Our school put in lockdown after knife attack but I wasn’t going to miss Newcastle United | OneFootball

Last Newcastle United game of the season for me was Ipswich Town at St James’ Park.

Me and the too smart for his own good teenager had managed to get tickets.

Train tickets sorted from Kings Cross for Friday early evening, which meant I would have to be out the door leaving at the same time as the kids I work with.

Friday comes and excited at the thought of live football at St James’ Park, I cannot wait for the end of the day and the weekend ahead.

Unfortunately, this particular Friday, youth gang warfare raises it’s ugly head.

At 8.30am three balaclava clad youngsters carrying zombie knives have tracked a kid who I work with and there is an assault. Police cars, ambulance and the place where I work is now in lockdown under police advice as the knife wielding youths are still at large.

Strange that we do training exercises about extremist attacks but this seems just weird and not in the training manual.

End of the day and we are still in lockdown. Sod this I think, I’ve got to go meet my son and get to Kings Cross sharpish.

Big Dave, the caretaker with his Charlton badge and Winston Churchill quotes tattooed on his legs, unlocks the car park gate for me and I am free from the madhouse and out the back door. As I duck out Dave (who ‘gets it’) shouts “enjoy the game mate.”

And so the normality of the weekend begins with the journey to Newcastle, cans of beer, crisps, sandwiches and the odd game of digital chess and lots of football conversation.

Great weekend back on Tyneside, decent performance and a Newcastle United win, and I meet up with my good mates, some I haven’t seen for many years.

Then back to London on Sunday and its back to work in South London and the place that the Police had deemed needing security.

What is the point of this article, you are probably now thinking.

Well, it is football.

My son is the same age as the idiots that interfered with my Friday routine with their nonsense and we support Newcastle. So, Newcastle United takes priority. I didn’t care that I might get reprimanded for leaving early, or what the consequences might be.

Call me foolish for not following police protocol, but hey, the SPG were the front line when I was growing up in the Seventies and Eighties, so my confidence in the Police was/is very low. Everyone who followed Newcastle United FC back in the day, especially at away matches, will have stories to tell about the Police. Just my story is indirect and they were not going to spoil my planned weekend.

Next season’s fixtures are out and we can now plan our calendar for the season ahead. Or sort of, as midweek games are unreachable unless they are in London and then how do we get tickets?

So the mundane routine of getting to games cross referencing dates and of course the ballot and the arrival of the club email that will tell us we have been (un)successful in the ballot.

The banality, boredom, excitement of football and being a Newcastle United supporter, juxtaposed against my run of the mill day job. Thank god for football and another upcoming season.