (a) SOLD OUT
Brighton (h) Member sale Mon 24.02, 10am
West Ham (a) ST sale now, 11pts

Carabao Cup:
Wembley ticket sale

The Pot 4 ballot for Carabao Cup Final tickets ended at Noon on Tuesday with those ballot winners able to buy tickets until Noon on Thursday.  

NUFC confirm that the ticket sale will be extended to a ballot of Pot 5, covering season ticket holders in the cup scheme who attended one Carabao Cup tie. 

If that's you, check emails for notification from NUFC including junk mail folder. The Pot 5 ballot runs for a 24 hour period from Thursday at Noon.

Find full details of the process online here

Carabao Cup:
Wembley train 
- final places 

FAO anyone seeking return travel to Wembley on Sunday March 16th, the last remaining charter train seats are available now from Dawson & Sanderson travel agents.

First class is sold out, with standard class places priced at £169 per person return. Match ticket not included.

The train will run direct from Newcastle to Wembley Central station, walking distance from the stadium. 

Approximate journey time is 5 hours 30 minutes each way - no alcohol can be bought or consumed.

Bookings via 0191 261 4888 or in person at Dawson & Sanderson, 124 Northumberland Street, Newcastle.

Bucket list:
Hat giveaway

As modelled by a certain local musician, the Shearer reversible bucket hat from Tyneside-based Football Bobbles is ideal for winding your way down on Baker Street and along Wembley Way come March 16th.

Available to buy here, we have one up for grabs and to stand a chance of winning it, email your answer to this question to [email protected] subject Hats:

How many times did Alan Shearer play at Wembley Stadium for Newcastle United? 

Closing date is 2pm on Wednesday February 26th. No age limit, open to anyone on the planet. Delivery only to UK addresses. One entry each please per person.

FA Cup:
Brighton (h) tickets 

Newcastle's FA Cup Fifth Round home tie against Brighton & Hove Albion will be a 1.45pm kick-off on Sunday March 2nd live on ITV1.

The ballot for members and ST holders not in the cup scheme is now closed. Ballot winners will be emailed by 11am on Thursday, with seat selection available from Thursday at 1pm for 24 hours.

Member sale from Monday 24th February at 10am. ST forwarding/resale from Monday 24th February at 4pm.

Albion avoided reference to their allocation size when announcing the ticket sale. Given that they had 2,000 fans here in October and travel options aren't great for this tie, it would appear likely that they'll not sell out the maximum number of places they are entitled to. 

There's some uncertainty about what the upper figure is, but Bromley (FA Cup) plus Chelsea and Arsenal (Carabao Cup) were allocated just under 5,000 - the former selling a smaller amount and the latter two selling out.

Fifth Round:

Friday 28.02.2025:
Aston Villa v Cardiff City (8pm) ITV

Sat 01.03.2025:
Crystal Palace v Millwall (12.15pm) BBC1
Preston North End v Burnley (12.15pm) iPlayer
Bournemouth v Wolves (3pm)
Manchester City v Plymouth Argyle (5.45pm) ITV4

Sun 02.03.2025:
Newcastle United v Brighton (1.45pm) ITV1
Manchester United v Fulham (4.30pm) BBC1

Monday 03.03.2025:
Nottingham Forest v Ipswich Town (7.30pm) ITV4

2024/25:
Nottingham Forest (h)

Following Premier League and Carabao Cup successes at the City Ground for Newcastle earlier in the season, Eddie Howe and Nuno Espirito Santo lock horns for the third time on Sunday.

Kick-off at SJP is at 2pm, live on Sky Sports.

The game will be shown live at WonderBar in The Gate, which opens at 10am. DJ Mad Mick is on stage from 11am with his pre-match show.

Team: Sven Botman may return but Joelinton and Jamaal Lascelles remain unavailable.

Coral rate this game as follows:

NUFC win 4/5
The draw 29/10
NFFC win 3/1

New customers receive a £40 bet when staking £10 (T's & C's apply). Find those markets online here 

NFFC: Carlos Miguel and Taiwo Awoniyi are doubts.

A trio of ex-Magpies could face their old team, Elliot Anderson and Matz Sels making first returns to Tyneside and Chris Wood bagging a hat-trick here last season. 

Forest have lost their two most recent away games in the PL, 0-5 at Bournemouth and 1-2 at Fulham.

Referee: Jarred Gillett - second appearance of the season for the Australian-born official, who also took charge of the 1-1 home PL draw with Manchester City.

