The first time I saw Newcastle United play was in July or August 1959 in Edinburgh. In those days an English team would play Edinburgh Select at either Tynecastle or Easter Road in a pre-season friendly.
The game was played at Easter Road and the select team was made up of six Hibernian and five Hearts players. Sadly Newcastle United were beaten 1-3 so I wasn't very happy when the final whistle was blown. Jim Scott, who played for Hibernian then made his debut that day and after beating two or three Newcastle players he scored. After playing for Hibernian for a number of years he signed for Newcastle United and was an integral part of the team that won the Inter City Fairs Cup ten years later.
I travelled on the train with my father and brother Gordon. When we alighted from the train at Waverly Station, Gordon noticed that the Newcastle team was standing on the platform about thirty yards away from us. They had been travelling on the same train as us. Gordon had a sheet of paper and pen and he was rewarded when all the players gave him their autographs. George Eastham and Ronnie Simpson were playing that day. Simpson left Newcastle and signed for Hibernian two years later and went on to play for Celtic in the Eurpoean Cup triumph in 1967.
Kenneth Blackett
Newcastle United Foundation have a heritage project for fans of all ages called Toon Times.
Toon Times will culminate with a major Newcastle United exhibition at the Discovery Museum, Newcastle, although in the lead up to this event Toon Times wishes to reach out to all Newcastle United fans across the North East and further afield to get involved and share their memories, experiences, photos and memorabilia what people have collected over the years.
We are supporting the project by helping to collect NUFC memories online - fans can share their memories on the Replay Football website, simply select the Toon Times tag when submitting yours.
For more info contact the Toon Times Heritage Project Coordinator, Newcastle United Foundation, gavin.ferry@nufc.co.uk
Memory added on August 24, 2013
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