Newcastle United Disabled Supporters Association - News & Stuff

Gary Speed – You Gave So Much

nudsa — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 17:16:20 +0000

Yesterday was the day that ex-Newcastle United player Gary Speed apparently took his own life. This terrible news was greeted with general horror and shock that such a well adjusted and stable person had seemingly chosen to commit suicide. It is still hard to comprehend and I cannot begin to imagine what his family and friends are going through. All we can do is offer our best wishes and pay tribute to a man who touched many lives and who lived his life as well as anyone would love to aspire to do.

In his time at Newcastle United he did lots for NUDSA, attending two social events where he gave his time generously. The first social Gary came to was at Gateshead Civic Centre, the second being at St. James’ Park. In the December Toon Times we will pay full tribute to a man who gave so much to so many people, and a life that ended far too soon.

We will remember Gary

Comedy Night

nudsa — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 08:38:31 +0000

I’m happy to bring you news of NUDSA’s next social night, it will be on Wednesday 16^th of March at St. James’ Park, doors open at 7pm. The night will be a comedy night with two of the best stand-up comedians in the North East – Kai Humphries and Gavin Webster, http://www.gavinwebster.co.uk/ – it promises to be a great night of entertainment not to be missed. There will also be pie, peas and chips on the night and a raffle. Please contact me to book tickets as soon as possible, you will be charged for any tickets you order, prices are:

Adult Members – £8
Adult Non-Members – £10
Junior Member – £4
Junior Non-Members – £5

Please note that this night will be an adult-orientated night for over 16s .

We are seeking interest in a trip to the Blackpool match on 23^rd April, please let us know if you’d like to go. This trip will be subject to how many tickets we can get for the game. If you have a membership number please let us know to help get tickets.

Amanda Sawyers is trying to arrange a weekend trip to Blackpool, the weekend comprises of 2 nights dinner, bed & breakfast, including live cabaret each night – tickets to waxworks and sealife centre – free pickup and return coach travel from St. James’ Park. £125 for adults, £75 for children under 12. Please contact Amanda on 0191 2502084 if you are interested and she will try to organise a date for the weekend.

The Zebras yearly Easter trip to the Gate is taking place again this Easter, details will be coming out in the near future.

NUDSA Christmas Prize Raffle 2010

nudsa — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 11:30:47 +0000

We drew our Christmas Prize raffle at our Christmas party on the 8th December at St. James’ Park. Below is the list of winning tickets, congratulations to the winners and thank you to everyone for buying tickets.

	Prize	Ticket No	Name


1st	Corporate Package from NUFC	139	Nicky Carter
2nd	NUFC Jacket	1963	Scarey
3rd	NUFC Year Book	1017	S Bucknall
4th	NUFC 2008 Calendar	1900	Eileen Thompson
5th	NUFC 2008 Annual	628	S Topping
6th	Sparkling Wine	1469	V Hayes
7th	NUFC Cuddly Toy Snowman	2204	M Scanlan
8th	Cadbury’s Selection Box	47	Steve Wilkinson
9th	Box of Milk Tray	1987	Paul Collins
10th	Swarovski Scarf	209	K Brown
11th	4 in 1 Flask	874	J Nicholson
12th	Great Britain Bag	780	V Murray
13th	Millenium Bridge Sweatshirt	2253	S Ayton
14th	Taste of NE Cookbook	2024	A Stansfield
15th	Hugo Women Perfume	1399	Rosie Stewart
16th	Geordie Santa	135	Charlotte Fuller
17th	Bottle of Bells Whisky	1068	C Cahill
18th	Bottle of Co-op Whisky	510	B Dixon
19th	Bottle of White Wine	1034	Pauline Thompson
20th	Bottle of Cava Rose Wine	1467	Davey Wharton
21st	Coca Cola World Cup Football	1728	Michael Wharton
22nd	Cadbury’s Selection Box	68	Jackie Beck
23rd	Cadbury’s Selection Box	2135	Alan – DJ

End of Season Party

nudsa — Tue, 18 May 2010 20:19:05 +0000

After a thrilling season that ended in Newcastle winning the Championship and taking back their rightful place in the Premiership, NUDSA’s 2010 End of Season social night is on Wednesday 9^th of June at St. James’ Park. Doors will open at about 7pm, entertainment is provided by the black and white disco, and there will be a raffle with some great prizes up for grabs, and I’m sure we’ll be able to fit in a couple of games of bingo. Pie, peas and chips will be served up as usual. It should be a great occasion to see the season out in style.

To celebrate the fantastic season we’ve had, the night has a black and white theme. So we want everyone to come wearing something black & white, the more inventive the better. We even have a very special guest coming on the night, the Championship trophy will be there, so come and get your picture with the first trophy we’ve won for 17 years.

The cost for the night will be: £8 adult members; £10 adult non-members; £4 junior members; £5 junior non-members. Please note that the increased ticket prices are due to an increase in the VAT on the price of pie, peas and chips that we are charged by NUFC.

