Never leave early | OneFootball

I can honestly say I have never left a game before the final whistle, as a Newcastle United fan I have been going to games for fifty years now and cannot recall leaving a game early.

I have left exactly on the final whistle, disgusted by the fayre served up on a few occasions, but never before that.

What has prompted this?

Well, me and my son managed to get our first home tickets of the season. Great seats, row A level 7, just along from the Gooners.

After 12 minutes there was no noise from the Arsenal fans (pictured above) and then nothing from them for the rest of the game. A good 10 minutes before the end we see Arsenal fans leaving. Travelling for their longest away trip of the season, only one goal in it and people are leaving early. I don’t get it.

Some Newcastle supporters also not seeing out the game either.

Even when prices for tickets were not extortionate, I never left early.

There is always either a last gasp chance, a weird off the ball altercation (Mirandinha having a pop at Wimbledon’s Dave Beasant at the final whistle in the FA Cup), or the amazing comeback against Fulham at St James’ Park in 1983.

I could go on and list occasions of last minute/added time winners. Back then though, once the ninety minutes were up the whistling would start to try and prompt the referee into blowing for time.

In recent seasons we have seen additional time added on at the end getting longer and longer with seven, eight or nine minutes not being remarkable.

Back in 2022 at Anfield, the referee appeared to add so much time on that it looked like they would keep playing until Liverpool scored the winner, which of course they duly did.

I used to be mates with a Man City fan down here in London who went to the 1999 play-off final, who left early to get the Tube and missed all the drama. Man City trailing 2-0 to Gillingham but scoring twice in added time, taking the game to extra-time and then winning on penalties, to gain promotion to the second tier.

Who can forget the footage of those Man City fans leaving the stadium before that Aguero goal that won them the Premier League! Oh dear.

Back at St James’ Park, me and the daft lad applauded the team off against Arsenal as the Londoners emptied their section at record speed.

As the players turned away from us my youngster says “shall we go?”

My response “couple of minutes kid, enjoy the moment, you don’t know when you will get the chance to be back here again.”

As it turns out we’ve managed to bag tickets for the Leicester match in the same spot. The lucky lad.