Highs and lows of the North-East season

Another season charting the weird and wonderful world of North-East football has come and gone. Here, by way of conclusion, are a few personal highs and lows.

BEST MOMENT

There have been a few, from Sunderland's sensational win at Stamford Bridge to Newcastle's memorable derby success at St James'. Emotionally, Tony Mowbray's debut as Middlesbrough manager was also pretty special.

But you can't beat the sight of a North-East team actually winning something, and for rarity value alone, Chris Senior's stoppage-time winner for Darlington at Wembley has to be top of the pile.

WORST MOMENT

It's the Saturday before Christmas, and it's snowing. By the time I get to within two or three miles of Birmingham, it's snowing pretty bloody hard.

I'm just about to turn off the M6 when the text comes through from Newcastle's press officer: “GAME OFF”. Brilliant. And the experience is only enhanced by the two hours I spend sitting on the M6 while the police try to clear a slip road so I can turn around and drive home.

BEST GAME

One of the perils of working with four or five other writers on The Northern Echo is that we can't all be in the same place at once. And quite often this season, I've been in entirely the wrong place at entirely the wrong time.

Take Newcastle's unmissable 4-4 draw with Arsenal for example. That's right, I missed it. Having covered Stoke vs Sunderland instead, I was pulling into a petrol station on the M62 when Cheik Tiote's incredible equaliser went in. What did I do to celebrate? Treated myself to a kingsize Snickers and a bottle of Ribena.

WORST GAME

This being the North-East, there's always plenty of possibilities for this category. I thought October's 0-0 draw between Sunderland and Blackburn would take some topping before I went back to Ewood Park in February and saw an even worse goalless encounter involving Newcastle.

But the first half of Middlesbrough's season saw some real shockers, and for downright misery, the worst game 'honour' goes to November's 1-0 home defeat to Millwall that saw Boro drop back into the bottom three. Dreadful football in a half-empty stadium, and if memory serves me right, it was freezing cold as well.

BEST INTERVIEW

Here at the Echo, we're fortunate to be working in a region where the majority of players are approachable, helpful and entertaining. As you'll know from a previous column, that hasn't always been the case.

Special mentions go to Kevin Nolan and Steve Harper at Newcastle, Lee Cattermole and Phil Bardsley at Sunderland, and Matthew Bates and Julio Arca at Middlesbrough. All genuinely good guys.

But my favourite interview of the season was a blast from the past – a two-hour chat with Steve McClaren reminiscing about each and every game of Boro's UEFA Cup run. The memories immediately came flooding back.

WORST INTERVIEW

Basically, any of them that involved Gordon Strachan. Some journalists didn't mind the former Boro boss' prickly, combative manner, but I just found him unnecessarily unhelpful and rude.

I've worked with plenty of people who don't really like the press before, but they've generally regarded their media duties as a necessary evil and got on with them in a courteous and even-handed manner.

Strachan didn't, regularly singling out individuals he clearly didn't respect and scoring cheap points with contemptuous answers. If you don't like the media world, fine. But don't act like that one minute and then sign a whopping great contract with ITV the next.

BEST AWAY EXPERIENCE

As a press man, this falls into two categories. The first is clearly the most important, as it relates to the quality of the free pre-match food. The standard varies widely. Watford? Half a sandwich and a cup of lukewarm tea. Arsenal? Full three-course dinner and a fridge with free Ben and Jerry's ice cream. No wonder the London journalists are so loath to criticise Arsene Wenger.

My personal favourite is Chelsea, with it's cold meat platter and cheese board complete with grapes. Who said the patronage of a Russian oligarch is ruining the game?

Once the food is scoffed though, it's time for some work to begin, and from a journalistic point of view, away grounds get top marks for free wireless internet, a clear view of a TV replay screen and a decent area where you can interview players after the game.

Every now and then, though, it's nice to slum it, and my favourite matchday experience of the season was sitting amongst the fans at Accrington Stanley, with laptop perched on knee, desperately trying to file a live report from August's Carling Cup game with Newcastle. Somehow, 900 words made it into the paper the next day.

BEST CHANT

Most are a bit too saucy to be printed in a family newspaper – think the Gallowgate End's paean to Fabricio Coloccini – but North-East football certainly hasn't lost its ability to belt out a tune.

Sunderland supporters deliver a belting rendition of “I Can't Help Falling In Love With You”, while Boro's Red Faction have brought an Italian-style Ultra atmosphere to the Riverside.

My personal favourite, though, was the sight of Ashley Cole listening to 50,000 Geordies singing “Cheryl's Too Good For You” last November. He tried to ignore it, but you could tell he knew exactly what was being said.

HOPES FOR THE FUTURE

And so, with the current campaign just about finished, thoughts turn to 2011-12. Apart from Sunderland announcing a pre-season tour to the Maldives, Newcastle banning all traffic from the Tyne Tunnel so I can actually get to their occasional 8.30am press conferences and Middlesbrough putting heaters in the back of the press box at the Riverside, what would I like to see?

Well, an FA Cup run would be a start, with this season's performances in the third round representing a real low. A bit more openness at the top of all three clubs would be beneficial to all concerned, and it would be nice to think a few more superstars could emerge to raise the region's national profile.

Ultimately, though, it would just be nice to be writing this next year with all three of the North-East's big boys in the Premier League. Here's hoping.