Sydney to Newcastle – Fulfilling a 31-Year Premier League Pilgrimage

[VPS]

Thanks for the photos. I almost expected to see Vera peering at a dead body in the background of those shots of the Newcastle riverfront. It must have been somewhat chilly wandering the streets in that snow.

I remember waiting at the bus stop in Newcastle and everyone wanting to chat and when they knew I was an Aussie - OMG they needed to know every detail of my life and yes I was called pet and hen

PS loving this TR

 

[kamchatsky]

Wetherspoons is a great pub chain for cheap drinks in interesting, generally historical buildings, but the meals are very average,

Agreed. Seems to be a place to hang out for average Joes. Good for the price though.

I avoid spoons unless there is no alternative and there always is. YMMV

My friend mentioned to me about this afterwards.

Feel a bit sorry for that guitarist at Stack!

Me too. Must be boring as hell. But during match day he would have performed in front of a lot of people. All balanced out, I guess.

Good trip report, I have a few I should add to paper.

Thank you!

Thanks for the photos. I almost expected to see Vera peering at a dead body in the background of those shots of the Newcastle riverfront. It must have been somewhat chilly wandering the streets in that snow.

It was chilly. But I don't have problem with this as I used to live in Chicago in winter. Newcastle is considered "mild" to me. However, the worst thing is actually walking at just under 0 degrees. The light snow melts and then turned to ice. I had to walk very slowly in some areas to avoid slipping.

I remember waiting at the bus stop in Newcastle and everyone wanting to chat and when they knew I was an Aussie - OMG they needed to know every detail of my life and yes I was called pet and hen

PS loving this TR

I had no idea about what "pet and hen" means and I had to Chatgpt it. But now I get it!

 

[moa999]

United but it also sells other teams' souvenirs and memorabi
View attachment 495262

Sane foundation year as a Melbourne based AFL team who wears similar colours, and arguably a similar working class support base.

Also did the tour five years ago when visiting Newcastle.
One thing that struck versus Aussie stadiums was the small size of the screens (not that EPL replays anything contentious) and also how hemmed in the short side of the stadium is against heritage housing.

 

[kamchatsky]

4 January 2026

Match Day 1, Newcastle UK

Today is match day 1. I woke up at 8am, snow fell overnight but then cleared up in the morning. So as usual I went out for a walk.

Innside Melia Newcastle along the River Tyne


Next to Innside Melia is the Quayside Weatherspoon. I went in for breakfast and drinks for 6.8GBP. The food was OK, the drink was very average. Then again it was only 6.8GBP.


It was a Sunday so there was a market along the Quayside. It was early morning so there were not many people yet.


Then I walked to Millenium Bridge and then crossed to the other side:

I saw the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art after crossing the bridge, so I went inside to have a look. Entry is free but donation is encouraged:


Once I went to the top, I just realised that this is a good place to take picture of the River Tyne, with the Millenium Bridge and the Tyne Bridge/Mini Coathanger together. The curved glass building is the Glasshouse International Centre for Music (ie live music venue, I didn't go there).


I only spent 15 minutes in the museum, and I found the museum display very uninteresting. So I walked back across the bridge to the Market, then towards the city centre:

I walked around the city for a while before going to St James' Park for the match. The match starts at 3pm, but because I bought Club St James Hospitality Ticket, I need to be there at 12:30pm for pre-match meal.

Walking to SJP I walked past The Strawberry, one of the famous local pubs.


I booked Club St James Hospitality ticket. I ended up sitting with a couple from Little Rock, USA, and a local father and son on the same table. We had our 3-course meal prior to match, then come back at half-time for snacks, and then at Full Time there was dessert.

The meals were below. We all had a great time talking all about NUFC.


Starter


Main Course


Pre-match Dessert


Full Time Dessert


Also as part of the Club St James hospitality, there were hosts, youth players and former player doing pre-match, mid-match and post-match analysis as well.


It is now time for the match!

 

[kamchatsky]

4 January 2026

Newcastle United vs Crystal Palace @ St James' Park

When I went to my seat, I just realised that I had a very good seat. It is just behind the officials and near the dugouts. I was very happy as I could not believe that I was there in person!

However, I would be even happier if we win and get the 3 points!




