Toon Army Minnesota and Walker Central – What a story | OneFootball

Toon Army Minnesota is a supporter group based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The Mag did a feature on this group and you can find that HERE: Newcastle United Supporters Clubs – Introducing Toon Army Minnesota – NUFC The Mag .

We have strong, active supporters, a few with ties to Tyneside, but the majority are Americans who’ve supported the club for a variety of reasons. Some are newer supporters but most have ridden the roller coaster of NUFC support for many years.

I have been attending Newcastle United matches for many years, but I am embarrassed to say that I have not really embraced the city itself, other than a night or two for a meal or some beers.

I’d go to a match or two but usually would hop on the train for other parts of Britain with my wife or sons. A few years ago, that changed. Why did it take so long?!!

My wife Susan and I planned a trip in Spring 2023, and, for a change, we decided to spend an entire ten days in Newcastle. Quite frankly, she was tired of running around Britain in a different hotel or city every night or so. Plus, I’d made many friends that live on Tyneside over the years and even more since I became a bit more active on social media.

And so, we went and stayed at the Hampton Inn across from Central Station. Everything went brilliantly and we had a wonderful time, except – we had planned on seeing the Arsenal match on a Saturday before flying home to Wisconsin on the Sunday. The problem: The match was moved to Sunday (the Premier League really does not take fans into consideration when changing match days/times… Grrrr!).

So, with no match to see and nothing else planned, Susan and I took a chance and decided to go on a pub crawl via the Metro. It was fantastic and the last stop was at Walkergate.

Now, I knew Lee Finlay, a superfan within Toon Army Minnesota and a group administrator, was from Walker. And I knew his father, Norman still lived there.

However, when I stepped into the Railway pub near the Wallkergate Station, I was not prepared for the reception we received when we unfurled the Toon Army Minnesota flag to show it to some curious patrons.

We had, by sheer happenstance, stumbled into Norman’s local and many of his friends and acquaintances were there watching football on the telly. A quick stop for a pint and a bit of craic turned into hours of fun. They were so gracious!

One person we met was Danny Sutherland who runs Walker Central Football Club. What a fantastic person. Walker Central Football Club in Newcastle is an accredited charity run by volunteers. It provides a safe environment for kids of all ages and backgrounds to go and take part in activities. There are 37 boys and girls’ teams that are supported by the club.

Fast forward a year and my sons and I went to the Railway to meet with Danny and Norman (Sadly, the Railway went from a sports theme to karaoke).

Norman, who was affiliated with Walker Central Football Club, and Danny were so passionate about the club and, more importantly, the kids who rely on this safe, clean environment, that it got me to thinking…

I took my thoughts back to Minneapolis and I put them forth to the Toon Army Administers who immediately were passionately supportive. Toon Army Minnesota is going to sponsor a boys and girls team in Walker!

We got to work:

Keith Morioka, our founder and a group administrator, is also a talented graphic artist. He designed the shirt logo.

The away kit:

Malcolm Halliday, the soul of our group, got the message out to our supporters.

All of us chipped in with time and money to help make it a reality. Keith and I donated some memorabilia for a fundraiser.

And, with two weeks left before the final drive is over, we’re already 25% over our fundraising goal! 100% of the funds raised will go to Walker Central Football Club.

It’s a wonderful organisation and it’s a bit part where we’re proud to contribute something for the youth of Newcastle.

If you’d like to know more about our efforts or about Toon Army Minnesota, please find us on Facebook. And, don’t be afraid to cheer the kids playing football in those uniquely wonderful shirts!