Heidi's blog Newcastle v Leeds United 7/1/26
Newcastle v Leeds United 7th January 2026 at St James’ Park
Having just got back home at 2.00am from the game, I just want to say how proud I am of the players. They gave their all and didn’t deserve to lose by putting their bodies on the line so many times. As a fan, that’s all I ask for from our players, to never give up and battle for everything but the 10+ additional minutes of injury time, proved to be one step too far for us. Also it was sad to hear that Kevin Keegan has been diagnosed with cancer.
After first dropping my camera on the stairs, then throwing my dog’s water over her when I thought the bowl was empty, I hoped I was using up any bad luck. The third thing was leaving my car keys in the house but the best of all, was leaving my phone in the car but luckily realised before leaving Elland Road. With the digital ticket on there, that would have been catastrophic. There had already been plenty of anxious moments with the late arrival of tickets the day before. When there were issues with downloads, what the club must realise is that many fans were setting off before the ticket office opened the next day which isn’t fair. Some left home at 3.00am in the morning and you need to know that everything is in place before you set off. Give me a paper ticket for away games any day. I couldn’t get my ticket to work at the turnstile and had to rely on someone behind me to sort me out thankfully. Also, how can clubs get away with making the turnstiles so tight too? Okay I’m not as slim as I used to be and had extra clothing on, but it was more like a kid’s entrance than an adult. I did take the stairs rather than use the lift, but I made it although out of breath at the top.
Team: Perri, Ampadu, Rodon, Gudmundsson, Gruev, Calvert-Lewin, Stach, Aaronson, Justin, Struijk and Bijol.
Subs: Okafor for Stach (80), Nmecha for Calvert-Lewin (87), Gnonto for Aaronson (96), Bornauw for Rodon (96), Tanaka for Gruev (96).
Subs not used: Darlow, Byram, Harrison, Piroe.
Leeds lost the game 4-3 cruelly as Newcastle got the winner in the 90+13 minutes of the game. with a brace from Aaronson (32, 79) and Calvert-Lewin (penalty 45+5) getting our goals.
Attendance: 52,176, with 2,918 Leeds fans.
Referee: Michael Salisbury.
Booked: Calvert-Lewin, Ampadu.
For the second game in a row, we turned round at the start so that Leeds would be attacking our end first. It set off at a blistering pace with lots of attacking play for us which was good to see. With Newcastle limited to chances, suddenly, I realised that they had the ball in our net as Perri looked to drop it. Just as I was going to berate him, it was disallowed for a foul. As it was Newcastle got more into the game as end-to-end football took place. Our sheer persistence finally told as Calvert-Lewin put Aaronson through who stuck the ball into the net to give us the lead. Once again though, we held on to the lead for only four minutes as Newcastle equalised. Just as we thought we were heading into half time on equal terms, Leeds were awarded a penalty for handball and Calvert-Lewin stepped up to put us into the lead. I joked with the lady next to me that at least we’d keep the lead for 15 minutes!
Although Aaronson brought a save out of their keeper, Newcastle did indeed equalise for the second time with a header 10 minutes into the half. Our players were literally throwing their bodies into everything although with one specific attack where Perri made a double save, there were two handballs in the area from Newcastle which went unpunished. We did keep the ball out of the net though regardless. Justin was unlucky not to get a third goal for us when his shot cannoned back off the crossbar. Good work from Gruev saw him release the ball to Aaronson who got into the area and get his second goal of the game off the inside of the post. Prior to that, Aaronson had been on the left-hand side of the pitch and ended up running the ball out of play. At that moment I thought he looked tired and should come off, thankfully he was still on the pitch to score! Newcastle were given a lifeline when they were awarded a penalty for handball when Aaronson turned villain so equalised for the third time. To be honest it was close as to whether he was in the area or not but as he jumped and turned the ball hit him, but it was given after a VAR check. Also, a penalty should be hit first time and not stop and start as they did. When their player was injured and stretchered off the pitch, it looked like his left knee was twice the size of the other. With that, 10 minutes of injury time was added on, and I’d have taken a draw then only to see them get a cruel winner in the three minutes of extra injury time that was added on.
A very disappointing end to a great Leeds performance and probably for the neutral, a great game of football. Blood, thunder and commitment, and I’d say against a team who has impressed me the most this season, our lads were out on their knees at the end having given their all.