VAR: Peter Bankes

Latest PL fixtures:

Wed 19.02.2025:
Aston Villa v Liverpool (7.30pm) TNT

Fri 21.02.2025:
Leicester City v Brentford (8pm) Sky

Sat 22.02.2025:
Everton v Manchester United (12.30pm) TNT
Arsenal v West Ham (3pm)
Bournemouth v Wolves (3pm)
Fulham v Crystal Palace (3pm)
Ipswich Town v Spurs (3pm)
Southampton v Brighton & Hove Albion (3pm)
Aston Villa v Chelsea (5.30pm) Sky

Sun 23.02.2025:
Newcastle v Nottingham Forest (2pm) Sky
Manchester City v Liverpool (4.30pm) Sky

UK TV: Live on Sky Sports

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Overseas TV: 
Arena Sport 1 (Croatia)
Astro Go (Malaysia)
beIN Connect MENA HD
beIN SPORTS MENA English 1 HD
Canal+ Sport (Cz/Slov)
DAZN Spain
Diema Sport 2 (Bulgaria)
Digi Sport 2 (Romania)
Disney+ Arg/Bra/Chi/Sur
Disney+ Caribbean
Disney+ Hotstar (India)
DStv Now (South Africa)
eltaott.tv (Taiwan)
ESPN Brazil
ESPN2 Caribbean
FAST TV (Armenia)
fuboTV Canada/Fubo Sports Network 2 Canada
fuboTV (USA)
Go3 Extra Sports Est/Lat/Lit
iQiyi (China)
JioCinema (India)
MaXimo 360 (South Africa)
Migu (China)
M Plus Live (Hong Kong)
Now E (Hong Kong)
ON Plus (Vietnam)
Optus Sport (Australia) 
QQ Sports Live (China)
Showmax (South Africa)
Skylink (Czech/Slovakia)
Sky Sport NOW (New Zealand)
Sky Go/WOW/Top Event/Premier League (Germany)
Spiler1 (Hungary)
SPOTV NOW (South Korea)
Sport 1 Israel
Sport 24 At Sea HD
Sport 24 In Flight HD
StarHub TV+ (Singapore)
SuperSport GOtv Football (South Africa)
SuperSport MaXimo 1/2 (South Africa)
SuperSport Premier League (South Africa)
Telemundo USA
TOD (Turkey)
True ID (Thailand)
TSN2 Malta
U-NEXT (Japan)
USA Network HD
ViaPlay Den/Fin/Ned/Nor/Pol HD
Vidio (Indonesia)
ZhiBo8 (China)

UK Radio: Live on BBC Radio 5 Live

Local Radio: Live on BBC Radio Newcastle

Hospital Radio: Radio Tyneside commentary is accessible free of charge in local hospitals via Spark Media.

Buses: The Go North East X50 football service from the Metro Centre will be in operation. Details here

Metro: No scheduled alterations.

Rail: Buses replace trains between York and Newcastle. Some LNER services operate between Newcastle and York, via an alternative route with extended journey times. No Lumos either. Details online here

Roads: The Tyne Bridge refurbishment programme is underway, with one lane in each direction closed at all times until further notice. 

That will lead to congestion and delays, especially with the ongoing closure of the Gateshead Highway closure. More details here

Temporary road closures around SJP apply from an hour before kick-off until 30 minutes after the final whistle.

Food Bank: The usual stall and bucket shakers will be on and around Strawberry Place, with NUFC Director Jamie Reuben again matching all matchday donations.

Stats:

After losses to Bournemouth and Fulham, United will hope to avoid three successive PL home defeats for the first time since February 2021 under Steve Bruce.

A 3-1 success on the banks of the Trent in November gives the Magpies an opportunity of their fourth league double of the season - following maximum returns against Spurs, Wolves and Southampton.

Forest @ SJP - PL era:

2023/24 lost 1-3 Isak (pen)
2022/23 won 2-0 Schar, Wilson
2017/18 lost 2-3 Mitrovic, Aarons (LC)
2016/17 won 3-1 Ritchie, Gayle 2 (Ch)
2009/10 won 2-0 Ameobi, Enrique
1998/99 won 2-0 Shearer 2
1996/97 won 5-0 Asprilla, Ferdinand 2, Shearer, Elliott
1996/97 lost 1-2 Ferdinand (FAC)
1995/96 won 3-1 Lee 2, Ginola
1994/95 won 2-1 Fox, Lee

U21s:
Cup stuff

A date for United's National League Cup quarter-final against Altrincham has been confirmed, with the U21s travelling to Moss Lane on Tuesday February 25th.

It's a 7.30pm kick-off and admission is £5 adults and £2 concessions, payable in cash at the gate.

The tie is expected to be live on National League TV - we'll add a link when it becomes available.

Meanwhile the Northumberland Senior Cup semi-final tie away to Heaton Stannington has been rearranged, from Monday March 3rd to Tuesday March 11th.

Kick-off at Grounsell Park remains 7.30pm and tickets for the original date will be valid. Anyone now unable to attend can gain a refund by emailing the host club [email protected] with your order number.