The place was VERY noisy, much more than I expected when I watched them on TV.


I got to capture great view of players throughout the match. Captain Bruno with his daughter before match here:


The players and coaches getting ready before game starts:


Then the game starts. I was very happy where I sit as I could see the players very clearly! There were chances in 1st half but at the end it was 0-0. We had 1 goal ruled offside:




After half time, the lights are already turned on as it was getting dark at 4pm:

We ended up scoring 2 goals during the second half. One from our Captain Bruno G and another one from our Centre Back Thiaw. I was very happy to see them win!





It was a solid win, at the end the players walked around the pitch and thank all the fans.


After the match, we went back to Club St James for the dessert and drinks and chatted with everyone on the table. After that I went back to the hotel for rest. I was very happy, as I have fulfilled my dream of 31-years!

Here it the highlight of the match in Youtube:

My next match will be vs Leeds United in 3 days' time!

 

[VPS]

4 January 2026

Newcastle United vs Crystal Palace @ St James' Park

When I went to my seat, I just realised that I had a very good seat. It is just behind the officials and near the dugouts. I was very happy as I could not believe that I was there in person!

However, I would be even happier if we win and get the 3 points!

View attachment 495461


The place was VERY noisy, much more than I expected when I watched them on TV.
View attachment 495462

I got to capture great view of players throughout the match. Captain Bruno with his daughter before match here:
View attachment 495463

The players and coaches getting ready before game starts:
View attachment 495464View attachment 495465

Then the game starts. I was very happy where I sit as I could see the players very clearly! There were chances in 1st half but at the end it was 0-0. We had 1 goal ruled offside:
View attachment 495466
View attachment 495473
View attachment 495468View attachment 495467

After half time, the lights are already turned on as it was getting dark at 4pm:

We ended up scoring 2 goals during the second half. One from our Captain Bruno G and another one from our Centre Back Thiaw. I was very happy to see them win!

View attachment 495469
View attachment 495474
View attachment 495475

It was a solid win, at the end the players walked around the pitch and thank all the fans.
View attachment 495471View attachment 495472View attachment 495478View attachment 495479

After the match, we went back to Club St James for the dessert and drinks and chatted with everyone on the table. After that I went back to the hotel for rest. I was very happy, as I have fulfilled my dream of 31-years!

Here it the highlight of the match in Youtube:

My next match will be vs Leeds United in 3 days' time!

it's great when they actually win - it would have been fantastic just to be there but a win is definitely the icing on the cake.

 

[kamchatsky]

Sane foundation year as a Melbourne based AFL team who wears similar colours, and arguably a similar working class support base.

Also did the tour five years ago when visiting Newcastle.
One thing that struck versus Aussie stadiums was the small size of the screens (not that EPL replays anything contentious) and also how hemmed in the short side of the stadium is against heritage housing.

Yes, it is the same foundation year as Collingwood.

SJP is built in the city so easy to go around. The owners want to expand SJP further but because of Leazes Terrace heritage building, they are unable to do so. This would also explain why they cannot install huge screens. They are looking at options including building a new stadium which would allow them to install big screens. But the challenge is that most fans love the location of SJP and don't want to move out of the area. They are looking at building at Leazes Park as an option.

 

[BriarFlyer]

Gosh, you did have an awesome seat and the hospitality menu doesn't look too shabby. Glad your team got the W for you!

 

[Mother]

Thank you for your trip report particularly on Guilin. and surrounding areas.
Very informative as we will be there late March, as senior independent travelers, we picked up a lot of information from you. Also for the hint to check our full names on tickets, I had omitted our middle names in a senior moment, so you have no doubt saved us a lot of grief on departure as well.
We are arriving by cruise ship so hopefully do not anticipate any issue on arrival.
Pleased your team came thru for you.

 

[kamchatsky]

5 January 2026

Edinburgh, UK

Since Match Day 2 is at night of 7 January, so I decided to do side trip to Edinburgh and Glasgow in between the matches. I woke up and decided to have buffet breakfast at the restaurant downstairs of Innside Melia hotel. The breakfast is obviously much better quality than the Spoons and Greggs, but it cost 17GBP. It was 7am so the sky was still dark and place was quiet.