If you are interested in this event please contact me, tickets will be allocated on a first come-first served basis, so please order your tickets as soon as possible, be aware that if you order tickets you will be charged for them.

Tribute to John Miller

nudsa — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 16:34:19 +0000

As most of you will already know, our dear friend John Miller, sadly passed away on January 11^th after a short illness. John was many things, a loyal, loving husband of 39 years to Ros, a supportive, caring father to Stephen and Jonathan, and Granddad to Ben. He was a constant influence on their lives and was always there for them. Many of you will have seen John at our NUDSA social evenings, as a committee we have alot to thank him for, John was forever helping us, either driving people and equipment to various places, setting up for us, taking messages at home when Ros and Stephen weren’t around, and making sure our Toon Times got to the printers on time and into the post. John’s hard work was very much appreciated by us all.

Of course there were many other qualities to John, l personally only knew John for eleven years but wasn’t surprised to see so many people at his funeral, nor was l surprised to hear about the way he had conducted his life. It was obvious to see that John’s number one priority was his family, and even though it was mentioned a few times with a smile, that he liked to have his say, and wasn’t adverse to the odd complaint, you just had to hear him talk about his boys and their achievements to know how he felt about them, and how proud he was. He brought them up to work hard and instilled his own solid family values into them. l saw over the years that John although happy to remain in the background, was the rock that kept the family strong. I learned alot about John after hearing so many wonderful stories about his life on the day of his funeral. I knew that John loved motorbikes, but didn’t realise that most of the milestones in his life, getting married etc had revolved around the TT meetings. I knew he liked to potter in his garden and garage, he was usually in there whenever l called, but was amused to hear that John didn’t like to throw anything away that might come in handy, and had boxes of screws, nuts and bolts in the garage for a rainy day. I loved the story about the sprouting potatoes being planted between the flowers in the garden so as not to waste them. I realised that there were so many things that John had done in his life, he had worked hard, had a wonderful marriage to Ros who he has loved for forty five years, and had two sons who had made him proud. That is a great achievement in itself, he knew what was important to him and he just got on with it. So no, in summing up, l’m not surprised there were over one hundred and fifty people who came to show their respect for John at Whitley Bay crematorium. They all knew him in a different way, family, friends, colleages and acquaintances, all with a different story to tell of how John had touched their lives. There were alot of young people there, friends of Stephen who had known John and admired him. People who had travelled miles to be there, some who hadn’t seen John for years but who needed to say goodbye and pay their last respects.

My own memories of John are of an honest, caring man who had a natural rapport with people, he loved to have a chat and put the world to rights, but always did it with a sparkle in his eye. For me, John was a “diamond in the rough” which is “someone who has hidden, exceptional qualities”. After seeing the impact John’s death has had on so many people, it is clear that he was a very exceptional human being.

Thank you John for being part of our lives, we were honoured to call you a friend and to have known such a gentleman.

Amanda Sawyers

Christmas Events

nudsa — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 16:51:40 +0000

The festive period is almost upon us and NUDSA events are almost here, we need to know ASAP if you want to come to these events.

The NUDSA Christmas Party will be held on Thursday the 10^th December at St. James’ Park. There will be lots of fun and entertainment on the night with music, pie, pea & chips, a raffle, bingo and lots of other games. If you are interested in this event please order tickets as soon as possible, you will be charged for any tickets you order! Prices are £7 for adult members; £9 for adult non-members; £3 for Zebras; £4 for junior non-members. The night will start at 7pm.

Zebras

The Zebra Christmas party is scheduled for Tuesday the 8^th December at St. James’ Park from 5pm until approx 8pm. We are very excited about having the Animupps to entertain us with their Christmas Show, I’m sure it’ll be great. Food will be served as part of the event. Prices for this event are £5 for members and £6 for non-members. Contact us ASAP if you want to come.

Away Trip

After our successful trip to Nottingham, we are planning an away trip to Sheffield Wednesday on the 26^th December, we can’t get anymore tickets but still have places on the bus for anyone who has a match ticket, please get in touch if you are interested in going on the bus. The game kicks off at 12.45pm, so we’re be leaving at 8am from Strawberry Place.

Finally, watch out for our late, late New Year Party and a Prize Draw early in 2010.

NUDSA Player of the Year

nudsa — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 17:52:14 +0000

For the 08/09 season, NUDSA members voted Steven Taylor the player of the year. On the 27th of August we had a social night where we’d hoped to be able to present Steven with the trophy, Steven had agreed to come along but unfortunately he pulled out on the day for reasons we are unaware of. Thankfully though Toon legend Peter Beardsley was able to pop in for a few minutes and pick up the trophy on Steven’s behalf from Harry Bucknall (pictured above).

