Newcastle United have a very dubious distinction now, as of Friday. They became the first opponent to lose in the A-League All Stars Game. They didn’t just lose, they lost horribly bad; laughably terrible actually, by a score of 8-0. Sure Eddie Howe fielded a team of all youngsters, and no, they didn’t exactly go all out for this exhibition match, but 8-0 is beyond embarrassing.
The previous three A-League All-Star Games all featured European opponents coming to Australia.
Newcastle really flew 10,000 miles for this ?? pic.twitter.com/V7CSVfwVv1
— Footy Humour (@FootyHumour) May 25, 2024
Manchester United triumphed 5-1 in 2013, Juventus 3-2 the next year and Barcelona by the same score two years ago.
First-team regulars Kieran Trippier, Lewis Hall and Elliot Anderson were named to the bench, but Howe did not bring any of them on to try and stop the blowout. Newcastle basically traveled 10,475 miles to play their teenagers, and let them get utterly slaughtered in front of 53,000 people.
NUFC is being widely mocked on X (formerly Twitter) and rightfully so.
Numerous fans took to social media to demand a refund.
“This is a disgrace,” one wrote. “Why have the second game if they are not going to have a senior player on the pitch.”
Newcastle 0-8 A-League All Stars. ?
Tell us you just want to go on vacation without telling us you just want to go on vacation. ??pic.twitter.com/NZRkBRZENt
— Men in Blazers (@MenInBlazers) May 24, 2024
Another fan posted:
“Pretty embarrassing and possibly disrespectful to field a team as we have. Granted we have a lot of players needing rest. Our youth contingent are way off and sad for our Aussie fans having to witness that.”
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to Ravens Wire, part of the USA Today SMG’s NFL Wire Network and the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune and the Washington Times. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter.