At least according to Bobby and reported in the Ronnie(nevermind we've been trying to get word straight from NUFC for the past week. hmph).

Start planning your holidays! July 22 at DC United and July 26 at Columbus Crew. Will keep you posted on ticket info once we get it. There will be an away section at DC and hopefully in Columbus. There is also a US branch of Club United launching soon...very soon. Like when we get some details sorted with Newcastle and the website in some kind of shape to be viewable(as in when I get the details we need to put up on the site! ;-) ) WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-- Anonymous, April 25, 2000

Answers

Brilliant((-: With the caveat that Shearer had better not be playing.

-- Anonymous, April 25, 2000

He'll play. :-) But not an entire game. Bobby wants to avoid Ruud's mistakes last season so will only plan a total 5 or 6 friendlies, and is not planning to play anyone for a full 90min. He is bringing the entire squad to the US though.

And if DC United are still as shocking as now, it's not going to be a very tough workout. ;-) (can you say 'bottom of the league'? heheheheheh).

-- Anonymous, April 25, 2000

That is just so typical. I am going to be in England that week. 52 weeks to choose from and they choose that one.

-- Anonymous, April 25, 2000

Yeah Syme, and I'll be in the States in the Summer but two weeks too late!

-- Anonymous, April 25, 2000

In which case it's a f...g disgrace. Euro2000 and training therefore - COULD take him right up to July. 10 days' training before going on the pre-seasons. Precisely how much holiday does this give him? Sorry - but I think it's nothing short of a scandal if he plays. After Euro 96, did Keegan make him play in Hong Kong? No. Neither should YBR make him play until at least August unless England get knocked out really early. I know it adds to the appeal of the thing for USMags and general spectators if the bigger names are there but we have a far more important season coming up and I wouldn't put a quid on Duncan and Shearer being on the pitch for twenty minutes in a friendly without getting injured. Grrrrr. Still, I imagine Bobby knows his stuff. You have to laugh at the suggestion that last year's pre-season tired them out - we played crap sides, lost to all of them and were already so injury-ravaged that Gullit was forced to play himself.

-- Anonymous, April 25, 2000

If Al is walking, it'll take a team of wild Bobby's to keep him off the pitch. Or at least Bobby handing him a set of golf clubs and a ticket to Barbados. Wouldn't surprise me if Bobby does give him at least the first training week off.

Good point about Al or Dunc winding up injured after a short time on the pitch. MLS will be in midseason at that point and I expect DC and Columbus to put up a bit of a fight.

-- Anonymous, April 25, 2000

Yeah - Shearer playing in a pointless game and getting competitive about it was why he was out 6 months with an injury that almost cost him his career (and may yet curtail it). Sorry, if he, Dunc or anyone else gets injured on the field of real competitive duty for the Toon that's one thing. Getting a broken finger nail isn't acceptable in pre-season friendlies, testimonials or anything non-competitive. He will, however, add to its appeal - particularly if England and Shearer have had a good tournament in Euro 2000 ((-:

-- Anonymous, April 25, 2000

I'm going to try to make it to the DC game on the 22nd. Going to be flying in from Houston to Baltimore then rent a car and drive into Washington. So looking for sugguestions for a good place to find a hotel spend the night celibrating my first game since Charlton Jan 99. I assume there will be some sort of pre match meet up also ?

-- Anonymous, April 25, 2000

Stay tuned for hotel info. There is a guy in DC working on that..and also a prematch meet up. We've got an away section, again waiting for confirmation of ticket prices and distribution. It's looking like people will be able to request the section directly through DCU's ticket office. I'll post updates when I have them.

Columbus is incredibly well set up for away fans, for those of you thinking of going there. They've got a page dedicated to away supporters with information on tickets and also a hotel offering a special package. The page of Crew supporters' songs is also entertaining. Sounds like it could be quite a good atmosphere at that one! Wait til we answer back their "yellow soccer team" (really!!) song with Geordie Boot Boys. :-D The Crew website is at www.thecrew.com

-- Anonymous, April 25, 2000

Hmmm...I wouldn't get my hopes up about atmosphere in Colombus. Having a web page with "fans songs" isn't exactly the same as fans actually singing the songs. I made the trip with about 300 other Chicago supporters last season, and there was a section of, oh, about 12 people singing. We were easily twice as loud as the 15,000 or so Colombus fans :) (About 200 made the trip a few weeks ago, well being that I'm in Europe I couldn't make it but from what I read on a supporter's email list seems like it was the same thing) Problem is Columbus may technically be a city, but for all intents and purposes it's just a huge suburb. Which means that 95% of the crowd at Crew games is composed of soccer moms and their kids. Not exactly the type of crowd to make a good football atmosphere.

Anyway, I rekon it'll take about 20 from the Toon Army to outsing the home supporters. I'll probably be back in the USA by then, so that's one. Do I have 19 other takers?? :-)

Brad

-- Anonymous, April 26, 2000

LOL! Well kudos to them anyway for at least trying to generate some interest/atmosphere. That seems pretty much the case for most of the league. One section of insane die-hards and the rest soccer moms and kids. I hope the Toon 'Army' will consist of at least 20, though being a midweek game in Ohio, don't expect the same numbers as DC should draw. No doubts we'll still outsing the home crowd. :-)

-- Anonymous, April 26, 2000