Peter had time to stay and sign the NUDSA flag (left) and also signed autographs and had pictures taken, we’re really grateful to Peter for coming along. The night wasn’t all about the player of the year though, which was a good job in hindsight – it was also a fun and games night which everyone joined in well with.

Spirits were high after Newcastle’s flying start to the season, and heads and tails was a great way to kick off our start of the season social. Four teams volunteered for Family Fortunes (Terry’s team on right), with the semi-finals taking place before dinner and the final after, it was fearcely contested although I suspect a fair bit of cheating was going on.

We also played a couple of games of bingo on the night, so it was heads down while our Vice-Chair Joe Ayton expertly read out the numbers. Everyone went home having had a night of fun and entertainment.

Our next social activities will be the Christmas parties, hope to see you there! Some more pics from the night below… SM

Death of Joanne Pye

nudsa — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 13:36:25 +0000

Sadly I report that former NUDSA member and committee member Joanne Pye died on Sunday and was cremated yesterday, her ashes were spread at her beloved St. James Park. Like Sir Bobby Robson, Joanne had more than her fair share of suffering in her short life, mainly because of the pain that was a result of her condition. Dying at the tender age of 30 is the greatest shame, but those 30 years were filled to the brim. I’d known Joanne most of my life, mainly through supporting NUFC, she followed them home and away and had a great affiliation with the club. We went to Northumbria University at the same time and shared most lunch times together. Joanne was a great example to disabled people of how to get on with life despite the challenges, she over-achieved way beyond her potential and never stopped living her life even at the very lowest points of suffering. She graduated and went on to get a masters, she learnt to drive and drove her own car until pain became too much and she had to take morphine.

Joanne had a breif spell on the NUDSA committee around a year ago but unfortunately had to resign due to ill health. Joanne will be greatly missed.

Tribute to Sir Bobby Robson

nudsa — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 23:11:19 +0000

Sir Bobby Robson quietly passed away on Friday. It was very sad to lose such a great man who touched so many people’s lives all around the world – this was overwhelmingly evident when I visited St. James’ Park yesterday(Sunday), the popularity of the man is something to be cherished and to take comfort from. The pictures with this post show the extraordinary temporary shrine that has and still is being amassed at the Leazes End of St. James’ Park, I took some of the pictures which is why they’re artistically angled. Members of the NUDSA Committee are going to leave some flowers at St. James’ on behalf of the association, any members wishing to leave a message please comment on this post or email info@nudsa.org, and they’ll be published in the next Toon Times.

Even in death you could still feel Bobby’s presence at St. James’ and his infectious personality shines through in every testimony, picture and message. With his generosity and humility I could imaging Bobby looking on and wondering what all the fuss was about. Of all the endearing qualities that Bobby had, the one that stood out for me was the way he made everyone feel special, and that is why he was one of the greatest coaches of all time, he had a great working ethos even up until his very last days – It was typical of him that he fulfilled his last public engagement before he passed away, ever willing to put others before himself and that is something that we should all learn from. Unfortunately Bobby never came to a NUDSA Social during his time at NUFC, but he did do an interview for the Toon Times and I will publish it as soon as I find it.

I met Sir Bobby many times after he belatedly took the helm at NUFC, he was always interested in my career and was surprisingly knowledgeable about my sport. I shouldn’t have expected any less but I know all too well that many top sports people are very blinkered and single-minded, however Bobby quite uniquely combined being successful in sport with being utterly approachable and like able. His wife Elsie would always say that she never saw him because when he wasn’t working he was out doing appearances and attending events.

Maybe the one regret I, like many Geordies, have is that we didn’t get to spend more time with Bobby at the helm of his beloved Newcastle United, and I’m sure Bobby regrets the way it ended as does everyone involved. The tragic state of the club today makes a mockery of sacking Bobby, it was a cruel ending, one that least befitted Bobby’s character, and both fans and players alike should hold their hands up to being a part of that cruel demise. However Bobby set an example of not dwelling on the bad things in life and he will be remembered best by me for building a team that took us right back to the top of European football, and he gave me the best experience of my footballing life in the San Siro when we battered a top-class Inter Milan side and unluckily came out with a 2-2 draw – one word, marvellous!

The loss of Bobby is immensely sad, but we must take inspiration from his life and the way he approached every challenge.

Details of the next NUDSA social are on there way out, along with the info for our AGM and entry forms for the ever exciting Football Dreams. There’s a busy time coming up and I hope you enjoy it all with NUDSA.

Summer Fun

nudsa — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 16:11:22 +0000

NUDSA will be at Gateshead Stadium on Thursday (23rd July) for a Summer Fun Day, we will have a stall and there will be lots going on for children and adults. Proceedings get underway at about 11.30am, get yourself down if you can.

Details of this year’s Dreamteam are coming out soon, should be fun with no NUFC in the Premiership. You’ll have until August 15th to get your teams in. Also, remember to send your player of the year votes in.