As soon as the tournament was confirmed, South Ayrshire Loyal and Jimmy Bowser booked up for a weekend in Geordieland and were not disappointed.
As usual the Tims with laptops in the media were salivating at the prospect of trouble, with an STV camera crew already in Newcastle on the Friday night before the match reporting on a clatty boarded up Irish shebeen which 90% of self respecting Rangers fans would have avoided like the plague anyway. Their chips were well and truly pissed on however as the 12,000 travelling Rangers fans and their Geordie hosts had a fantastic weekend of trouble free banter and drinking.
Arriving in Newcastle at 11.00 after a 4 hour train journey from Loyalist Ayrshire (thanks are due at this point to the lads that got on at Kilmarnock for the cans of lager after ours had ran out) the bags were quickly dumped in the hotel room as we headed out, the first stop being the Rose and Crown which was already heaving with the Bears in full cry.
Another couple of stops in Sam Jacks and the Newcastle Arms were taken before heading up to St James` where the atmosphere was the best I have heard for many a long day, the 20 minute period before the teams came out truly made the hairs stand up on the back of your neck, with the travelling army in full cry giving it the full repetoire. While things on the pitch might not have been going to Rangers liking the noise level did not drop right through the first half, something that the many members of the Toon Army we met after the match commented upon.
It was while heading back to the Newcastle Arms after the match that we fell foul to the Del Boy Trotter of the North East, who was selling scarves with the badges of the 4 teams on them at £2 a throw out of a black binliner outside the pub, what a bargain we thought, until we got back inside the boozer and discovered that they had PSV Eindhoven emblazoned across them rather than Feyenoord !!!
On Saturday night after a few hours kip between 6 and 8, we headed back out, ending up in Idols nightclub complete with bikini clad barmaids, the DJ forging a special bond with the many Rangers fans inside by playing Simply The Best. Saturday night was completed with a noisy rendition of "There`s Not A Team" in the sixth floor bar of the hotel at 2.00 am.
After a long lie and a full English on Sunday morning we headed back to the Rose and Crown again and decided to skip the football and have a session, where we enjoyed a brilliant few hours in the company of some lads and lassies from Baillieston who were heading back up the road after spending Saturday night in Whitley Bay.
Troops, if you are reading this, your company was tops.
Sunday night was again brilliant with the few remaining Bears and the locals, Lennons (I know), Sam Jacks, Bar 90 and Idols were all visited with special mention going to the dancing girls in Sam Jacks and the stunning girl dancing all alone in the Bar 90.
Travelling back up home on Monday on the train, the overall impression we had was :
The Rangers fans did themselves and our great club proud.
The Newcastle fans, Geordie people in general and the police were all different class, almost to a man praising the Rangers fans.
The bar staff, hoteliers and doormen were all very helpful as well, no doubt helped by the large amounts of wonga that they were earning.
Last but not least, to the lovely ladies of Newcastle who deserve a special mention, I have never seen in all my travels to watch Rangers, a group of so many beautiful women wearing so little - it has to be seen to be believed, those that were there will know what I mean.
Hope to be back in Newcastle in the not to distant future, indeed if this tournament was to be made an annual event with Rangers getting an invite, this Bear would be a happy cat.
Yours for the Rangers.
Derek.
South Ayrshire Loyal.
WATP.