Having seen the pictures from Saturday, its fair to categorically say that it looked incredibly wet around St James’ Park. Unofficial reports of seeing an ark floating down Barrack Road have yet to be confirmed, but it was certainly enough to whet the appetite for the competitive season that starts this Saturday. Suffice to say that I was busy sunning it in Inverness, where the forecast rain failed to materialise and Highland League champions Buckie did a thoroughly professional job of dispatching Clachnacuddin.

Onto the key travel news: firstly with Arsenal being a 5.30 kick off, make sure that you know how you are getting back after the game. There is currently only one scheduled southbound rail service after 20.00 : the 20.42 to Doncaster. The last train that serves Leeds and then Birmingham is 19.44 which would mean quite a brisk walk back to the station!

We’re working with East Coast to try to confirm an additional service, watch this space. Many other places will be tough to get back to after the game though and certain services might be rather busy.

Then its straight onto the Sunderland match. The club are running a number of free coaches to this game, and we fully recommend fans use these. Full details will follow in due course, but you will get away faster after the game by using these services.

So, the new season is creeping up upon us, with only 3 weeks until the first proper action. The only home pre-season friendly is against Fiorentina on August 6th, and this is a great chance to be looking at how to travel to the match for the season ahead. Indeed, why not make a day of it with some of the fabulous hostelries that the city centre has to offer and a number of deals on under the ‘alive after five’ mantra, of course going by public transport means being able to have a ‘social few’ as well as see the match.

I’ve been busy and already racked up six matches for the season, the latest being a five goal thriller in Stockton last night – the first competitive action in Scotland is Saturday, so a trip to the delights of Cumbernauld to watch Berwick at Clyde looks to be on the cards. If either side can raise a team that is!

So, the fixture list is out tomorrow. That’s always a day I look forward to, as it marks the start of planning those away days for next season. Typically with television etc, some of the attractive ones will always be midweek evenings at times when thoroughly impossible for away fans on public transport, but I’m already looking forward with bated breath to the 2011/12 season.

I’m currently filling the football void with a spot of cricket groundhopping, really finding some lovely spots in the North East to enjoy the beautiful (ha ha) weather, or rather to dodge the intermittent showers that have dogged things. Thats culminating with Carlisle this Saturday and Hartlepool next, before pre-season friendlies start with Berwick v Hibs on 2nd July.

But I know that they’ll put our games at Elgin and Peterhead midweek – I woudldnt mind this so much if they tied in well with midweek Highland League games. Though I’ve done those two grounds, the former particularly is a wonderful trip.

Talking of Highlands, its giving me my first league trip of the season – Turriff v Rothes on 30th July, though Berwick’s challenge cup match at Clyde is the week before I struggle somewhat to muster huge enthusiasm for this tournament. But we’ll see, good plans ahead. And plenty of updates on the best way to get to Newcastle away games await when the fixtures come out tomorrow too.

Just so all fans know, the Metro is back to operating normal timetable between Byker and Tynemouth, with all stations now open. The slight exception to this is North Shields, where platform 2 (the platform for trains to St James) is closed. This gives a couple of options – either travelling from platform 1 the whole way (via South Gosforth) to Monument. Or alternatively travelling one stop (to Meadow Well) from platform 1, where by travelling one stop (to Tynemouth), you can pick up the train direct to St James via Wallsend.

With no Newcastle game this weekend, there are a range of local games that present options. Northern league day has been organised, based around the game at Ryton (walkable from Wylam station or alternatively on bus 10 or 11 from Newcastle, both take about 30 minutes), with a game at Whickham at 11.30 for those looking to do two games in a day. For anyone who is looking to do both, bus 69A will take you directly from Whickham to Ryton, and leaves at 2.03 arriving at 2.26pm.

Personally, I won’t be at these – I’m on an overnight coach down to indulge in the first day of Durham’s cricket season down in Southampton tomorrow. And then up to Nairn for a highland league fixture on Saturday – hypermobility, moi? But all by public transport, and relatively cheap too.

