Bonding of clubs’ fans still there in black and white
A NORTH-South black and white bond forged a century ago is being revived with the hope one of the spin-offs will be it helps Newcastle United dodge the drop.
In 1920, jobless Tynesiders travelled south to find employment and worked on railway and road projects in West London.
They set up their own football team Hanwell Town, played in black and white stripes and adopted the nickname of the Geordies.
The nickname and the stripes have stuck and now semi-professional Hanwell play in the Pitching In Isthmian South Central Division at their Powerday Stadium, near the A40 which the original Geordies worked on 101 years ago.
Thanks to a Twitter competition based on football club nicknames, supporters of the black and white 286 miles apart have made frequent contact through social media.
Newcastle fans have boosted Hanwell’s Twitter following by almost 1,400 and have “inundated” the London club’s shop with requests for merchandise – a welcome boost as the Town’s season has been curtailed.
In return, Hanwell followers are rooting for Newcastle to succeed in their bid to stay in the Premier League.
Hanwell marketing officer Elsa Jones: “I now watch Newcastle’s games religiously on TV. We just want them to score goals.”
A club official has designed a Newcastle Brown Ale label featuring the Town’s name.
This appears on T-shirts and tote bags while Hanwell black and white shirts and dog bandanas are also in demand by Magpie fans.
Hanwell, based a short bus ride from Wembley – the scene of Newcastle’s triple FA Cup final wins in the 1950s – are also planning a Geordie Day next season to coincide with a United away fixture in London, be that in the Premier League or Championship.
Newcastle fans will be able to take in a Hanwell game and also enjoy a welcoming barbecue and a few drinks.
Elsa added: “It will be great to meet the Newcastle fans we have been talking to.”
Hanwell have just launched a fundraising page after their league’s shutdown because of the pandemic - and United followers have provided a welcome boost to it.
Elsa said: “The Newcastle fans have been absolutely brilliant.
“We have been creating new products for them and it is great to have that income coming in when we cannot play.
“We have been taking orders from Newcastle fans every other day and as we speak we are pressing another
30 shirts to send to Newcastle. It is crazy the way it has taken off.
“We have had loads of donations from the North East when we never expected that sort of response. We have received hundreds of messages from Geordies all around the world and it is great to see how football can bring people together.” In the Hanwell clubhouse is a framed Alan Shearer shirt and a top signed by Sir Bobby Robson. Town striker Gareth Chendlik is currently raising money for the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation by clocking up a series of 10km runs – the distance most top-flight footballers run during a match.
He said: ‘I am running and fundraising for the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation to help to find more effective ways to detect and treat cancer.”