Thank you to all those of you who came to chat today, whether it was about my recent appearance on Sky Sports Fan hub for Fanalysis, the Billy Bremner raffle and badges or you had your photos taken, once again, thank you for the support. See you at Derby, LUFC – Marching on Together!
https://www.followmeandleedsunited.co.uk/
Sponsored by Clearwell Pest Control
https://www.clearwellpestcontrol.com/
Having just got back home at 2.00am from the game, I just want to say how proud I am of the players. They gave their all and didn’t deserve to lose by putting their bodies on the line so many times. As a fan, that’s all I ask for from our players, to never give up and battle for everything but the 10+ additional minutes of injury time, proved to be one step too far for us. Also it was sad to hear that Kevin Keegan has been diagnosed with cancer.
After first dropping my camera on the stairs, then throwing my dog’s water over her when I thought the bowl was empty, I hoped I was using up any bad luck. The third thing was leaving my car keys in the house but the best of all, was leaving my phone in the car but luckily realised before leaving Elland Road. With the digital ticket on there, that would have been catastrophic. There had already been plenty of anxious moments with the late arrival of tickets the day before. When there were issues with downloads, what the club must realise is that many fans were setting off before the ticket office opened the next day which isn’t fair. Some left home at 3.00am in the morning and you need to know that everything is in place before you set off. Give me a paper ticket for away games any day. I couldn’t get my ticket to work at the turnstile and had to rely on someone behind me to sort me out thankfully. Also, how can clubs get away with making the turnstiles so tight too? Okay I’m not as slim as I used to be and had extra clothing on, but it was more like a kid’s entrance than an adult. I did take the stairs rather than use the lift, but I made it although out of breath at the top.
Team: Perri, Ampadu, Rodon, Gudmundsson, Gruev, Calvert-Lewin, Stach, Aaronson, Justin, Struijk and Bijol.
Subs: Okafor for Stach (80), Nmecha for Calvert-Lewin (87), Gnonto for Aaronson (96), Bornauw for Rodon (96), Tanaka for Gruev (96).
Subs not used: Darlow, Byram, Harrison, Piroe.
Leeds lost the game 4-3 cruelly as Newcastle got the winner in the 90+13 minutes of the game. with a brace from Aaronson (32, 79) and Calvert-Lewin (penalty 45+5) getting our goals.
Attendance: 52,176, with 2,918 Leeds fans.
Referee: Michael Salisbury.
Booked: Calvert-Lewin, Ampadu.
For the second game in a row, we turned round at the start so that Leeds would be attacking our end first. It set off at a blistering pace with lots of attacking play for us which was good to see. With Newcastle limited to chances, suddenly, I realised that they had the ball in our net as Perri looked to drop it. Just as I was going to berate him, it was disallowed for a foul. As it was Newcastle got more into the game as end-to-end football took place. Our sheer persistence finally told as Calvert-Lewin put Aaronson through who stuck the ball into the net to give us the lead. Once again though, we held on to the lead for only four minutes as Newcastle equalised. Just as we thought we were heading into half time on equal terms, Leeds were awarded a penalty for handball and Calvert-Lewin stepped up to put us into the lead. I joked with the lady next to me that at least we’d keep the lead for 15 minutes!
Although Aaronson brought a save out of their keeper, Newcastle did indeed equalise for the second time with a header 10 minutes into the half. Our players were literally throwing their bodies into everything although with one specific attack where Perri made a double save, there were two handballs in the area from Newcastle which went unpunished. We did keep the ball out of the net though regardless. Justin was unlucky not to get a third goal for us when his shot cannoned back off the crossbar. Good work from Gruev saw him release the ball to Aaronson who got into the area and get his second goal of the game off the inside of the post. Prior to that, Aaronson had been on the left-hand side of the pitch and ended up running the ball out of play. At that moment I thought he looked tired and should come off, thankfully he was still on the pitch to score! Newcastle were given a lifeline when they were awarded a penalty for handball when Aaronson turned villain so equalised for the third time. To be honest it was close as to whether he was in the area or not but as he jumped and turned the ball hit him, but it was given after a VAR check. Also, a penalty should be hit first time and not stop and start as they did. When their player was injured and stretchered off the pitch, it looked like his left knee was twice the size of the other. With that, 10 minutes of injury time was added on, and I’d have taken a draw then only to see them get a cruel winner in the three minutes of extra injury time that was added on.
A very disappointing end to a great Leeds performance and probably for the neutral, a great game of football. Blood, thunder and commitment, and I’d say against a team who has impressed me the most this season, our lads were out on their knees at the end having given their all.
Thank you to all those of you who came to chat today, whether it was about my recent appearance on Sky Sports Fan hub for Fanalysis, the Billy Bremner raffle and badges or you had your photos taken, once again, thank you for the support. See you at Derby, LUFC – Marching on Together!
https://www.followmeandleedsunited.co.uk/
Sponsored by Clearwell Pest Control
https://www.clearwellpestcontrol.com/