Hey all

Don’t forget the survey is still ongoing to look at how fans travel to matches. The link is on the home page, and we have an excellent prize, well worth winning of a signed 2010/11 Newcastle United shirt. Winners of this will be announced some point after April 11th.

We’re enterring the end of season run in now, with a few points needed to remain safe, but thinking of some of the leagues – teams like Gosforth Bohemians have yet to play half of their games in the Northern Alliance this season. Yes, its the silly season ahead, with opportunities to do football 4, maybe 5 times a week. And I can’t wait!

Of course, there is no premiership football tomorrow with the international pallava – it irks me given fixture pile ups at certain times of the season. After all, its clubs who pay players wages, not Fabio Capello, and its particularly irksome when so many come back carrying injuries. However, I’d implore anyone interested to look at doing a local game tomorrow. Many are kicking off at 1pm, so you can, if you so desire, watch the England game in the social club afterwards. Check out www.northernleague.org www.wearside-football-league.org.uk or www.northernfootballalliance.org.uk for a full list.

Personally, I’ll be sampling the beautiful village of Wark, out on the North Tyne, not too bad by public transport for a place with a population of 900, and an excellent hostelry nearby in the Battlesteads, with an excellent premise of using local produce.

We’re right into the midst of the Metro improvement works now. Don’t forget when travelling to the game that the line is closed between Byker and Tynemouth until April 3rd. The initial feedback that we have had is that replacement buses are working ok in getting people around, although clearly there is a need to add extra time for your journey. That said, the only remaining home fixture this clashes with is the Wolves game on April 2nd.

With so many away games coming up, why not have a look at some of the excellent local non-league football that is coming up? There is the FA Trophy semi final 2nd leg at Gateshead (against Darlington) this Saturday. Or, better still, why not come along to Northern League day 0n Saturday 9th April?http://northernleagueday.wordpress.com/ 

Newcastle aren’t playing until the Sunday (at Aston Villa), and with admission at most grounds in the Northern League at only the £5 mark (and believe me, £5 means a lot to clubs at that level), why not come along and take in a game. You might be surprised at how good the standard is. The full list of fixtures are at www.northernleague.org . Speaking as someone who has done every ground in the Northern League on public transport no less, if you have any questions about any of them (how to get to, which has the best pies, what the bar is like etc), just get in touch and I’ll endeavour to answer.

Talking of great clubs to visit, I succumbed to being nagged into revisiting Guiseley on Saturday to see them take on Worcester in the Conference North. About 7 miles from Leeds and right by the train station, the club really couldn’t do enough to help. The bizarre local celebrity had to be however, a Weimariner kitted full on in Guiseley colours who was on the front page of the programme, and waiting just beyond the turnstile. Real characters you get to see at this level, and this fine specimen was no different. Worcester won 1-0 completely against the run of play, with Guiseley seemingly spending most of the 2nd half finding innovative ways to miss clear cut chances (although some credit must go to the visiting goalkeeper who had a blinder).

Irvine Meadow v Auchinleck or Musselburgh v Kilbirnie Ladeside next… decisions…

Well, I thought that I had surpassed myself the other night. Needing a pick me up, I thought it a good idea to get a hotel booked in Annan, and travel over to Galabank on a Tuesday night to watch the mighty Berwick try to re-ignite their playoff bid on a freezing cold evening in Dumfriesshire. The only problem was, someone else I met on the train had travelled all the way from West Sussex to do that exact game – certainly I felt more than a little outdone. It was a good evening out though, but Berwick were more than fortunate to get away with a 1-1 draw.

We’re some way into the Metro works between Byker and Tynemouth now – how have YOU found getting to games during this? We’d love to hear your opinions via the comments section, and will ensure that these are passed onto the relevant people. Everton coming up this weekend, but I’ll be much more focused on the FA Vase, alas not the tie at Dunston, but rather a trip down to Coalville, Leicestershire. 2 trains and a bus each way, with a 6am set off and a 10.30 arrival home. Then its Stoke away, a bit of a pig to get to on public transport in all honesty, as the options of Manchester or Birmingham en route, neither offer cheap travel and the ground is itself, a long way from the train station.

