In addition to photographing the fans who flocked to Wembley for the Carabao Cup final, Orlando Gili interviewed writer, playwright and Newcastle fan Michael Chaplin about what it means to follow the Magpies.
What is a typical Newcastle side? It’s built into the culture to play attractive football. It hasn’t always been the case, but it’s certainly true of the late 1950s and 1960s and the great Kevin Keegan team was built around attack and had success with that for a few years. It’s also true to some extent of the current team. Eddie Howe tries to ensure they can do everything, but he, too, is drawn to an attacking style.
How important is Newcastle to the city’s identity? Very important. Newcastle is a one-club city, the sense of identity it reinforces to people living here is very strong. The ground is right in the middle of the city, which isn’t always the case – Old Trafford is one side of Manchester and the Etihad on the other. If you were flying above the city, it’s very prominent on the skyline, particularly during night games. I was once in Gateshead and looking north across the Tyne the floodlights lit up the whole city, in a real and metaphorical sense.
Billy, who is part of the Durham Mags group is photographed on Birdborough Street, near Kings Cross station.
There are a lot of people from Newcastle who go away, but the city remains important to them. All the years I lived many miles away in London, I still regarded Newcastle as my home. The club was an indicator of that identity – hard-working, straightforward, a tremendous sense of humour and good cheer. It draws in people who eventually feel they are part of this strong community. It’s been an industrial city for the past 200 years. There is tremendous pride in that. It was all founded on coal, which was transported all over the world. Newcastle also had a tradition for building ships, which also travelled around the world.
My grandfather came from Suffolk. He was a labourer and he and his family, including four children, walked all the way from Suffolk until they came to the first coalmine. On my mother’s side, the family were originally from Fife and they came here to become miners. Very often you find this background of an industrial nature in Newcastle, of coal mining and shipbuilding. Even some of the players featured in my book, started off working down the mine from the 1920s onward. There were players in the 1950s whose families were based on coal. Bobby Robson came from a mining family in County Durham. You had this change from players having been miners to their sons becoming players and then managers.
What is it like being a Newcastle fan? It’s such a strong part of my identity, my love of the city and its people. I will always feel that way. I’m constant in my feelings and all the things the club has given me over the years, despite not winning anything. It’s strengthening my identity and my sense of place.
Supporters gather outside The Dolphin Pub in Kings Cross. A favourite pub for London-based Newcastle fans, it has been temporarily renamed The Mad Dog & Mags for the weekend of the final. Pictured below, savouring the atmosphere outside the pub are James, sporting a Beetlejuice outfit, and Rachel, wearing a black-and-white wig to honour her club.
A boisterous group of fans inside The Rocket pub in Kings Cross, before taking the tube to Wembley (above left), and more supporters on the tube at Baker Street.
Are Newcastle the biggest underachievers in modern English football? That’s pretty indisputable throughout my life. We won the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1969 (the predecessor to the Uefa Cup) and that’s about it. There is this big reputation, history and tradition, but actual victories are very sparse indeed.
It’s very much the case that the north-east in general has not had investment in its future and that is a parallel for the club. There was a clear lack of investment all through Mike Ashley’s tenure. The current ownership has taken a different approach. They seem very keen to rebuild the stadium and make it more self-sustaining. It’s one of the reasons why we have begun to be a bit of a presence in the Premier League again.
Is Newcastle for you what the pits were for your father? My dad worked in the pits and went on to get an office job with the National Coal Board, which eventually brought us to Newcastle. It’s something that became very important to me early on because of the strength of that first impression I had as a young boy, hearing the crowd cheering at St James’ Park. That’s when I became really anchored in the place. I was very drawn to that visceral feeling my dad had about the pits, maybe not joyous in the same way, but sensory and really affecting in a similar way. The club has been really important to me in establishing a link, feeling and commitment to this place.
With the change of ownership is there more of a buzz in the air around Newcastle? It tends to put a spring in everyone’s step when they’re doing well. Part of that is being in a club, even if you’re not a sort of bona fide member, you feel as if you are. You can’t help having some sort of feeling about it, it’s part of the DNA, it’s unavoidable. There’s such a strong contrast to how things were during the Ashley years when everyone was a bit depressed. That’s why so many people gave up their season tickets, me and my old pal included. We just couldn’t take any more of the nonsense and lack of achievement. The match-day experience now is fantastic. The stadium is at maximum capacity and everybody’s dressed in a black and white shirt. We have Wor Flags and a fantastic visual display of images around the ground. I was sitting in the Leazes stand and we passed this huge black and white flag over our heads, going from the bottom of the top of the terrace. It was a wonderful experience, you assumed the identity of the city, and the football club being part of you. It summoned up a feeling deep down, a sense of belonging, a sense of kinship. That was before the game started. It encompasses the pride in your family, pride in the city. It’s absolutely intoxicating, it fills you up. I mean that in an emotional sense, they’re intensely stimulating experiences. It’s a once a fortnight festival.
A Newcastle Wor Flag glides over energised fans at Wembley, just before the game begins. The flags are organised by a fan-led, fan-funded group.
On the stroke of half-time, Dan Burn rises to meet a Kieran Trippier corner and heads the ball home to score Newcastle’s first cup final goal since 1976 and bring joy and disbelief among their fans (above). Eight minutes into the second half, they are once again celebrating with abandon after Alexander Isak smashes the ball home to double the Magpies’ lead (below).
What will the atmosphere be like at Wembley? I’m sure the Geordies will have a grand day out. It will be a memorable experience. Most Newcastle fans would feel the odds are against them, but you never know, that’s the beauty of football. The manager will engender the spirit that it’s 90 minutes, anything can happen, let’s play with belief and freedom. Liverpool fans have a vivid character and they’re passionate about their team too. There is a kinship between the two clubs and the two cities, their sense of identity being very strong and important to their DNA. There will be a feeling of warmth, they don’t see each other as an enemy. There will be this sense of two northern clubs commandeering the capital city.
Newcastle nerves are jangling for six minutes after Liverpool’s Federico Chiesa pulled a goal back midway through stoppage time, but that was all forgotten as the final whistle brings unbridled joy for the Toon Army.
The Newcastle United players are showered with love from their fans, having just won their first domestic trophy in 70 years.
What will be the emotions after the final whistle? It will be complete elation if Newcastle win. If they lose, people will be very sad, but they will understand the circumstances and realise it’s a significant mark of progress that they got there. It would be an immense deal for every supporter, it would bring an end to a ridiculous weight. Since my lifetime, we haven’t quite managed it, so it would be a huge achievement. It would give the city a fantastic feeling.
Michael Chaplin is the author of Newcastle United Stole My Heart: Sixty Years in Black and White
