Newcastle United v Reading
Reading Home
St James' Park
Saturday 15th August Kick-off 5:20pm
Second Championship Game of the season
Live on Sky Sports
Tickets
On general sale. Tickets can be bought from the Online Box Office, from the Box Office by telephone on 0844 372 1892 or in person.You can also buy home match tickets from the Newcastle United Official Club Stores in Eldon Square and Monument Mall in Newcastle and the Metrocentre in Gateshead.
Any tickets purchased after 4pm today (Thursday) will be made available for collection from the South Stand Box Office from 3.30pm on Saturday.
Cash Turnstiles in operation:
- Gallowgate Stand Upper Tier £25 Adults / £13 U18s
- Sir John Hall Stand Level 6 £25 Adults / £13 U18s
- Sir John Hall Stand Level 7 £20 Adults / £10 U18s
- Milburn Stand Family Area £20 Adults / £10 U18s
Please have correct change available wherever possible and whether intending to collect tickets, buy tickets or pay at the turnstiles please arrive in plenty of time.
Season Ticket Holders
Season ticket holders are reminded that last year's season cards have been re-loaded with all 23 Championship games and are to be re-used for the coming season. All new season ticket holders should have now received their season cards in the post.
Squad:
Newcastle Squad:
Steve Harper, Tim Krul, Jose Enrique, Steven Taylor, Fabricio Coloccini, Joey Barton, Damien Duff, Kevin Nolan, Jonas Gutierrez, Alan Smith (c), Xisco, Geremi, Andy Carroll, Kazenga LuaLua, Tamas Kadar, Nile Ranger, Ben Tozer, Ryan Donaldson, Darren Lough, Wesley Ngo Baheng
Injuries:
Nicky Butt (Hand), Danny Guthrie (Hamstring)
Referee:
Reading Referee Named Anthony Taylor from Greater Manchester will take charge of his first Newcastle United fixture during this weekend's Championship clash with Reading at St.James' Park, assisted by Mr C Harwood and Mr K Lawson.
Alan Smith to Continue as Captain Against Reading
Chris Hughton talking to nufcTV
"We do not want to bring him (Nicky Butt) back too soon. It is the type of injury which, if we brought him back too early, he could end up fracturing it again. The home game with Reading is certainly too early for him. Alan will again be captain. I must say I thought he was excellent at West Brom and led by example with his desire and commitment. But that's what you get from Alan and that's why he has been captain in the absence of Nicky."
Chris Hughton on Transfer Policy
talking to The Chronicle 14th August, 2009
Written before Simpson signed on loan from Man Utd
NEWCASTLE United have completed the loan signing of defender Danny Simpson from Manchester United. The 22-year-old joins the Magpies until January and will wear squad No.12.
“The position I’m in at the moment hasn’t changed so much since pre-season, The nearer we get to the window it will probably become more and more difficult. At this moment, my remit and all my thoughts and efforts have been going very much into training this group of lads and preparing them for games.
Some of the issues that might arise over the next few weeks haven’t arisen. But I appreciate that the nearer we get to the window, it will get more difficult. “We’ve lost three players (Martins, Bassong and Beye) since the start of pre-season, If I look at the squad we’ve got at the moment, providing we don’t have too many injuries, I’d think we need the additions of two or three to the squad. But that’s keeping all the players we’ve got. At this present moment, we’ve got a squad I think is a very capable squad. There’s no doubt if we were to lose players, it would certainly get more difficult and being where we are and what we want to achieve this season, replacements would have to be brought in. I’ve not had a conversation about that yet. All the efforts from the club have been into selling the club and taking it the next step forward. But I certainly do anticipate that possibly, maybe as soon as after this weekend, some talks will have to take place about if any players were to go, the situation that would leave us in.
You have to prepare yourself but at this moment (yesterday afternoon) I expect us to have the same squad tomorrow. If that was to change, of course the club has got to make decisions on what it would like to do about replacements.”
Reading Assistant Manager "No Fear"
talking to Royals website Dean Austin said:
"This is the biggest arena in our division but it's not something we will be fearing. The boys were back in training quickly after the Burton game, the management are buzzing and looking forward to it so the players should be as well. They have nothing to fear when they go there on Saturday."
Captain Alan Smith Notes
talking to The Chronicle
“We, as a team, have got to draw fans in. They pay their hard-earned money to come and watch us, and if we’re going to get a full stadium at Newcastle, we need to be pushing for honours. It’s as simple as that.
The thing for them the fans is that they’re in the same boat as us – they don’t know one day to the next who’s going to be here, and who’s going to be gone. All we can do as players is control what we can do when we cross the line. If we can make them proud, then that’s all we can do. We can take control of that – everything else is out of our control. We’ve got a good, honest set of lads in there, and we can let our football do the talking, and give 110 per cent every time we go out.
