11 years ago today I lost a great friend in Liam Sweeney | OneFootball

It is now eleven years ago today that Newcastle United fans John Alder and Liam Sweeney so sadly lost their lives, along with hundreds of other people, in the MH17 plane tragedy.

Adam Mackman knew both of these Newcastle United fans and indeed was best mates with Liam Sweeney, a year ago he kindly share this below on the 10th anniversary of their loss.

A great piece by Adam and 12 months further on, time to share once again this tribute to two Newcastle United fans as we reach 11 years since they lost their lives when simply on their way to watch the football team that they loved.

The 17th July 2014 is a date I will never forget.

Two Newcastle United fans were headed off to New Zealand to watch the team in action down there as part of a pre-season tour.

Sadly, they never made it any further than Ukraine.

I had the pleasure of knowing both supporters.

John ‘The Undertaker’ Alder was quiet and kept himself to himself, unless he knew you. I was lucky enough to get to know John over the years due to being part of the same travelling group of fans that went around the country and Europe supporting the team.

My fondest memories of John are in Bordeaux after we played there in the Europa League in 2012. A trip in his car to Manchester to watch the U21s in action, when he had us back on Tyneside supping a pint two hours later! As well as the trip to America in 2011, when along with my good friend Alan Birbeck, we found an Irish bar in downtown Orlando to wash away the memories of our latest defeat.

As for Liam Sweeney, he was one of my closest friends.

I had known him for the best part of 12 years, having worked together at Morrisons in Killingworth. We would often grab a quick word on how the team were doing when we were supposed to be stacking shelves.

(Photo at the top – Adam Mackman, Marc Sweeney (Liam’s brother) and Liam Sweeney out in Newcastle for England v USA at World Cup 2010)

Having both not long started working there, I was able to get the time off to watch Newcastle in Milan, Liam didn’t, and was going to hand his notice in, until his dad talked him out of it. If he had left then we may not have become such good friends, but as things turned out, he stayed and the friendship grew.

Myself (Adam Mackman), Rob Macklin (mine and Liam’s work colleague) and Liam Sweeney

I left Morrisons a couple of years later after moving in with my then girlfriend and by the time I next bumped into Liam, at an away game against Everton, I had become a dad. We had a lot to catch up on, but travelling to away games on Malla Pegg’s bus certainly gave us that chance.

By the time Mike Ashley had chased Kevin Keegan from the club in 2008, I had gone through something of a messy divorce. On the positive side I was now free to travel to more away games. The football wasn’t always vintage but the best part of it was meeting up with mates and having a few beers.

The 2009-10 season was one of the best years we had supporting the team, as following relegation to the Championship, we were winning every week and got to visit grounds we would never normally have gone to. Despite losing, actually being able to say we had watched Newcastle play a league game at Scunthorpe was something to boast about.

Midweek trips to Doncaster and Blackpool were memorable, as were the weekends away on the drink in Northampton when we played Palace and Watford. We covered some miles that year too, with trips to Swansea, Cardiff, Bristol City, Plymouth and Ipswich. Peterborough away was special when we all but clinched promotion.

Once back in the Premier League, it meant a return to some pretty dour games, especially once Pardew took over. Birmingham City away on a wet and cold Tuesday night in February with Shefki Kuqi leading the line perhaps wasn’t for everyone. There was also the embarrassment of slipping out of the FA Cup to Stevenage.

It wasn’t all bad though, we did witness our first ever win at the Emirates and got to see us win twice at Stamford Bridge and of course the 5-1 win over the Mackems with Liam leading the Kevin Nolan chicken dance celebrations in the pub afterwards.

Liam Sweeney with Alan Birbeck doing the Kevin Nolan chicken dance in Raffertys after a 1-1 draw at the SOS

Going to the match was more than just watching Newcastle United though, it was having a laugh with your mates. Liam’s brother Marc, his cousin Sean, plus friends Darren and Michael, all sat together, with me just further along in the next section. We had a large group that went to away games too, with the likes of Alan, Michael, Fink, The Undertaker and Blokie (I’m sure most people know who I am talking about) travelling down by train.

Most of the time we went on Amanda’s ‘Shambles’ bus, which Liam loved. It meant he could have a few beers before we got to the ground and the general banter on the bus added to it.

It opened us up to more great people who we went to away games with. Kev Nixon, Blinkers, Jonny Blythe, Scotty Newbiggin, Si Graham, Scott McWilliams and many more. Amanda was top class and did a lot for both me and Liam’s family after he died. I will never forget that and have nothing but respect for the lass.

Alan Birbeck, Liam Sweeney and Myself (Adam Mackman)

Then there were the home games.

That usually meant a few in Companions before and after the game, before moving onto the Labour Club. As we tried to catch up with everyone we knew from the away trips. This should have been our routine for decades and we should have been going to matches together for years to come, sadly that wasn’t how it played out.

I remember the day Liam told me excitedly that he was going out to New Zealand. I was surprised, as he couldn’t afford to go on the America trip in 2011 and this one being further to travel had priced both myself and Alan out of going. We had the Schalke tournament to go to a few days after he got back as well, so we made plans to meet up in Amsterdam and get the train across from there.

Liam Sweeney, Myself (Adam Mackman) and Alan Birbeck

The World Cup had kept us both busy that summer, but the Friday before he left for New Zealand, we met up with a few people we knew from the away games and had a session in Shearer’s before we were the last two standing in Rosie’s, laughing at Happy Gilmore that was playing in the background. Little did I know that would be the last time I would have a pint with him in Newcastle.

On the Tuesday we went to Oldham to watch Newcastle’s final pre-season game before they headed off. As Liam and his flatmate Michael got out of Alan’s car on Westgate Road, we shook hands and I told him to enjoy his trip and I would see him in Amsterdam in a couple of weeks’ time. It would be the last time I would see my friend.

As most will know, the news of the plane coming down was literally everywhere. It made my friend famous in a way he would have hated.

John Alder (The Undertaker) with Alec in the background

We all dealt with Liam’s and John’s deaths in our own way, but perhaps what I was most grateful for, was the legacy of knowing Liam Sweeney meant I got introduced to so many good people; his family, friends who he went to school with, people he went drinking with but not necessarily from the match etc. It brought us all together, Liam may have been the glue that held us all together but the fact we all were going through the same pain meant we were able to support one another.

Marc Sweeney (Liam’s brother), Myself (Adam Mackman), Alan Birbeck and Liam Sweeney, Boxing Day 2010 at Bolton

One by one the group who all had season tickets in the same section stopped going to the games. It wasn’t the same without the Big Fella being there. I would love to know what he would think of this current team, the takeover and just how class Bruno is.

Not a day goes by when I don’t think of Liam, replaying conversations, celebrating goals etc. Whilst the raw emotion of his death may have eased over these past 10 years (ED: Now 11 years), the emptiness is still there and there is an unshakeable feeling that I was robbed of a great friend.

Sleep easy mate.