Referee: Robert Jones - second sighting of the season for the Merseyside-based whistler, following the 1-2 home loss to Leicester City in January.

VAR: Martin Atkinson

 

Attendance: Officially, 10,000.

so good to be back home again

This was the first Premier League game involving Newcastle to be played in front of a crowd since the 1-0 win at Southampton on March 7th 2020. A maximum of 10,000 fans or 25% of stadium capacity were allowed as a result of the governmental COVID-19 Response roadmap reaching Step 3 on May 17th 2021.

No allocation was made available for away supporters, with the 10,000 seats available to eligible season ticket holders and corporate clients. The season ticket holders who wished to attend were entered into an online ballot, in the expectation that demand would exceed supply.

However we're not aware of anyone who was turned down and in the days following the ballot, season tickets not eligible to enter it were able to buy tickets online. Anecdotally, we're also aware of NUFC cold calling season ticket holders who had successfully entered the ballot but then opted not to buy their ticket as late as Saturday.

The original plans didn't include any occupancy of Level 7 sections, but a review of social distancing requirements followed the allocation of tickets in smaller groups/singles than anticipated and Level 7 was then used.

A health status report had to be submitted to NUFC before the game, match tickets were printed with varying entry times in an attempt to regulate crowd flow and photo ID checks were meant to ensure that the person named on the match ticket was physically present.

Food & drink outlets were closed (including in corporate areas), with free bottles of water given out.

Scenes at St.James'






 

The Diary of a match-attending supporter, aged 54 and a sixth:

Random observations from the much-anticipated return to SJP.

-65 mins It may not quite have been the dismantling of the Berlin Wall (or the tearing down of the Old Trafford fences) but arriving at SJP to see the barriers have gone raises the spirits still further. We can do this: actually get to see a game (beating the bottom placed side is less certain).

-60 to 45 mins (stated admission time): Pithy comment about not having needed to show a passport at the turnstiles since the trip to Benfica before smooth passage into SJP and straight to the seats just to drink in that view, with no opportunity for supping en route: It is COVID, there are no drink.

-30 mins such is the enthusiasm of those present that even mention of Emil Krafth elicits a roar of approval when the teams are read out.

- 10 mins A bit of Busker on the PA "I'm coming home Newcastle, I might as well have been in jail" seems a particularly apt line given the new-found sense of freedom in the air.

-5 mins The arrival of the away side in a particular rotten change kit that was seemingly inspired by a salmon. Pleasingly, the current match protocols mean Newcastle let them stew out on the pitch for a few minutes before making their separate entrance amid great applause. It always used to be like that before the PL started insisting on both teams walking out side by side, something once only reserved for cup finals.

0 mins And here we go, kicking towards the Gallowgate End for once.

20 mins After a range of the usual crowd ditties and a failed attempt at "masks off if you love the toon" from near us, some wag starts a chorus of "your support is f*ckin' sh*t" aimed at the L7 away section, which of course is occupied by home fans tonight.

45+4mins GOAL. That's what we came for; even more of a lump in the throat moment than the team emerging from the tunnel. Infinitely more satisfying than shaking your fist at the telly/knocking your cuppa over during the previous 65 second hand celebrations since last June.

75 mins Choruses of "sunlun's staying down and the Mags are staying up" ring out as confirmation of Lincoln City making it 2-0 in the first leg of their playoff against the mackems reaches those inside SJP. Given that Blades boss Paul Heckingbottom was in charge of Barnsley here on the last day of the 2016/17 season, he may think that this is our new national anthem....*

(*it was of course "....going down and ....going up" four years ago) 

82 mins yes people are sneaking out, and we can see them.

FT A very quick turnaround and the home players set off on a lap of honour round the pitch, Steve Bruce noticeably preventing Joe Willock from doing a TV interview in order to join his colleagues.

A second group of those players not involved in the game then appear and set off, providing a first chance for Newcastle fans to see this season's top scorer Callum Wilson gracing the Gallowgate turf. It's possible that his teeth are brighter than the floodlights which by now are shining brightly. Elliot Anderson and Ryan Fraser both appear clad in masks, while the trend in recent seasons of bringing partners, bairns and hangers-on out to trudge round the field was thankfully prevented by bubble restrictions.

Emboldened by victory, Bruce urges his coaches to join him but makes the fatal mistake of making a fairly isolated walk towards the Gallowgate End, prompting an outbreak of booing. That then mutates into a brief "sad mackem bastard" chant as he heads towards the East Stand.

PS: What do you mean it's advance bookings only? I've been drinking here since I was 15!