Day 8 Visit to St James' Park

Howay the Lads.

Today was a very special day. After a late breakfast at 9:30, the boys toured Durham Castle before heading off to Newcastle to visit St. James' Park, home of Newcastle United, or the Magpies as they are known for their black and white jerseys. We met Gary, Newcastle United's head of public relations and an an acquaintance of Mark. Incredibly, Gary spent 90 minutes showing us around the stadium. We visited everything - ranging from the pitch to the dressing rooms for the referees, visiting team, and the home team (complete with game jerseys hanging in the lockers) to the press room. After leaving the stadium we visited the museum compliments of the club and finished off the tour with some heavy shopping at the team store. Gary photographed the team and will include the picture in an upcoming game program. It's very unusual for outside groups to get such an intimate view into a Premier League stadium. Imagine a 90 minute private tour of Fenway Park, including the clubhouse. Thank you Gary.

St James' Park is unique in English football because it's one of only a few stadiums located in the center of the city, almost as if the city itself grew outward from the stadium. In addition, Newcastle is one of the few major cities that only has one team, most other major cities have at least two. We were on hallowed football ground today.

So you are probably wondering what "Howay the Lads" means. You see it at the beginning of this post and you'll see it again in the side show in the tunnel leading to the pitch. Loosely interpreted, it is a Geordie (of or from the Newcastle area) expression meaning "Come on Lads".

Here is an example of one of the milder Newcastle United chants: "We are the Geordies. The Geordie Bootboys. Oh we are mental. Oh we are mad. We are the loyalist, football supporters the world has ever had."