THE DAY NEWCASTLE TURNED BLACK AND WHITE

Today was the day when Newcastle United showed off the Carabao Cup that they won on 16th March.  There was to be a short bus parade through town and then the bus would speed off towards the Town Moor so the players, manager etc could go on stage in front of a crowd of over 200,000.  The Town Moor area had been open since 1.30pm and the crowd already there had been able to watch footage of the whole of the Carabao Cup Final.  Later on there was going to be a question and answer session with some ex players, Ant & Dec and Alan Shearer were also appearing as well as some bands.  The event was due to finish at 8pm. It was a free event but you had to have a ticket.  I did get  a ticket in case I wanted to go but  but in the end I didn't fancy it. There was no seating and I wasn't too keen on standing around for hours in a crowd of 200,000.  Lots of fans missed the deadline for tickets and were asking on the Newcastle fan sites on Facebook if anyone had a spare.  So I forwarded my ticket to a lady who wanted one.  I hope she had a great time.

So I went into town just to see the parade.  I found a good spot to wait ( got there about 2.20pm ) It started off as a good spot as I was right by the side of the road behind a barrier with a clear view.  However as time went on people gathered in front of the barrier and by the time the bus arrived there was a huge crowd in front of me.  There was a  great atmosphere and lots of noise...... singing, chanting and horns blowing. The open top bus was due to leave the football ground at 4.30pm.  I got my first glimpse of it at 4.54pm and my last glimpse of it at 4.55pm.  Short but sweet.   My main blip shot shows the Manager Eddie Howe holding the Cup. I was lucky that my favourite player Fabian Schar was on the side of the bus which I could see.

Ive added a few Extras... the Theatre Royal decked out in black and white, a Toon Fan, police horses and another shot of the bus.

As soon as the parade had passed I made my way to my bus stop.  Not easy as most people were going in the opposite direction to me and heading for the Town Moor.  I battled my way through and got to my bus stop to find a huge queue.  Lots of different buses were stopping there due to road closures and the 2 bus stations being closed due to the parade.  It was quite chaotic and gridlocked as there were far too many buses around.  My bus was late and it was packed when it left... but I did get a seat. Got home around 6.30pm.  Glad to get warm and have a sit down.  Too much standing around  today in a cold wind.  But worth it .... just about.

Steps today - 5,525.