Source: Northern_Echo
This time, Shola’s one of The Lads
If Newcastle are presented with the Championship trophy a week on Saturday, it will bring back memories of 1993 for one Magpie. Chief Sports Writer Scott Wilson spoke to Shola Ameobi who remembers the scenes of celebration 17 years ago.[LNB] HE can still remember the noise as if it was yesterday.[LNB] May 9, 1993, and an 11-yearold Shola Ameobi is standing outside his Newcastle home as the football team he has grown to love plays its final match of the season.[LNB] Prior to kick off, he hears a bellowing roar as Brian Kilcline and Barry Venison are awarded the Division One trophy. For the hour-and-ahalf of the match, he makes out seven rousing cheers as Newcastle thrash Leicester City 7-1. And once the final whistle is blown, he listens to songs of celebration coursing through the city's streets as thousands of supporters celebrate long into the night.[LNB] There have not been many days like that in Newcastle United's history, indeed there has not been another one since.[LNB] But provided the Magpies claim at least a point at Plymouth on Monday, the final home game of the season against Ipswich on April 24 will be a fitting successor to the promotion party that rocked St James' 17 years ago.[LNB] And this time, rather than being on the outside looking in, Ameobi will be at the heart of the festivities. Others might have contributed more to the successes of the past nine months, but none will celebrate as loudly or raucously as the only member of the current squad to have been raised in the heart of Newcastle.[LNB] I'm a local lad, so I know what the city will be like if we get the trophy at home,[LNB] said Ameobi, who boasts nine Championship goals despite managing just ten league starts in another injury- ravaged campaign.[LNB] I remember all those years ago back in 1993, when I was about ten or 11. I can remember what Newcastle was like that day when the trophy was presented and we beat Leicester 7-1. It was incredible, and it would be nice to think that a week on Saturday could be anything like that.[LNB] I wasn't actually at the game, but I didn't live far from the stadium and I remember standing outside my house just to hear the noise.[LNB] It just seemed like it was cheering for hour after hour after hour. It was something I've remembered all my life, and it's amazing to think I might be part of something similar all these years down the line.[LNB] Newcastle will be presented with the Championship trophy a week on Saturday provided they claim a point from either the Plymouth game on Monday or the Ipswich match at St James'.[LNB] They will not even need that if second-placed West Brom fail to beat Middlesbrough at the Hawthorns on Saturday evening, but having lost just four matches all season, a trip to Home Park should not hold any fears, even if the Baggies succeed at the weekend.[LNB] It will be fantastic to have the trophy presented at St James', and that's our aim now, said Ameobi. It will be lovely for the home fans to be able to see us lift that trophy and celebrate with us.[LNB] Hopefully, we can go down to Plymouth and do what we've done all season grind things out and come away with a good result.[LNB] That is exactly what happened on Tuesday, as Newcastle travelled to Reading and dutifully followed the template that has served them so well away from home all season. See out the opening stages as their opponents throw everything they have at them, score somewhat against the run of play to establish a position of supremacy, then dig in and emerge victorious thanks to a combination of spirit and resilience.[LNB] It is a formula that has earned Newcastle seven onegoal away wins this season, a tally that goes a long way to explaining why they will finish the campaign as champions.[LNB] We've got good quality in this squad, but nobody has a God-given right to just walk through this league, said Ameobi. It doesn't work like that. We've had to earn that and work really hard. We did that again on Tuesday, and that's pleasing.[LNB] We've coped with whatever people have thrown at us all season, and our quality has shown through in the end. We have a lot of players who can score goals, and they've generally got the job done for us. Now, we just have one more point to go.[LNB] The target at the start of the season was to get this club back to where I feel it belongs. We didn't deserve to be there this season that's why we've been playing in the Championship with no cause for complaint about being in this division. But we've fully deserved to go back up as champions, and hopefully we'll wrap that up in the next week.[LNB]