First off – Boxing Day. Although we don’t yet have the finalised traffic counts for the day, by all intents and purposes it was a success. This was the first year that we’ve managed to get buses into the city from the hinterlands of Northumberland and Durham, and we have learned a lot from the experience. Certainly in future if the situation was repeated – we’ll be having all buses leave at the same time where we are funding them, as we’re aware of quite a few issues that arose regarding tickets just being sold for ‘a’ bus rather than a specific service. Particularly with the weather as it was, we appreciate that we could probably have done it better.

As you may have heard, there are a number of works that will be taking place to upgrade the Metro in coming weeks. This will affect travel to the games against Bolton (26 February) and Everton (5th March), as no trains will be running between Byker and Tynemouth. A replacement bus service will be running to similar times to the Metro, but those using that, it is imperative to leave extra time for your journey. Certainly travelling from the coast, the best option is to still get the Metro via the Shiremoor route but again, this is likely to be very busy, so ensure to leave extra time.

There are also a number of service buses that may be worth considering to get you to the game too – why not look at the door to door journey planner available on the homepage, or alternatively www.transportdirect.info to see what buses are available.

My own footballing travels have taken me around the North of Italy, and its very noticably cheaper than football in England. 16 Euros to get in to the San Siro to see Milan v Lazio, can’t say fairer than that. Although the most enjoyable day over there was watching two feckless defences slugging it out as Piacenza beat Reggina 3-2 in Serie B – it was certainly a good reconnaissence with the Italian railway network (not sure if groundhopping is a big thing there…)

Well, the weather has made travel by all modes a little interesting to say the least. Although I should point out that it seems to be those travelling by car that are suffering the most. We’re very lucky in Newcastle to have such an efficient Metro system, which, touchwood has managed to get through these conditions very well. I was more than a little relieved to see it arrive this morning, albeit as covered in snow as I was from the 10 minute walk to the stop.

Whether yesterdays game should have been played given the travel implications is a moot point, but spare a thought for all the hard work that went on to ensure that the surrounding area was safe. Also spare a thought for my football travels over the weekend. Having thrice been assured that Lancaster v Curzon Ashton was going ahead, we found out at 14.20 (while in the excellent Three Mariners Pub) that the game had been abandoned by the referee. A quick check of a map, and a taxi ride across to Morecambe ensued to tick off their ultra swanky new Globe Arena.

In fairness, the day could have been a lot more disasterous, and we were delighted that the trains were running well to give us enough confidence to stop off in Wylam on the way back to ‘probably the best pub in the world’. Of course, having a social few is a lot easier for all while getting public transport.

I’m currently in the process of working out travel arrangements for Boxing Day, so that is a case of ‘watch this space’. Sadly there are no trains running anywhere in the UK (except the Gatwick Express) on December 26th, and while it is confirmed that the Metro is running, there will be very limited commercial bus services. But watch this space for other developments…. Of course Newcastle are at home to Man City that day.

In the meantime, for anyone thinking of travelling to West Brom on 5th December, there is a very cheap way of doing this – Megabus operate from outside Central station, leaving at 515am that morning and arriving at 10.30am in Birmingham. Plenty of time to sample some of Birmingham’s hostelries (take this from a Brummie, the Wellington is well worth a visit) before making the short train journey to the Hawthorns station (frequent trains from Moor Street). Then there is a bus back at 8.10pm from Birmingham arriving at 1.15 in the morning, so plenty of time to catch some sleep before work. I’d almost be tempted myself but for being roped to rugby in Leeds that day… A return going this way costs £34

My travels this weekend took me just over the Scottish border to the Royal Burgh of Selkirk. A train over to Carlisle (the Northern Duo is a great deal) and an Dumfries and Galloway explorer cost a total of £19, with £3 for match tickets. The scenery was wonderful, the game brought 4 goals shared between the hosts and Vale of Leithen, and the crowd totalled 46! Still, it was an excellent day out.