Trip Was A Success For Supporters In Far East

UNITED’S Far East supporters clubs have hailed the trip to Asia a huge success as The Magpies headed back to Tyneside on Monday.

 

There were thousands of black and white shirts in attendance at the games in Bangkok and then Hong Kong, and the team hotels were both under siege from fans anxious to get photos and autographs from their heroes.

 

The NUFC Singapore Mags, led by South Gosforth exile John Hirst, were at both games, while around 100 fans from the Hong Kong branch enjoyed the game against Kitchee on Sunday night.

 

“Newcastle are popular over here in Asia, not as popular as Manchester United and Liverpool, but still with a lot of followers,” said John Hirst.

 

“We have around 2,000 members, and 300 of them are Geordies living over here in the Far East with the rest made up of locals.

"It’s good that United are trying to crack this market, and with this tour and the trip to Malaysia last season, they’re heading in the right direction.

 

“The Premier League is massive over here, and we get a lot of coverage on the sports network ESPN. It helps that their producer is a Geordie, mind you!

 

“It’s great for us Geordies to have the team out here playing a game as most of tend to get back home only once or twice a year, but it’s even more special for the locals who get to see the players in the flesh.

 

“There was quite a lot of excitement when it was announced Newcastle were coming here, and that has been evident by the response the team have had over the last week or so.”

 

HK NUFC Supporters Club chairman Keff Cheng started following The Magpies during the Kevin Keegan era, and set up the club in 2000 as interest started to grow.

 

“We love Newcastle United because they play very good football and have great players,” said Keff.

 

“We watch all of the games on TV here, and we have all bought the shirts and merchandise from the official website.

 

“We are very happy that the team are out here, and it was great to see them play. Our dream now is to watch them at St. James’ Park in Newcastle.”
 
A group of Hong Kong based fans camped out at the team hotel from 7am to midnight on the four days United stayed in the city, and all of them were rewarded for their loyalty as the squad and staff signed their shirts and posed for photos.

They included: Dora Tong, Edgar Yim, Elizabeth Chan Yeun Ki, Edwin Chung, Carolyn Tsang, Milton Poon, Jack Choi and Theresa Kwan.

For more info on the supporters clubs in the Far East, check out http://www.nufcsingapore.com/, or e-mail them at lads@nufcsingapore.com.

For the Hong Kong branch, check out http://www.hknewcastle.com/, or e-mail them at admin@hknewcastle.net.

nufc.co.uk would like to thank all United fans that we met
from both Thailand and Hong Kong for their help
and co-operation during the tour.