Newcastle v Athletic Club: Inside bond that turned Magpies fans red and white
This was Newcastle’s first European campaign since 1977.
This was also the first time since the ban on English clubs from playing on the continent following the Heysel Stadium disaster in 1990 was lifted.
There was still a reasonable police presence in Bilbao, which was a national holiday.
Supporter Karl Pedley recalled how Newcastle fans were escorted to San Mames by “full riot police, some with guns”.
But just a few minutes into the game, he noticed “some of them were sitting down with their helmets and pads off and enjoying what we were doing.”
Even after Newcastle lost 1-0, the lead was not maintained and Athletic fans invaded the pitch and ran towards the away end to applaud the away support.
Newcastle fans responded by chanting “Athletic! Athletic! Athletic!” He responded by chanting slogans. – but that wasn’t the end of the matter.
“The police briefly held us back and took us down a long, concrete staircase to the main road,” Pedley said. “All we could see at the bottom was this mass of red and white.
“They dropped us off single file. We thought, ‘Here we go’. But all the Athletic fans wanted was to shake your hand, pat you on the back and take you to a bar. It was as if they were saying, ‘Adopt a Geordie.’
“I don’t think there was anyone wearing a Newcastle United jersey that night who wasn’t fed and watered. They were really grateful that we were enjoying their city.”
Cheers were exchanged as Newcastle fans taught Athletic supporters, among others, how to “walk in Keegan wonderland” and “takes the ball and scores, Andy, Andy Cole”.
Even shirts and scarves were swapped, and this remains probably the only occasion where some Newcastle fans wore red and white, which are also the colors of their arch-rivals Sunderland.
One such Athletic jersey remains a souvenir of an away day Newcastle fan Philip Long will never forget.
“I still have a couple of hundred of my Newcastle shirts in the wardrobe along with me,” he said. “I’ll never let this go.”
