“We’ve got enough good songs to sing - we can sing about Joelinton,” Bill Corcoran tells me with a chuckle toward the end of a conversation about this weekend’s game with Liverpool. Back in December when Newcastle travelled down to Anfield, a small section of the away end could be heard singing ‘feed the scousers,’ and that left Bill and the volunteers of the NUFC Fans Foodbank disappointed.
Bill’s point about Joelinton came toward the end of a serious conversation about Saturday’s game at St James’ Park - and the hope that the scenes down on Merseyside aren’t repeated on the terraces at the Gallowgate.
“To hear those chants made me feel disgusted and ashamed. Some might say ‘I was only having a laugh’ but making a joke at the expense of hunger isn’t funny.
“There’s a line - that was unacceptable. Newcastle United fans are magnificent and I’ve never seen anything like the generosity they’ve given to the foodbank over the last five years. I get it, humour can come from an uncomfortable place and sometimes you can say things that are close to the bone and there’s a bit of needle - I kind of like that. But now today, with what we’re seeing with the cost of living crisis, we don’t take the mickey out of starvation - it’s far too serious.
“Take the mickey out of hair-dos and accents - and they can do the same to us but there are mothers on Tyneside and Merseyside who are going without food to feed their children - and there are scousers feeding the Geordies, and Geordies helping to feed scousers through donations to the food bank. That’s the way it should be.
“We don’t sing about hunger. We don’t want to see that this Saturday.”
LISTEN - THE NUFC FANS FOODBANK - PODCAST DOCUMENTARY
With Liverpool going for the Premier League title, the world’s media will descend on St James’ Park for the 12:30 pm kick-off. The clash sold out within a matter of days with Newcastle fans determined to help push their side to a famous victory.
Bill, who is a well-known volunteer at the foodbank, is aware of the scrutiny that will be on United this weekend. “For years, the team hasn’t been as good as the fans. This is a chance to make either a right mess of that reputation or something wonderful and show the globe that Newcastle United fans are the best in the world and that we’re proud of our community, our region and value that hand of friendship.
“The football club is so important because of its position in the community but with that comes a responsibility to be respectable and that means we look after one another. You look after the most vulnerable, you feed the hungry.
“Liverpool fans are helping to do that here on Tyneside, and we’re helping to do that down on Merseyside - so let’s not sing daft songs to make all that look ridiculous.
“In this social media world, it will be picked up on and used against us. We are Newcastle United and we have to stand up against this kind of thing.
“It’s bad manners, out of order. We have the chance to show the world what a great exhibition for football we can be - regardless of what happens on the pitch.
“The fans are going to be extraordinary. We’re going to be outside as usual at our stall and welcome our friends from Liverpool.”
Those Liverpool fans who run the foodbank down in their city were the inspiration for the NUFC Fans Foodbank. That very fact means that when chants about hunger and poverty are sung by Newcastle fans and aimed at the Liverpool supporters - it hurts volunteers even more.
There's an acceptance that the risk of such chants whether that be about poverty or the Hillsborough disaster, will come from a minority of fans but with such attention on the game, it is feared that it only takes one small pocket of people to tarnish the reputation of the whole fanbase.
"We just want to get that message out there to a few people, who maybe are slightly younger and perhaps don't know about Hillsborough or they've not had to live that life where there is hunger in the family, that it isn't a laughing matter.
"When it comes to fighting hunger - Newcastle fans quite rightly have a sense of pride that they're doing something about it. They're feeding 1,000 people in this city, every week.
"Five years ago before the NUFC Fans Foodbank, the West End Foodbank had to drive to London every week to pick up half of their food. Now they don't because it's provided by the community, and I don't want that reputation spoiled on any level."
Of course, the hope is that the foodbank's plea to show respect towards Liverpool fans for their efforts and unity in the fight against hunger isn't needed, but the charity felt it right to state their case and to make it known that songs about poverty aren't, as some might claim, banter.
The relationship between scousers and Geordies is a strong one - even during lockdown, both sets of fans going the extra mile to help their respective communities out. "They've helped us. They've given us money, food and even PPE masks - we've got photographs of the careworkers who used them the afternoon they were donated by Liverpool fans.
"Carehomes couldn't get the PPE, so the Fans Supporting Foodbanks made 1,000 masks and dropped them off to us - how great is that?
"The reason the foodbank has been so successful is that we behave with dignity and we just wanted to remind people of that - and not to indulge in any offensive chants."
With the cost of living crisis really starting to hit people hard, the demand for the foodbank's services in Newcastle has increased, with set to increase further as the year goes on. Donations raised on matchdays are matched by Newcastle co-owner Jamie Reuben and provide a huge source of income for the charity.
