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Heerenveen Fans' Views On SJP, Toon Fans & Our City |
February 28th 2005
Newcastle-online caught up with Heerenveen fan and webmaster of their
supporters' club website, Jeroen
to get his views on Thursday's 2-1 win for Newcastle over
his side in the UEFA Cup, St. James' Park, our City and the match.
Jeroen and friends traveled to Newcastle to take in the match and
this is what he had to say...
The Trip & The City:
About 1,700 Heerenveen supporters left on Wednesday from IJmuiden,
Hoek van Holland and Schiphol by boat and plane. This is quite a lot,
if you realise there are only a maximum of 80 to 100 supporters traveling
to away matches in the League. I was on the boat from IJmuiden to
Newcastle. Unfortunately half the boat got sick because of rough weather.
The rest got sick because of a little too much beer. We arrived in
Newcastle Thursday morning . After checking in in our hotel we decided
to take a look around the City. Unfortunately the weather was 'English',
with rain and snow so we decided to go to a pub pretty quick. After
some fast food we went to Fluid, to meet some other Heerenveen supporters.
The pub was packed. Excellent atmosphere with some singing.
We didn't really get out of the circle from our hotel to the Big Market
and St. James' Park apart from our trip to Sunderland. I did see the
Monument and the Central Station. I liked the mixture of buildings.
Some very modern, like The Gate, some very historical. Every street
had one or more pubs which made it very friendly and warm. Nothing
like a cold northern English industrial City. The City was also very
alive, every pub was pretty crowded. Only The Gate was pretty empty,
but we were there at 11.00am.
St. James' Park & The Match:
After a couple of drinks it was time to go to the stadium. Every Heerenveen
supporter had to be registered before we left the Netherlands. Outside
the stadium were a couple of laptops with a scanner to scan our tickets
to see if the right person had the right ticket. This is one of the
reasons why we don't have much traveling fans, it is too much of a
hassle. After entering the stadium and having walked up 16 or something
stairs, you realise it was all worth it. What a magnificent view from
up there. Fantastic stadium, and all without boundaries. You can go
wherever you want, which adds greatly to a good and friendly atmosphere.
The most surprising thing was that there are no fences or plexiglass
walls between the supporters. Awesome, and England probably is unique
in Europe with this. The match itself was pretty boring. It went exactly
as it shouldn't for Heerenveen. Newcastle pushed forward from the
beginning, creating chances from the wings. After a good shot from
Huntelaar, the counterattack from the left forced Breuer to score
an own goal. The goal from Shearer won the match. The penalty was
some consolation as we could at least cheer for one goal. But we never
had a chance.
Toon Supporters:
The Heerenveen supporters were pretty disappointed after the 2-0,
but after half time, out of nothing came a great atmosphere. Singing,
bouncing, it was awesome. We never stopped singing in the second half.
Partly because the match was utterly boring, partly because we just
wanted to party. Next to us were the Toon Ultras if I'm correct (Ed:
Yes you are correct). It was pretty difficult for them to make themselves
heard, but there was some nice singing between them and us. Unfortunately
I was on the complete other end of the stand so I never really could
understand what they were singing. The rest of the stadium was pretty
disappointing. The atmosphere as well as the attendance. Probably
if the game in Heerenveen was 1-0 or 1-1 it would have been better.
But I have to say it probably had to do with the status of the opposition
also.
If we play some club from Romania or Poland in the first round of
the UEFA Cup, our stadium is half full also. After the match we went
to Fluid again. Spoke to some nice older Newcastle supporters. They
even gave their scarf to one of my friends. From what I've heard it
was pretty much the same friendly attitude as we encountered in Heerenveen.
After the pubs closed we had a great time at the Blu Bambu. Luckily
our hotel was only 50 meters from the Big Market. As the Blu Bambu
closed at 2.00am, we were pretty fit the next day. The boat didn't
leave until 5.30pm so we decided to visit the Stadium of Light. The
tour had just ended but we got a quick view in the stadium and the
dressing rooms anyway. Who would have thought there are friendly people
in Sunderland? After a short visit to the pub this was the end of
our trip. Never had the feeling I was on a football trip. No police,
no hassle with supporters from the opposition. I guess we have to
thank the supporters from Newcastle for this. Absolutely brilliant
attitude and I really hope we can meet again some time.
Yesterday (Sunday 26th) I went to our home game against PSV. I saw
many supporters walking around with a scarf or cap from Newcastle
United. I did too. The Newcastle fanshop was pretty crowded with Heerenveen
supporters friday after the game so I think there are quite a few
new supporters from overseas. I know I am. |
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