Shields Gazette journalist Dominic Scurr has provided a sneak peek at a Champions League-ready St. James' Park ahead of Eddie Howe and Jamaal Lascelles' pre-match press conference on Tuesday afternoon.
All non-Uefa-approved advertising has been removed from the stadium, including the massive Castore logos at the front of the Gallowgate End roof.
There's Champions League branding on the dugouts, which were installed during the recent international break, especially for the Magpies' return to Europe's premier club competition, and all around the stadium on the hoardings usually reserved for Castore, Sela, BetMGM, Saudia, and others.
Champions League-affiliated brands like Turkish Airlines and Mastercard can be seen, and we're sure others like PlayStation, FedEx, Heineken, Just Eat, Lays, Oppo, and Pepsi will be making appearances during the game too.
Some of the elements of the massive Wor Flags display—which has taken the group's volunteers over 400 collective hours to put together—have also been "spoiled".
A huge "HELLO" can be seen on the seating of the Leazes End, we assume in relation to our "Hello, hello we are the Geordie boys" chant. The patterned display appears to end in a swirled pattern at the Gallowgate.
There's no sign of the rumoured huge new "surfer flag", though, but we cannot wait to see what a full St. James' looks like with the Champions League anthem blaring.
UPDATE: Wor Flags themselves have already reacted to the leak on X:
It's going to be incredible, isn't it?
PL | GD | PTS | ||
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1 |
Liverpool
|
13 | 18 | 34 |
2 |
Arsenal
|
13 | 12 | 25 |
3 |
Chelsea
|
13 | 12 | 25 |
4 |
Brighton
|
13 | 5 | 23 |
5 |
Manchester City
|
13 | 3 | 23 |
6 |
Nottingham Forest
|
13 | 3 | 22 |
7 |
Tottenham Hotspur
|
13 | 14 | 20 |
8 |
Brentford
|
13 | 3 | 20 |
9 |
Manchester United
|
13 | 4 | 19 |
10 |
Fulham
|
13 | 0 | 19 |
11 |
Newcastle United
|
13 | 0 | 19 |
12 |
Aston Villa
|
13 | -3 | 19 |
13 |
Bournemouth
|
13 | 1 | 18 |
14 |
West Ham United
|
13 | -7 | 15 |
15 |
Everton
|
13 | -11 | 11 |
16 |
Leicester
|
13 | -11 | 10 |
17 |
Crystal Palace
|
13 | -7 | 9 |
18 |
Wolves
|
13 | -10 | 9 |
19 |
Ipswich
|
13 | -11 | 9 |
20 |
Southampton
|
13 | -15 | 5 |