Adopted Geordies – Give them a try | OneFootball

Oh goody, an international break. I mean, there’s something to play for in England’s games, there are three Newcastle United players in the squad and Sandro’s notching winners for Italy but the Nations League reeks as a competition.

Whilst smashing three international breaks into an 11-week period is just not acceptable, even when it’s for a proper competition.

While it’s annoying to have this pause when Newcastle have hit a bit of form, at least the good mood lasts.

I struggle a bit to face NUFC related media when things are going badly (which is well tough when you also write them) but I’ve been more than happy to dive into all things Newcastle United during this break without fear of it accelerating an existing bad mood.

At this point I need to add a confession: I like listening to the odd podcast.

This will alarm, among others, the editor of The Mag, who is probably sat with his quill and parchment behind an enormous desk screaming at Bob Cratchit for asking for Christmas Eve off. New fangled business.

Anyway, for the percentage of readership that spends some of their life in the 21st century, I stumbled across a relative newcomer to the plethora of NUFC related podcasts that I’m going to have to heartily recommend.

Adopted Geordies is a pod that debuted early in the season and has an original angle in focussing on life as a Newcastle supporter from outside of the region. It’s hosted by Asim Chaudhry, who has an impressive roster in the comedy world, but is probably best known for his role as Chabuddy G in People Just Do Nothing, and Andy Jaye, a journalist and sports presenter.

The two hosts are representative of what I’d describe as the two different types of adopted Geordies.

Andy has Geordie parentage but was born and raised outside of the region. His allegiance was most likely set for him, but he’s had to contend with the distance and the fact that he doesn’t sound like us, which at times can be more of an issue than it ever should be.

Asim, by contrast, has no connection whatsoever to the club or the region, hailing from Hounslow in London from a family with no footballing allegiance. His bizarre but (I think) rather cool reason for following United is that as a small child he loved zebras, so when black and white stripey team started appearing on the ubiquitous football coverage, that was the one he was drawn to. The fact this was the advent of Keegan’s entertainers side can’t have done any harm and Chaudry has a long-standing history of Twitter pics, proving he held that allegiance right through the slightly less enjoyable Ashley era.

The shows are sporadic, dropping around every two weeks since debut, but the variety is excellent. Starting with a scene setter with the two hosts, it progresses to guest “adopted Geordies.”

The first such guest was Emily in Paris star Paul Forman, half-French half-Londoner and a very different route to joining the Toon Army. I thought this was interesting, even if my wife didn’t seem to agree when I told her “I’ve just been listening to a bloke off some of that sh… you watch.”

Next up was Gabby Logan, who I was aware of being “out” as a mag, but her stories about how this started were terrific, calling back to her days at Durham uni when she had the job of driving Niki Papavasiliou’s wife to the matches (google him – I had to so I could spell it).

The next guest adoptees are a real coup, likely helped along a bit by Asim’s profile.

The hosts manage to get themselves an invite to the training ground for a catch up with none other than Eddie Howe and Jason Tindall (and I liked I liked it I li-i-i-iked it). This is the only time I’ve known of Eddie and Jason get involved in any sort of fan media (although I am available to chat fellas) and I thought they were a bit more relaxed in discussing the relationship they’ve built with the club, the area and the Geordies (native and adopted) these past three years.

The main takeaway from these episodes is just a nice feeling. Both hosts are affable guys but their depth of feeling for the club comes through strongly in each episode. Both the hosts and all guests are obviously knowledgeable to the extent you can see there’s no affectation to this support, as topics such as greatest Newcastle XI and favourite match are covered with the same passion and humour you’d get in the Trent House or the Bodega on a matchday.

This enthusiasm is what really made this podcast work for me.

I think there’s a unique element to Newcastle in that the team is so intrinsically linked to the city and region that to fall in love with Newcastle United is to similarly fall for the city and its people. Similarly, something I always maintain is great about our region, is how friendly and welcoming it is to guests with good intentions.

I feel a sense of pride at how Chaudhry and Jaye repeatedly refer to the warmth of locals towards them on every trip here. I’m not sheltered and I know that everyone isn’t nice (even in Newcastle) and it can be an issue amongst some elements of our support to be distrusting of non-Geordie accents. One of my good friends, Simon, is similar to Asim Chaudhry in that he was drawn to the club as a child despite no connection to the area. On rare occasions there have been comments about his accent, despite the fact he has more than paid his dues during darker times at the club, but overall it hasn’t been an issue. I’m pleased that people have made these podcast hosts feel as welcome as we always have with Simon the Soft Southern Sh….

In all seriousness, the feel-good factor from this pod was the main thing that prompted me to give it a review in this most historic and original of NUFC fan media. I assume they will have consider themselves arrived now. I understand that there may be people who get spiky about things like ticket availability when it comes to social media types and celebrity fans, but I defy you to think miserably of these lads after a couple of listens.

There’s also a cold hard business reason that this kind of output should be welcome.

The presentation of Newcastle United as a club with wider appeal that isn’t exclusive to those born on the banks of the Tyne can only help with the wider profile growth that helps the club become more competitive. Maybe people’s wives who watch Emily in Paris might have tuned in and started supporting the Mags now…

So if you’ve a couple of hours to kill during the Nations League misery, try this in your lugs. If you don’t fancy it, that’s fine, I’m sure these guys wouldn’t mind. I find it so relentlessly positive I’m even willing to forgive them their overlooking of Nobby Solano.