This is what the Newcastle United team photo at Sunderland was really all about | OneFootball

I’m 45 and have been supporting the Toon since I can remember.

My dad is from Bedlington Station. His dad and grandad used to take him to matches in the 60s and 70s. My dad and grandad started taking me to games in the 80s and 90s.

I have no children but my nephew has started showing a massive interest in Newcastle and now at the age of 10 he wants to go to his first match. I’ll be taking him soon (when I can sort tickets).

I started reading The Mag at the end of the 80s during the days of “sack the board” and Walker Dan.

I have been meaning to write for a while about so many things Toon related. The catalyst now…. all the negative chat in the press / absolute rubbish about the post-match Newcastle United team photo at the Mackems, Howe to be sacked, Bruno to PSG, blah blah blah.

Football is for the fans. It’s what connects us and spans the generations.

So my alternative take on Jason Tindall’s supposed s…housery is that he wasn’t doing it to wind up Sunderland fans (most of whom had already left the stadium), he was doing it because it was one of the only times where all the Newcastle United fans are in one place in such numbers.

(That can’t be done at SJP due to having fans on four sides of the ground, although last season when we got the point against Leicester that ensured fourth place, they did the photo in front of the Gallowgate. With for once the club’s owners also brought into the photo.)

The purpose of Howe’s post-match Newcastle United team photo after a win, is as we all know, all about morale and team building.

It’s all about positivity, inclusion and togetherness of spirit.

The photo includes everyone involved with the team.

Is it just not possible that Simba arranged the players in front of the fans because he wanted to say to us (and everyone) that we (the Geordie faithful) are (a massive) part of the team? He wasn’t doing it to mock the other fans, he was reminding us how important we are.

Especially at these recent challenging times when we are under siege with the media criticism of Howe, our ownership and even us as supporters. It was a unique opportunity and Jason Tindall had the vision and thoughtfulness to seize it. Well done!

That sense of togetherness and including all of us fans is what this club is all about, through thick and thin, win lose or draw.

Howe, Tindall and our new owners have finally helped return our club to us as a club to be proud of.

That’s what scares our rivals and so called pundits looking to sow discord and division in our ranks by making up rubbish about Howe, Bruno, Ashworth, etc. So don’t believe the negativity, people will always write rubbish about us and more so when they feel threatened by us.

Remember as well, conceding late goals is nothing new to us as Toon fans. It’s just now it’s against Chelsea and PSG rather than Swindon Town and Bristol Rovers (away matches I was at ages ago)! We are progressing so quickly it’s important to keep perspective.

Stay positive and keep behind the lads, then soon maybe me, my nephew and all of us will experience what my dad’s generation did in ‘69.

Maybe we can even dream of seeing what my grandad and great grandad (four times league winners in the 1900s) saw. Anything is possible!