RMFA Newcastle Tour 2004

RMFA Newcastle Tour 2004

With thanks to RMR Tyne for hosting = us.

29th Nov - 3rd Dec 2004

The RMFA squad has a photo shoot with Graeme Souness at ST James Park Newcastle.

Mag= sy & Graeme Souness.<= o:p>

M= agsy "Big G can you sign this ball for Sidmouth Town Football Club".

Graeme Souness "no problem baldy"

M= agsy "Can you also sign this one for my lad"<= o:p>

Graeme Souness " hey, no probs baldy"

M= agsy “can you sign this poster for my wife".=

Graeme Souness “Ok baldy"

Ryan Rule "Gray erm can u, = erm gray can u sign me ball".

Graeme "sorry pal, baldy has worn me out".=

Mitch "come on mags let= someone else in"

M= agsy (at 10'000 feet) "right, were's Shearer"

F= ozzy "Sun roofs open mags"

Mitch the Coach Driver=

North East tour diaries= .

Monday

The team mustered at CTCRM minus the northern lads an= d a few stragglers who went straight to RMR Tyne,there was a bit of confusion at the start, Pom had booked a minibus & a transit van, but the lads thought they were going by coach when they saw Mitch dressed in his Wallace Arnold coach drivers blazer, the journey up North was very g= rim, the M42 had 8 mile tail backs and Andy Macs jokes were wearing thinner than magsy's quilt, at least the chairman had paid for our evening meal at Wooda= ll Services (Macdonalds). We eventually got there in one piece and a few of the lads went down town for a night cap.

On their return from the town, the only incident of n= ote was Neil Middleditch dragging his boyfriend Neil Pritchard around the Gym f= loor by his feet and only stopping when Pritch's laughter turned to screams of p= ain.

Tuesday

0800hrs and the Drivers branch were knocking at Mick the RMR Chef's door waiting = to get tucked into the truckers breakfast before anyone else ( H, Jase Kilner, Fozzy, Pritch and Neil Midds ex D3).

Still toppers with scran the lads were soon on t= he training ground and working on set plays with Stevie Marr, Fozzy and 3 fing= ered Magsy in readiness for the evenings game against= Whitley Bay.

With the afternoon off, the lads were ready and chomp= ing at the bit for the game.

The tension an hour before kick off was immense, all the players and staff were very worried? Why you might think? its only a game?. Well it was nothing to do with = the game, we were all waiting to see if kit man Andy = Macfarlane had remembered to bring the kit!!(he blames a po= or handover from Mark Stevenson).

The game got under way and for the first 40 minutes i= t was very even with both teams having half chances, Rog Bannister was playing in= his slippers and every time he went to run after his man somebody put a tread m= ill under him, then with 5 minutes left the team performed a scene from the chu= ckle brothers (Ash, Kev Readings and guest starring, Richie Asson) an inside pas= s to keeper Kev from Richie was blasted straight at Ash two yards away and it cannoned back into an empty net, half time 0-1.(Well it was pantomime seaso= n).

The second half saw a lot of changes for both teams a= nd a couple of quick goals from a youthful Whitley Bay team saw them take a 3-0 = lead which could have been more if not for debutant second half substitute = goal keeper Jay Satchell 42 Cdo who made several superb saves to keep score line at 3-0. There was also confusion when Stevie Marr told Magsy to = tell the team to go to a back 4, Magsy held up his 3 fingers and said "Terry switch to a back four".

After the game Neil Midds,Harry Richardson &= Mitch polished off the jaffa cakes & Tel Price stowed a couple of bags of wine gums away for laters.

After the game the team went for a couple of soft dri= nks under the guidance of local lads Whiskey Groundsell, Sean Naisbett, Karl Lockhart and Rog Bannister who was in town with the Corps Swimming team.

Wednesday<= o:p>

Lots of sore heads today, our soft drinks must have b= een spiked? Andy Macfarlane was investigating a crime that had happened&nb= sp;a couple of weeks earlier, ex players Trev Ford & Paul Curry had reported that all their civvies had been stolen from their lockers, 4 suspe= cts were seen wearing very dodgy Oxfam run ashore rigs usually seen on Trev & Cuzz, They were Si Bochenski, Harry Richardson, Buster Brown & Ry= an Rule, there was a 5th suspect in Rog Bannister, but the chad as your dad clobber he had on proved to be his own.

1000hrs 6 aside football in the Gym was next on the agenda, over 35s versus under 35s, one major incident of note was when Magsy was about to unleash a pile driver in= to the under 35s net but was deliberately clipped from behind by Harry Richardson and duly kicked fresh air & ended up on his arse pleading fo= r a foul, however both teams fell about with laughter and this only fuelled Mag= sy's anger and for the next 10 minutes he tried to kick everybody up in the air.= The over 35s of Tel Price, Fozzy, Mitch, Stevie Marr, Andy Mac and Rog Bannister went on to win about 7-6.

