Newcastle United have launched a new art display for the bank holiday weekend
Newcastle United Carabao Cup 'Road to Wembley' at the Baltic in Gateshead ---- Local artist Jimmy Turrell.
Newcastle United Carabao Cup 'Road to Wembley' at the Baltic in Gateshead ---- Local artist Jimmy Turrell.
If you ask a Newcastle United fan their favourite photograph from the club’s Carabao Cup parade - when hundreds of thousands lined the streets on a cold March afternoon, you’ll struggle to get the same answer.
From people sitting on top of lampposts or clambering up trees to get the best view of their heroes, to Eddie Howe punching the air - there was so many memorable images from just one afternoon.
Now imagine you’ve been asked by Newcastle United to not only pick out the best from that day but the cup final itself, and every game that led the club to the first domestic cup in 70 years.
That’s been the task of local artist Jimmy Turrell and Ewen Spencer who somehow managed to whittle down more than 5000 images from the Carabao Cup run to just 70 images for a display at the city’s Baltic Art Gallery.
‘It was super hard,’ Jimmy admits to me, ‘We’ve tried to capture real strong moments on the pitch but also in between moments that would maybe be lying on the cutting room floor.
‘Those amazing fan moments - the guy in a tree or the dog dressed up in a kit, there’s some real iconic moments that we’ll always remember.
‘We wanted to make it feel alive - it feels human, real, and Geordie to me.’
The suggestion is that 20,000 people will visit the display named ‘Road to Wembley,’ over the bank holiday weekend.
As they walk into the event space, they’ll be greeted by a corridor of newspaper headlines and quotes documenting the journey. Flags hang from the ceiling as walls showcase moments that made up the road to the final.
The photographs, many unseen, were taken by the club’s three photographers Serena Taylor, Harriet Massey and Michelle Mercer.
And then you arrive at the centre piece, the show stopper - a giant mural made up of the faces of players, the manager Eddie Howe and famous quotes.
There’s even reference to The Chronicle’s much missed Pink.
Dan Burn takes centre stage with Bruno and Joelinton for company - as well as a family friendly version on the captain’s Wembley team talk.
It’s vibrant, eye catching and breath taking.
Dan Ginger who is Newcastle’s Director of Brand, Marketing and Digital media, was excited to see the doors open to the public.
‘This is a rare opportunity for people to relive that experience and maybe see a lot of things they’ve not seen in a public space before due to the unique selection of behind the scenes photograph, some which has never been released.’
The display is free to attend but you need to book tickets. You can do so here. It runs from Friday 21st until Monday 24th