Sports

Newcastle United’s incredible gesture is praised by rival’s manager

Published

2 months ago

October 1, 2024

Kelvin

Newcastle United has been applauded for their fast action.

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AFC Wimbledon manager Johnnie Jackson personally praised Newcastle United for their nice sentiments and prompt action after the League Two side’s pitch was flooded last week.

The ground at the Cherry Red Records Stadium was seriously damaged and judged unsuitable before the Carabao Cup third round meeting between the two teams on Tuesday. Sinkholes appeared near the corner flag. Due to tight timetables and cup rules, questions quickly arose about whether the game could take place.

Newcastle, on the other hand, moved quickly to alter the game’s location to St James’ Park, while also donating £15,000 to a JustGiving website to help Wimbledon rebuild their surface.

“We want to say thank you to Newcastle as a club,” Jackson said on Monday. “They were really helpful in switching the game so quickly – they didn’t have to do that.

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“They’ve also donated to the fundraising, which is also a fantastic gesture. That probably encouraged others to get behind it too.

“They’re a great side. They were really impressive on Saturday against the champions Manchester City. It’ll be a stern test after they claimed a point. They are coached fantastically by Eddie Howe and his staff and are right up there at the pinnacle of English football as a club. It’ll be a brilliant test for us as players and staff.”

Wimbledon defeated Premier League Ipswich Town in the second round, securing another tie with a top division team. However, if the club had not been able to meet its fixture criteria, they could have been compelled to award Newcastle a bye to the following round, missing out on critical money from the third round match.

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Jackson added: “This is why we do it – this is the reward for beating Ipswich. We took that game really seriously and we went into it believing that we could win, and we pulled it off. It was meant to be a home game, and it becomes more difficult now going to Newcastle, but the lads get to experience it.

“It will be unbelievably hard, but we have to believe we can get a positive result at St James’ Park and go there with a game plan that’s going to give us a chance of doing that. We expect them to be full throttle in whatever they do and we’re preparing to face the best possible Newcastle. If we do that – it gives us the best possible chance too.”

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