THE UEFA Cup is about as far removed from the Albany Northern League as it is possible to be but, for one man, last night's game in the Abe Lenstra Stadion completed a unique double.

Hungarian referee Dr Peter Hegyi ran the line as Newcastle took on Heerenveen - just five days after taking charge of the Northern League match between Dunston Fed and Billingham Town.

Budapest-born Hegyi is a research associate in the medical department of Newcastle University and, during term time, he lives in Whitley Bay.

The 33-year-old has been a FIFA linesman since 2002 and, when he is in England, he keeps his eye in by making his services available to both the Northumberland and Durham FAs.

Last weekend saw him taking the field in Dunston but, after travelling back to Hungary for a couple of days, he flew into Holland to assist referee Zsolt Sazbo in last night's rather more high-profile fixture.

Hegyi's North-East links were not enough to constitute a conflict of interests, although any Newcastle players hoping to avoid a booking for dissent by swearing in a Geordie tongue would have been given short shrift.

While Newcastle and Heerenveen are both to be found in the North-East of their respective countries, the Romans viewed the two areas rather differently as they plotted their campaign of European expansion.

The North-East of England was a prized asset - as underlined by the construction of Hadrian's Wall - but the same area of Holland was seen in a far less flattering light.

Successive Roman rulers viewed the marshy coastal strip of Friesland as totally unworthy of colonisation and, in 50AD, local leader Pliny observed: "Here a wretched race is found. When the waves come in they are like so many mariners and when the tide goes out they are like shipwrecked men."

Friesland's main claim to fame is that it has one of the most recognisable flags in the world, and Heerenveen have modelled their strips on the design.

At first glance, the blue and white vertical stripes appear to be accompanied by a series of red love hearts.

But, instead, the diagonal pattern is made up of "pompebleden", a type of water lily that is indigenous to the region.