A long-standing cross-country football relationship was reignited this weekend when a gaggle of so called ‘London Geordies’ descended on Hanwell Town for their match against Sholing FC.
When sink holes appeared on the pitch at AFC Wimbledon this week causing postponement of their EFL Cup fixture with Newcastle United, Hanwell Town gave out free tickets to their game for Magpies and Dons fans still keen to get their football fix.
The club, who compete in the seventh tier of English football, fought through most of the game with ten men but fell to a 1-0 defeat.
A sizeable group of Newcastle fans, some from the area, and others who travelled down, carrying a ‘Howay the lads’ flag, came to support the team.
Freddie Bunn from the London Mags (London Newcastle United fan group) said: “They are always so welcoming, there is a real collaborative feel between the two fan groups.”
It was a friendly gesture, stemming from an unlikely relationship between the West London club and Tyneside which stretches back to 1920, when a group of workers heralding from Newcastle founded the club while they worked building railways in the local area.
Despite the long heritage, the link between the clubs was unknown to many Newcastle fans until 2020, when the club went viral on X during a best nickname competition hosted by The Non-League Rambler leading many Toon fans to discover the London Geordies.
Sporting the same black and white stripes as the Premier League giants, Hanwell Town has now become a slice of home to many NUFC fans living or travelling outside of the city.
Thanks to Magpies fans, there was a huge increase in Hanwell’s online following, which boosted the club’s publicity and finances.
Hanwell Town FC Marketing Manager Elsa Jones said: “We gained about 15,000 followers just from Newcastle fans.
“They bought a lot of shirts that they would even wear to their own matches.”
In 2022 for Newcastle’s away fixture against Brentford, Hanwell welcomed around 200 travelling supporters for pre-game drinks with coaches and cars full of fans pulling up at the Powerday Stadium.
The following year, the club sold 500 tickets prior to Newcastle’s League Cup final versus Manchester United.
Bunn said: “One thing you can always guarantee with Newcastle fans is numbers.
“If it’s black and white then we’re there.”
Over the course of the season Hanwell will again open their gates to supporters travelling to London fixtures, or for what they call a ‘Geordie double-header’, where fans watch the London Geordies in the three o’clock kick-off, before congregating in the clubhouse for a later screening of the Newcastle game.
Jones said: “Whenever they are down, we try and open our doors and get as many people down as we can.”
Hanwell fans will be looking for a season of consolidation after rising through the leagues in recent seasons, and so far, are doing just that as they sit midtable in the Southern League Premier South.
Abiding by recent tradition this season will culminate in the Geordie Cup, where the London Mags take on Hanwell Town supporters for a small trophy that embodies so much more: the celebration of a bond between people of vastly different backgrounds with a vital common interest.
Six tiers and 287 miles apart, but the fans in black and white stripes could not be closer.
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