DUBAI MAGS
Julie Roseblade, DUBAI MAGS
A special welcome to our overseas fans
I have supported Newcastle United for more than 50 years and had a season ticket from the age of 11 when my dad bought half-season tickets in the Kevin Keegan player era in the 1980s.
An opportunity came my way to move to Dubai in 2009 and I still live there today, still supporting the team. When you move away from your home, aside from family and friends, the biggest miss for a fan is the football team you love, the passion, the connection and the sense of belonging.
As an ex-pat you seek a place to belong, to make friends, to hear a Geordie accent and to be able to watch the games and cheer on your heroes every game. Luckily, time zones make watching the games live in Dubai possible for most of the time.
I first connected with a group of fans in Dubai on Facebook, and it was the best thing I ever did. Despite some woeful football quality we stuck together and many friendships and connections flourished through the love of our team.
Fast forward to 2021 and the excitement of the takeover, more and more people wanted to be together in one place to watch the match. That’s when our glorious get-togethers really started. We added our own version of ‘Wor Flags’ for people to wave, added merchandise to the walls of the bar, created a Spotify account and played all the music you would hear at St James’ Park. The bar let us play the songs right up until kick-off, half-time and post-match.
By 2022 we had around 60 fans attending all games and we created special discounts for membership in partnership with the bar near the Mall of Emirates.
Today in 2026 we have more than 200 members and attendance at weekend games is between 130 and 200. We now have parties such as end of year/Christmas yacht event, competitions, raffles and Legends Q and A, all self-funded.
Special thanks to John Beresford, Peter Beardsley, Steve Harper, Robbie Elliott, Lee Clark and Danny Guthrie, who have joined us for events over the last few seasons.
Global Fans
One of the first fan engagement events in the new era was a match in Riyadh, home of our ownership.
I had recently started to interact with other global support groups in the region as one of our group, Roy Kaviani, had left for Qatar and created a group there. I messaged the club about the upcoming event in Saudi. This resulted in a number of Dubai Mags heading to watch the game and attend the fan event where we were informed that Eddie Howe would be there along with a couple of the first team squad. Darren Eales was also expected to be there. On the day of the event, to our surprise, Amanda Staveley and Jamie Reuben walked in as well as three players, Jacob Murphy, Jamal Lascelles and Sean Longstaff. Meeting Amanda was a highlight for me as a lifelong fan. They all had an incredible amount of time for everyone.
We met the Saudi supporters group who were most hospitable. We exchanged contact details and the global WhatsApp group was formed.
Over the coming months and years, we found other groups on social media, those we met in person on pre-season tours and other networking through friends and colleagues. We introduced those connections to the NUFC support liaison group which was run by Sarah Medcalfe. Now there is a full Supporter Liaison team.
The NUFC Global WhatsApp group now has more than 50 countries represented from Australia to the USA and the official supporters group was launched last season and continues to grow.
One of the main asks for overseas supporters is merchandise.
Merchandise
Whether it is the latest shirt, a personal gift, items to display on your meet-up bar or prizes for competitions, we do not have a club shop to go to for special items. We can buy shirts in Adidas shops of course, but it is those signed items or bespoke gifts that we need access to.
Here is where my connection with Angie comes in ….
We have known each another for more than 40 years, originally neighbours. Around 4 years ago we bumped into each other at SJP by chance and have stayed in touch ever since.
Angie gave me the best footie gift ever – the chance to go to The Wembley Cup Final in 2025 and see us win the Cup. (see the pic if you want to see how much the win meant to me!) Angie took the pic at the final whistle.
Angie’s site is dedicated to all things Newcastle United and has a great range of official club merchandise, special gifts and signed shirts. I have bought several items already, including signed Dan Burn and Lewis Miley shirts for Dubai Mags.
The website is authentic, fairly priced and has unique features, including a special service if you wish to collect your goods. Angie attends all home games and can meet up to hand over purchases if you prefer to collect them. This can be selected at check-out on the site.
I have no hesitation in recommending Angie and her ‘Footie Passion’ website to our fans, wherever they are in the world.
