I first went to St. James' Park around 1986. For the life of me I can't remember the opposition but I think it may have been Aston Villa. Willie McFaul was in charge. As I was living in London at the time and had a season ticket at Fulham, I didn't realise that this particular game was going to be a life-changing event ! However, life moves in mysterious ways and after a couple of years courtship, I found myself married and living in Newcastle. As watching football has always been an important part of my life, (can't play, two left feet and a head like a ten bob bit, I'm afraid !) it was only a matter of time before I ended up as a season ticket holder at NUFC.

Just in time for the relatively dark days of nearly entering the old Division Three. Yet, bizarrely, I seem to recall those games as being hugely exciting. Ossie brought some great youngsters into the side; mainly through necessity, to be sure, but there was real talent there. The arrival of Keegan as manager was an incredible boost, even if a lot of my London-based friends reckoned he was crazy. Then the incredible revival. You all know the story so there's no point in my repeating it.

As a working musician, I spend a lot of time away from home and it's always the game that I miss most. (Apart from actually being at home, you understand.) Also, being Irish, I had the huge temptation of moving back to Ireland where, as a "National Treasure" (I'm not making this up!), I wouldn't have to pay any Income Tax! I refused to give up going to the match.

However, as I said, life moves in mysterious ways and here I am twenty years on from that first visit to SJP in a new country with a different wife and still moaning about missing Newcastle when I'm away on the road. (That and moaning about giving Rupert Murdoch so much money to watch them!)

I made some fantastic friends through going to watch the Toon and I still see them every time I'm back in the North East. I have some fantastic memories of times spent at St. James'. Beating Barcelona, the 5-0 win over Man Utd, the 7-1 decimation of Tottenham, Shearer's hat-trick against Leicester in roughly the last 15 minutes of a game we were losing 3-1. And the players: Gascoigne, Lee, Shearer, Albert, Ginola, Cole, "Sumo" Quinn, Sir Les, Beresford, Asprilla and my personal hero, Peter Beardsley. Every time I watch a game on T.V., I still look for "my" seat in the crowd. I still miss it so much it hurts.