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Opinion

Big honour introducing this great lad to joys of being a Newcastle fan – He’s a massive loss

3 years ago
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One of the most special experiences I have been able to enjoy as a Newcastle fan, was to introduce and welcome a lad from outside of the North East into our NUFC family.

I met Simon Jones in the mid 80s.

I used to pop into the local wine bin for my cans on the way back from work and he was the new manager in the North Shields branch. I found out that he was ex-RAF and had recently moved to the area to marry his Geordie girlfriend.

I instantly liked him and I could tell he used to enjoy the stories I told him of the previous weekend’s exploits.

So as you can guess, I was only too happy to oblige when he finally asked if he could come to St James Park with me and the lads.

After his first visit, Simon literally fell in love with the Toon, forming strong and lasting friendships with all of my mates and the many others we met on away trips. He was one of the few married lads in our crew but never missed a game…even when his bairns came along.

I have many good memories, far too many to go into in detail…but the promotion season in 1992/93 particularly stands out, along with a hilarious trip the both of us had in 2006 to watch the Toon play Eintracht Frankfurt.

On the 21st of April 2019 I was fishing about 6 miles out of the Tyne, when I received a call that stopped me in my tracks.

Simon’s great pal Bash, sadly informed me that he had been killed the previous evening.

I know his death came as a massive shock to our community because his passion as a Newcastle fan for the club was legendary.

It has taken me two whole years to finally tell how he affected my life through his kindness, loyalty and great sense of humour.

Newcastle United are a special club that attract special people, even if they aren’t born up here.

Simon Jones – You’ve been gone too long.

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