'I was in tears and people cried', Newcastle follower overcome with emotion at huge fan event

Newcastle United fan Rikki Bobal admits that seeing the Magpies playing live in Melbourne reduced him and others around him to tears.

The trip means everything to both ex-pats and Australian United fans but Rikki felt that despite the controversy surrounding the trip, it was amazing to be part of. Rikki, who works as a doctor Down Under, was at the fan event at Melbourne's Crown on Thursday night.

Newcastle fan Rikki told Chronicle Live: "I am from Melbourne and I'm a doctor that works in Australia. I am a big Newcastle who went to Necwastle University. I could not believe it when I heard Newcastle were coming to Australia. I was in tears.

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"The experience has been amazing and I've seen other people crying because they have been swept away with emotion. Just seeing my team who I love inside out has been unbelievable. I have been to many events in Australia involving Newcastle fan meets, like the Carabao Cup final so I knew the passion was huge."

The Melbourne resident also feels that Newcastle are in safe hands under Eddie Howe. Speaking about the head coach, he said: "I have friends who are fans of other clubs and they don't rate Eddie. But I know how hard he works.

"I know how much he looks at players and how hard they work. This was a unique season because of all the injuries. It was quite emotional being in the Champions League. We still did well despite finishing bottom because there were split hair decisions."

At the event Shola Ameobi took part in a Q and A and he had high praise for Howe too. Ameobi said "Eddie deserves so much credit for tunring it around. For me, the PSG game was the best I've seen. It was an amazing night."

"Being in Newcastle and seeing what happened at the stadium. It was a cloud lifted off the city. It was that strong. We have ownership that wants to move us forward and resources."

"Eddie Howe epitomises everything Sir Bobby Robson believed in. He gives everybody the time of day and knows what it means to do what we do. He gets it."

Another ex-pat, Peter, from Wallsend said: "It's a great event this. It gets everybody together and we can get to meet officials. There is a huge following here and we appreciate Newcastle coming over at this stage of the season."