Newcastle to bring ‘overwhelming’ prospect to Milan and the £101,750 chartered flight enquiry
Newcastle United will be able to count on the support of thousands of Geordies once again as the Magpies return to the San Siro for their first Champions League game in 20 years
You could say Milan has never seen anything like it – but it has. How fitting that Newcastle United fans are returning to the city where 12,000 Geordies famously left their mark more than two decades ago.
It is AC Milan rather than Inter this time, of course, but there will be a sea of black and white in the San Siro once more as Newcastle contest their first Champions League game since 2003. For season ticket holder Sima, that will be an ‘overwhelming’ prospect.
“I was in bits for Wembley so I don’t even know what kind of a state I’ll be in when the music plays,” she told ChronicleLive. “It still has not dawned on me that it’s happening. It feels very surreal that we’re in Europe and it’s not just Europe – it’s the Champions League.”
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Surreal is right. Less than two years ago, Sima was among those walking out of Molineux ‘heartbroken’ following a thoroughly uninspiring 2-1 defeat at Wolves. Now, the Geordie will be one of the thousands on their way to Italy alongside some of the world’s most famous names, who are jetting in for Milan Fashion Week.
While the designers and models at Gucci, Prada and Versace have had these dates in their diaries for some time now, it has been quite the opposite for Newcastle fans, who had less than three weeks’ notice to scramble following the draw last month. With no chartered flights, the Newcastle United Supporters Club, an independent not-for-profit membership organisation run by fans, even looked into the possibility of booking one. However, co-founder Darren Curry revealed this day trip would have ended up costing 185 supporters £550 each, which works out as a whopping £101,750 in total.
“At that moment in time, we just couldn’t envisage filling it for that kind of money,” the 55-year-old told ChronicleLive. “Looking back, maybe now, we could have but it would have been late in the day because people only received tickets last week in the ballot. Most people have got there for £100 from London so £550 each was a bit steep, but looking at the prices now, they have just rocketed.”