U21s:
Free entry for U21s

Newcastle's U21 side return to PL2 action on Friday, when they face their Arsenal counterparts at the Meadow Park home of Boreham Wood FC.

It's a 7pm kick-off and admission is free to all.

Two points currently separate the Gunners in tenth spot from the fourteenth-placed Magpies.

2024/25:
Etibad

Manchester City  4  Newcastle  0

Match report

Loan lads:
Temps 

Magpie loan watch:

James Huntley (Spennymoor Town)
The midfielder wasn't involved in 3-1 home win over Alfreton Town in National League North on Tuesday.

Harrison Ashby (QPR)
Portsmouth (a) Championship, Saturday. 

Isaac Hayden (Portsmouth) 
QPR (h) Championship, Saturday.

Alex Murphy (Bolton Wanderers)
Leyton Orient (h) League One, Saturday.

Charlie McArthur (Carlisle United)
Gillingham (h) League Two, Saturday.

Max Thompson (Chesterfield)
Swindon Town (a) League Two, Saturday.

Joe White (MK Dons)
Bradford City (a) League Two, Saturday.

Travis Hernes (AaB):
AGF (a) Superliga, Sunday.

Miodrag Pivas (Willem II)
Sparta Rotterdam (a) Eredivisie, Sunday March 2nd. 

U18s:
Rearguard action
rewarded

Manchester United U18s  0  Newcastle U18s  0

Following last week's 1-5 home loss to Blackburn Rovers, Saturday saw Newcastle U18s face a Manchester United side who themselves won 5-1 on Tyneside in September. 

A creditable defensive performance yielded a point at Carrington however, a series of stops from goalkeeper Will Anderson seeing the hosts drop points for only the third time in fourteen league games this season.

There was a competitive debut from the bench for 18 year-old winger Kyle Fitzgerald following his recent arrival from Galway United.

Team: Anderson, Johnson, Craggs, Watts, Bloomer, Cogdon, Mills (Fitzgerald 70), Alabi (Epia 86), Harper, Wooster (Waddani 69), Brayson (Durrant 90+3).
Sub n/u: Jones.

Booked: Wooster

PL2:
City slicker on 
frantic Friday

Newcastle U21s  3  Leicester City U21s  6

Match report

Pins:
Badge comp answer

New issues from badge guru Magpin commemorate the goals scored by Anthony Gordon in both Carabao Cup semi-final ties against Arsenal earlier this season.

On sale here are the first leg edition, capturing Gordon's corner flag pose and his scarf twirling celebration badge from the second leg.

We had a pair to give away and asked which current Newcastle team mate was in the opposition side when Gordon scored his maiden Magpie goal in May 2023.

It was Lewis Hall - who was a Chelsea player that day - and the winning entry came from Charles Dytham.

PS: Also available to buy now from Magpin is a bumper set of assorted current season NUFC player stickers:

Premier League:
Palace (h) confirmed 

The outstanding Premier League fixture between Newcastle and Crystal Palace will be played at SJP on Wednesday April 16th with a 7.30pm kick-off.

The original fixture date was rendered irrelevant by Newcastle's involvement in the Carabao Cup Final.

That new date comes between the Premier League home game with Manchester United and visit to Aston Villa - the latter falling on Easter weekend.

Squad:
Contract talks for trio 

Speaking to the media on Friday morning, Eddie Howe confirmed that contract talks were in progress with Fabian Schar, whose current deal expires in June.

Fellow defender Emil Krafth is similarly engaged in negotiations to remain a Magpie.

That follows a Sky Sports interview with Martin Dubravka in which he revealed that he's close to agreeing an extension to his own SJP contract.

Assuming both players put pen to paper, that leaves Jamaal Lascelles, Jamal Lewis and Callum Wilson in the final months of their SJP deals, along with goalkeeping pair John Ruddy and Mark Gillespie.

The Athletic have written in recent days that a new contract offer for Wilson is unlikely but that is tbc.

2024/25:
Liverpool (a)

Wednesday night sees Newcastle face Liverpool in the Premier League at Anfield in what is a dress rehearsal for the Carabao Cup Final at Wembley.

It's an 8.15pm start live on TNT Sports and United's 3,000 tickets are sold out.

Team: To follow

LFC: Joe Gomez remains out, with Cody Gakpo a doubt.

Ahead of our visit, Arne Slot's side shared four goals at Aston Villa in the Premier League on Wednesday.

They then travel to Manchester City on Sunday. 

They have lost just once in 26 PL games so far this season, a 0-1 home defeat by Nottingham Forest last September. That game was also the last time that the Reds failed to find the net in the PL.

Referee: Chris Kavanagh - fourth toon game of the season for the Manchester-based official following the 2-1 PL victory at Wolves, 2-0 Carabao Cup win home against Chelsea and 1-2 PL loss to Fulham at SJP.

VAR: Matthew Donohue

UK TV: Live on TNT Sports