We’re in good spirits, Reading’s a good test for us and we are determined to get the win. We did OK at West Brom and it was a really enjoyable game to play in. Now we have to build on it.”
Head to Head
Reading @ St James'Park:
2007/08 Won 3-0 Martins, Owen, Viduka
2006/07 Won 3-2 Sibierski, Martins, Emre
The Teams Last Time Out
Newcastle United v Reading - 5th April 2008
| Newcastle 3 | Reading 0 |
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Recent Results
| Newcastle United | Reading |
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Travel Information - A1 a Mess
For all Reading fan’s visiting Newcastle on Saturday, here’s some travel information that might help you on your way.
There’s a fair amount of roadworks as you head north, allow a bit of extra time if traveling by car, the A1m northbound has various contraflow systems in place and has been especially bad from Durham onwards, expect some delays.
Plenty of speed restrictions and all average speed cameras, that doesn’t mean you should do half of the route at 80mph and the latter at 40mph.
If you don’t fancy driving into the City Centre, trains operate every 10 minutes or so from Durham City Train station and there’s park and ride into Durham City at the A690 junction – get’s you straight into Durham and easy access to the station.
You can find travel info on the wireless as your on your way up, and as you hit the area, you should pick up Metro Radio, BBC Newcastle and Real FM – all have decent travel info and pre-match news.
Brief info, but hope it helps.
nufctoonnews thanks www.tootfanzine.co.uk for the advice.
Ryan Taylor Happy with his Pre-Season
talking to The Chronicle
“I’m over the moon, really, This is my first full pre-season, I think, in four years. I’ve never finished a pre-season until this one I know I missed the Leyton Orient game, but the rest did me the world of good. I feel fit, which is something I haven’t felt in years. I’ve always had to play catch up throughout the season to try to get fit.
I’m absolutely buzzing to be playing in the games, because it’s all new to me at this time of year! I’ve had two leg injuries, as well as little bits and bobs. This is my first full pre-season in four years – it’s been tough, but I’ve enjoyed every minute of it. I’m just happy that I’m fully fit now. We may need a few extra bodies but we’ve got enough fire and desire in the dressing room to take us to the likes of Plymouth and Cardiff and get results.
Hopefully, we’ll be at the top of the table come the end of the season.”
Jose Enrique Confident
talking to The Chronicle
“We’re feeling confident for the Reading game. West Brom were another team that are fighting to get back in the Premier League and the draw was a good result in my eyes. It was important to show people watching on TV that we are ready for this challenge. And we’ll be hoping to continue that against Reading, I think we can continue our good start and win it.
Against West Brom, we weren’t at our best in the first half but we still created chances. Now we have to start against Reading the way we finished the game. The second half was very good and after Damien Duff scored, I honestly thought ‘we can win this’. It was a good move, everybody linked up well.
It showed we have good footballers who can show their experience in this division. It’s always great to play in front of your own fans. We want to get the season off to a great start for them.”
Duff Calls For 12th Man
talking to nufcTV
"Of course, winning games is habit no matter what level you play at," the former Blackburn and Chelsea ace told nufc.co.uk. We need that one win to spark a run and we're determined to get that as soon as possible. We've got two home games coming up against Reading and Sheff Wed and we must go into every home game looking to get three points this season. To get out of this league you have to win an awful lot of games, especially at home. "We'll be looking for the fans to be the 12th man like they always are and hopefully we'll be celebrating on Saturday night with a victory."
Fixtures Coca-Cola Championship
Saturday 15 Aug 2009
- 15:00 Barnsley v Coventry City
- 15:00 Blackpool v Cardiff City
- 15:00 Bristol City v Crystal Palace
- 15:00 Doncaster v Preston
- 15:00 Ipswich Town v Leicester City
- 15:00 Nottm Forest v WBA
- 15:00 Peterborough v Sheffield Wed
- 15:00 Plymouth v QPR
- 15:00 Scunthorpe v Derby County
- 15:00 Sheffield Utd v Watford
- 15:00 Swansea City v Middlesbrough
- 17:20 Newcastle v Reading
New Mag On Sale
The first Mag issue of the season - number 238 - goes on sale ahead of this Saturday's home game. Priced @ £2.50 it's available from local news vendors, street sellers on the approaches to SJP and The Back Page on St.Andrews Street
"The Mag was born in 1988, just after we’d sold Gazza and the first game was when he actually came back with Spurs and he was pelted with Mars Bars!" Mark Jensen Editor