1400hrs An afternoon down the local sports cen= tre jacked up by physio Whiskey G lasted about 30 minutes before the lads ended= up in the sports bar, new boy Jay Satchell soon got introduced to the buf= falo club and also got stitched up with the cork & fork and golf ball, needl= ess to say he was carried out the sports centre in a bucket.<= /p>

1800hrs And it= was in the bar at RMR Tyne for a few soft drinks before going to the loc= al Italian restaurant for a team meal, there was more evidence of Trev and Cuz= z's clobber on show, either that or millets had a closing down sale. Everybody had pizza apart from Stevie Marr who had steak because he does'nt like pizza? That’s odd because Mitch caught him shoveling down 12 inch Garlic breads like Johnny Byrne in a cake shop.=

= = = After a bit of pizza throwing and a 3 fingered toast = to Magsy & Corps Football, the team descended upon the Newcastle night life under the gui= dance of the Geordies in the squad.

Thursday

0800hrs C= hairman Mick Geldard & General Manager Ian Pomeroy rocked up on a flight f= rom Exeter today and were soon tucking into breakfast with the rest of the squa= d, Pom had fetched some RMFA Polo shirts to sell to the lads and they were going like Hot Cakes, Neil Middleditch and Kev readings were first in = the queue because they thought he was actually selling Hot Cakes.

1000hrs It was 7 aside football in the Gym again with Mick Geldard & Pom coming into the over 35s team at the expense of the dropped Andy Mac & Banny. Graeme Carr had joined up with the team after representing the Combi= ned services against Hayes, He couldn’t change the outcome of the 7 aside match as the over 35s proved too strong yet again.

1300hrs T= our of St James Park was next on the agenda, we were sh= own around by Chairman Freddy Shepherds flunky, Bob (who was Top draw by the wa= y). Our Chairman Mick Geldard decided to treat the lads to a little Cameo = role on the club piano and was very impressive ( he actually looks like Sir Elton john as well). The Stadium was superb and Bob introduced us to Titus Bramble, & Graeme Souness who invited us to watch the first team train the next day,( after thinki= ng about his offer for about a nano second we decided to accept this generosit= y).

1530hrs Tel Price "what= time is the RMFA President rocking up Mitch". Mitch “about 1700hrs Tel, its all sorted don’t panic".

1600hrs President Brig G S Robison ADC (at = Newcastle Airport) ”Taxi" "Taxi".

1730hrs T= he squad set off to Benfield for the fixture against Newcastle Benfield Saints, on arrival Pom was seen stowing two boxes of jaffa cakes into his bag by Robbie Buglass who was gutted because he had his eyes on them.

With the President and Chairman at the game the press= ure was well and truly on the management team and players to pull a good result= out of the bag and end the tour on a high.

The team started brightly and the midfield of Bochens= ki, Carr, Naisbett and Asson soon took an hold of the game and things were look= ing very promising, the defence of Brown, Ashton, Price and Richardson were loo= king very solid and strikers Kilner and lockhart were full of running, so it was= no surprise when we took the lead, however it was a stroke of luck or a piece = of genius by Richie Asson that broke the deadlock, His 40yd Cross come Shot fr= om the right touchline sailed over the stranded goal keeper and into the net. = An OG 10 minutes later meant we went into half time 2-0 up.<= /p>

The lads went into the dressing room at half tim= e only to find Neil Pritchard eating the melons through a tennis racket and all th= e Jaffa cakes were = missing.

The second half saw the introduction of Lee Weatheral= l, Ian Pomeroy, Jay Satchell, Jase Margrett, Rog Bannister, Alex Allen and Ro= bbie Buglass, they game stuttered along as a result of all the changes but Si Bochenski eventually scored from the penalty spot to make it 3-0, Benfield scored a late consolation goal to make the final score 3-1.

Friday

The team set off for the 10 minute trip to Newcastle’s training ground in a 10 vehicle convoy lead by local Quarter Wit Rog Bannis= ter. 45 minutes later, and after a tour of Newcastle we eventually got to the ground.

We were met by Bob again and he took us to the traini= ng pitches, they were like carpets and Stevie Marr asked Bob what grass seed t= hey used and what mix they used for the white pitch markings? Bob looked confus= ed and swiftly moved on. We stood with Graeme Souness and Dean Saunders and watched the likes of Kluivert, Bellamy, Robert, Ameobi and Ambrose play a g= ame of 6 aside football, the quality of their first = was just superb and a joy to watch, the game however was briefly interrupted wh= en Magsy ran on the pitch for some autographs.

Magsy also interrupted Alan Shearer's fitness test wh= en he ran straight up to him and asked him to sign 2 footballs, which have now probably sold for a few bob on eBay.

RMFA t= eam before their 3-1 victory against Newcastle Benfield Saints. 2nd Dec 0= 4

Back row Left to Right. Steve Marr(Coach), Jase = Kilner, Karl Lockhart, Kev Readings, Ash Ashton, Harry ~~Harrison~~ Richard= son, Sean Naisbett, Shaun Foster (Manager)

Front row Left to Right<= span style=3D'color:black'> Si Bochenski, Craig Brown (Capt), Graeme Carr, Richie Asson, Tel Price

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