I have nothing against Newcastle. When I lived in Sheffield my best mate was a Geordie, I have met plenty of their fans over the years and they have always been pretty knowledgeable and fair minded, with a glaring blind spot when it comes to the ability of King Kev.
I wasn't at that game 15 months ago but some of the antipathy towards Newcastle made me cringe. When Wednesday sent us down at Villa Park in 1987 I remember then manager Howard Wilkinson saying the team had left promptly because the experience reminded him of being in a graveyard and was not a pleasant experience.
Their support given their trophy-less record in my life time is admirable. The only criticism I would have is of the fans a few years ago who would always jump on the " we brought 500 coaches to you on Christmas morning and you only brought a transit van for the last day of the season" variety.
To them I would point out that around 1978 we relegated Newcastle in a midweek game at Villa Park. There was a story in the Mail the next day about the 17 fans who had travelled down in a van to watch them. The players heard of this and subsequently clubbed together to pay for their petrol. I am sure somebody with access to proper archives can dredge this story up.
