FC Metz (0) 1 Traore (67)
Newcastle United(1) 1 Beardsley (31 pen)
Att: 23,000
FC Metz: Letizi, Song, Kastendeuch, Serredszum, Pires, Blanchard,
Isaias, Traore, Lang, Terrier, Arpinon
Subs Not Used: Adam, Biancarelli, Strasser, Neumann, Oyawole
Toon: Srnicek, Barton, Beresford (Elliott 57), Batty,
Peacock, Lee, Beardsley, Asprilla, Ginola, Gillespie, Albert
Subs not used: Hislop, Watson, Clark, Kitson
This was my first away trip to Europe, it was fantastic!
We arrived in Metz on Monday afternoon. It is a town of about 120,000 people situated in North East France, between Luxembourg and Nancy. There were one or two alien sights for the Newcastle supporters as they drove through the towns outskirts, coal and steel industries to name but two.
Despite the towns reliance on heavy industry the centre was very pleasant with some fine old buildings epitomized by the grand cathedral. We must have been amongst the first set of Newcastle fans to arrive. The natives were initially very apprehensive, no doubt filled with English Football Hooligan propaganda by the national press. However when they saw that we were there to drink the place dry and have a good time they soon lightened up and became extremely hospitable.
The language barrier was a problem, like most ignorant English people my French involves shouting pigeon English loudly and slowly to bemused foreigners. Unlike some I’m not proud of this and have to muddle on. Words such as ‘beer’, ‘hotel’, ‘chips’, ‘bar’ and ‘football’ are universal. The good people of Metz did have a few problems with the likes of ‘lush’, ‘canny’ and ‘fettle’. We scored an early victory by beating a few locals at pool. However table football is clearly in it’s infancy on Tyneside, the French were fantastic at it. Whilst they could pass and lob we employed the tactics, honed as a bairns in youth clubs, of spinning the men as fast as possible. We suffered a few humiliating defeats.
The beer continued to flow throughout the day and night, eventually the Metz people were on the floor as the geordies sang ‘sit down if you hate S*nderland!’ Despite trying to sing along, they were clearly bemused by half cut renditions of the Blaydon Races. I think we got back to our Hotel at about 4 am, it was a stunning night out!
On the afternoon of the game we were holed up in one bar and Sir John Hall and Freddy Fletcher walked in. They were happy enough to sign autographs and have their pictures taken. These two men come in for a lot of flack, much of it deserved. However I reckoned that they deserve some credit for mingling with the fans, even if it must have boosted their already inflated egos.
The weather was appalling, cold and wet. It began to snow in the afternoon and there were rumors that the game had been called off. By this time most of us were finding it difficult to communicate in our native tongue, never mind French, so it took several reassurances from the bar staff to convince us that everything was OK.
We got to the ground an hour early and found to our astonishment that non of the bars were selling alcohol, no matter how hard you tried. The ground was pretty average, I would say it was Norwich standard. We had the advantage of being able to stand up on a terrace, which I really miss - especially away. I’ve not been on a terrace with the toon since Bolton last year and this time there was no supermarket obscuring my view of the pitch. We were all praying for a goal so we could go mental on the terrace.
The game itself was pretty uneventful. We played with a flat back four for once but KK decided to give the rest of players a challenge by playing Barton. The first half was very tight with Albert playing very well at the back and the midfield chasing everything. After twenty odd minutes Tino chased a speculative long ball into the box. The two defenders seemed to have it covered but Tino sent out one of his extendible legs and nipped the ball off them, he rounded the keeper and was brought down - no doubts. Peter sent a perfect penno into the bottom right and we went ape for about five minutes. Whilst we were jumping about we had another chance but I missed that.
Towards the end of the first half Metz’ Brazilian number 10, Isiasas, fouled Batty and then cowardly whacked him on the side of the head when he was on the floor. Batty got up streaming with blood and looked like he was about to kill him, instead he turned to the ref. and winked - hard or what!
The second half followed a similar pattern to the first. We defended and tried to hit in the break. Their equalizer was a bit of a disaster. Barton failed to make a challenge on the right, allowing the left winger to cross the ball. Pav came out and totally missed it and the Metz player had a free header. The game finished in stalemate, 1-1 away from home is a good professional result, especially when you are missing £20 millions worth of attackers.
At the end of the game the Metz fans and police applauded the Newcastle fans out of the ground. Over the two days Newcastle fans had not only kept the clubs good reputation in tact but enhanced it. The people of Metz had been extremely hospitable and I hope we will be the same when they come to the toon. It all made for a wonderful away trip, my best ever. Newcastle fans are steadily destroying foreign concepts of English Football Hooliganism abroad. This results in great excursions into Europe, no riots or deportations just a good time with friendly people - a fact the English press are not so quick to pick up on. However it will only need to kick off once and there will be no independent away travel, we will all have to go on the supporters bus, arrive an hour before kick off and be treated like thugs by continental police forces and supporters. As things stand we are proud of the reputation of Newcastle
Thomas Whitaker
Back to match index
