Wor Flags’ final display of the season paid tribute to the players and Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe for turning the season around and fighting off relegation to The Championship. The supporters’ group spent the weekend putting together the display which covered the entirety of St James’ Park for the clash with Arsenal.
Around 49,000 pieces of foils were placed on seats across the ground - from the Leazes End to Level 7, with the group determined to make sure nearly every Toon fan had something to wave before kick-off. Fans in the Leazes End held up foil that produced the much-loved blue star of the old Newcastle Breweries, the logo that once was the club’s shirt sponsor in the late 80s and 90s.
The word ‘UNITED’ was held aloft across the East Stand, with ‘Newcastle United Football Club’ spelt out in a banner that went from one end of the Gallowgate to the other with a picture of one of the now-famous dressing photos. The Milburn Stand was a sea of black and white foils.
READ MORE: WOR FLAGS MEET PLAYERS AND EDDIE HOWE
Fans had been asked to be in their seats 15 minutes before kick-off to make sure the displays looked as good as possible. Thomas Concannon from Wor Flags told Chronicle Live that the idea for the display, their biggest yet, was always in the works.
“It’s almost a celebration to the players for getting us out of the mess that we were in at the start of the season," he explained. "A celebration to what is hopefully to come.
“Hopefully the future of our football club has been changed because of what has happened this season - and changed for the better. We can now push on as a football club.
“We just want to celebrate that. Our displays have got bigger and bigger and bigger as the season has gone on - so it only feels right that we end up with this - giving every single fan who helped and supported us the opportunity to be involved in the display.
"There's been a lot of planning - we wanted to do the whole stadium for a long time. It was just how we do it, and what sort of messages do we send? What kind of look are we going for, and we are happy with what we have come up with and we hope everyone else is too."
Preparation for the display was briefly stopped on Saturday morning when the group put down their flags and were invited up to meet Eddie Howe and the players at the club's training ground. Newcastle co-owner Jamie Reuben then donated to the Wor Flag fund which enables them to continue putting on the displays.