Then I went to Newcastle station to catch the train. I bought cheap 10GBP Lumo train ticket the day before, but it was snowing so there were train disruptions all over the place, with a lot of delays and cancellations. The Lumo train that I supposed to catch broke down between London and York. I ended up hopping on LNER train as the Lumo staff told us to just hop on any train and they will honour the ticket. That was good as LNER tickets are much more expensive. The LNER train was fairly empty, and took 1:30 to get to Edinburgh:



It was snowing everywhere as the train flies from Newcastle to Edinburgh.


The train finally arrived at Edinburgh Waverley Station:


Thankfully, there were no snow at Edinburgh when I arrived. I walked to Edinburgh Castle for a visit. It was quite good and I learned quite a lot of histories of the Scottish Military. I spent 2 hours there:



After that, I walked down to The Royal Mile. It looked good but I found just about every shop down at the Royal Mile are tourist trap shops, as most local hang around at the New Town instead:

 

[kamchatsky]

5 January 2026

Edinburgh, UK (Continued)

I continued to walk down The Royal Mile, and arrived at the Scottish Parliament building:

Opposite of it is the Palace of Holyroodhouse, where King Charles stays when he is in Scotland. I did not pay to go in there:


Then I walked back up The Royal Mile, and to the New Town side"

The sky turns dark by then. So I caught the 1-hour Flixbus to Glasgow for 5.99GBP:


I arrived at Glasgow at night and stayed at Holiday Inn Express Glasgow City Centre Theatreland for 50GBP, as it was close to the bus station.

7 January 2026

Glasgow, UK

It was a cold and rainy morning, I had included breakfast at HIX before heading out. Certainly average but it was "free":
I walked to Glasgow Cathedral and it was being renovated. It seems that there were renovations everywhere in UK:

Then I caught an Uber to the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. Again, it is being renovated. Maybe winter is the time that everyone does renovations in UK:





It felt like a mini British museum with bits and pieces of everything, they have obviously a lot of Scottish artefacts and paintings, plus some drawings from other European artists such as van Gogh, Monet, Picasso, Rambrant and Salvador Dali:



Then I caught the bus back to city, had lunch and hanged around Buchanan Street and the surrounds:




At 3pm, I took the Flixbus back to Edinburgh, then caught the train back to Newcastle. I bought a cheap TransPennine train ticket, but that train was cancelled. So, I hopped on another LNER instead. The ticket inspector checked my ticket when I was on board and had no issues. I arrived back at Newcastle at 7pm.

When I got back to the hotel, there were some people gathered at the front, with security standing by. I asked what was happening, they said that they were Leeds United Supporters and their team were coming in 5 minutes to stay at the hotel. I stayed and saw the Leeds United team bus arrived, with staff and players coming out and went to separate entry with lifts. The fans were hoping to get autograph of the players. Some players waved at them and moved in, some ignored them and walked straight in. None came to them to sign autograph or do selfies with them.



Afterwards, I spoke with hotel staff. That's when I found out that Innside Melia Newcastle is one of the preferred hotels stayed by sports teams when they come to Newcastle. It was good to know that I stayed at the same hotel with them.

I looked forward to the next day, which is Match Day 2. I was really hoping for another win.

 

[kamchatsky]

it's great when they actually win - it would have been fantastic just to be there but a win is definitely the icing on the cake.

Definitely! I can plan travel as much as I want, but I could not plan for them winning on the day. I had to accept if they lose. That is the nature of watching sports.

Gosh, you did have an awesome seat and the hospitality menu doesn't look too shabby. Glad your team got the W for you!

Agreed. The seat was fantastic. Hospitality tickets are expensive though. But I had to pay for it because it is almost impossible to get standard tickets at SJP, unless you go through illegal secondary market ticketing platform (eg livefootball net) with risk of ticket not being honoured at the gate. Given the travel time and cost involved, hospitality tickets were the only option.

Thank you for your trip report particularly on Guilin. and surrounding areas.
Very informative as we will be there late March, as senior independent travelers, we picked up a lot of information from you. Also for the hint to check our full names on tickets, I had omitted our middle names in a senior moment, so you have no doubt saved us a lot of grief on departure as well.
We are arriving by cruise ship so hopefully do not anticipate any issue on arrival.
Pleased your team came thru for you.

Glad to hear that you got something out of this Trip Report.