In the 1950s I went to Rutherford Grammar School which was in Bath Lane, so among my earliest memories of football must be the Wednesday afternoon replays in the FA Cup, the luxury of floodlights still to be experienced. During the lunch breaks, hundreds of visiting fans....singing their partizan songs...... streamed past the school on their route from Central Station to St James’s. After 2pm, captive in school we strained for a tell-tale sound, and envied those kids being taught in Room 35A from which at least a square yard of the pitch could be seen!
School finished at Four so my mates and I ran up to the match and as the ten minute flag *went down, we went in and sat in the freezing straw for the last few minutes, in the near dark!
The first whole game I remember came later in the season when I was invited to watch the tv set of a friend. NUFC won that Cup Final very comfortably and three men, Bobby Cowell, Bobby Mitchell and Geordie Legend Jackie Milburn each ended up with their third winners’ medal. In 1955. As a 13 year-old . I thought we were destined to win the cup every few years or so.
Shortly afterwards the School moved to a new site and the thrill of the odd Wednesday afternoon was ended. It didn’t matter though.....we never won the cup again! Now in my seventies I still live in hope. Never mind....we can concentrate on the League.
David King (Form 3C)
*NB The ten minute flag? Every game a black and white flag was lowered at the Gallowgate End to signal ten minutes of the game remaining and the opening of gates to allow people who wanted to... to leave. This allowed others to go in of course!
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 29, 2013
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