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Andrew Musgrove

Wor Flags' rallying call to the Gallowgate as they look to do their biggest display yet

"We're relying on the entirety of the Gallowgate End to get involved," Thomas Concannon, a member of Wor Flags admits in the hours leading up to Newcastle United's game with Brentford.

The 7th of October is being celebrated by Newcastle fans as the day the Toon takeover finally went through but the second biggest cheer of among the crowds at St James' Park 12 months ago was the return of Wor Flags.

The group had refused to host any displays in protest of Mike Ashley's ownership of the club. Their last game was the 3-2 defeat to Liverpool in May 2019 - a few weeks later, then manager Rafa Benitez had left the club serving as the final straw for Wor Flags.

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They felt putting on pre-match displays would act as a smokescreen, hiding the troubles that lay across a fractured club. When Amanda Staveley, Jamie Reuben and The Public Investment Fund finally completed their purchase of the club, Wor Flags wasted little time in returning. As night fell in the moments after Ashley had handed over the keys, members of the group walked down St James' Boulevard, flags in hand.

The chants stopped and the cheers began, it felt like another important moment in this rebirth of Newcastle United. In the pictures from that night, the flags can be seen being proudly waved. It was emotional. After all, those in the group are just like any other fan - once frustrated, now hopeful.

It didn't take them long to announce they would return for the consortium's first game - the 3-2 defeat to Tottenham. Hours of preparation went into the display which lofted the words ''cause this is a mighty town, built upon solid ground and everything they tried to kill, we will rebuild' high into the Gallowgate.

It's a message that set most away in tears. Yes, that day it was a mixture of relief, and disbelief for some that Ashley had gone, as well as hope for the future, but make no mistake of the kind of influence Wor Flags have on this club.

The displays since their return have been spectacular - all sides of the ground are now involved. The message to players, to Eddie Howe or all-round displays such as the one against Arsenal last season all left their mark.

In fact that display against Arsenal - the blue star in the Leazes End, United spelt out in the East Stand and the giant surfer flag in the Gallowgate - set the bar, and yet somehow the group continue to get better and more creative.

That leads us to this Saturday's clash with Brentford. Wor Flags are going big - perhaps bigger than they've ever done before but to make it as perfect a display as possible, they need your help.

"We've incredibly excited and nervous," admits Thomas.

"The last 12 months, it feels incredible as a group. It feels like we've done a lifetime of displays in just the last year.

"We've progressed as a group and gone on to do things bigger and better than we did before we stopped the displays. For us, it's a challenge to keep thinking of new things and hopefully, we've done this with this display.

"It'll give a nod to everything we've been through as a football club, to that day in October 2021, to the celebrations and to what we've gone on to be in these past 12 months.

"This banner that will go up in the Gallowgate needs to remain static. If it doesn't it will ruin the display. We are relying on the entire Gallowgate End being involved in this display."

It's a rallying call from the group. The Gallowgate like Wor Flags is becoming, is a stand known to strike fear in the opponents just as much as it buoys those in black and white. The '12th man' is often a cliché used in football but Newcastle has just that - not just in Wor Flags but the fanbase as a whole.

The current ownership has tapped into that - knowing a united fanbase is worth so much to a successful football club. Saturday is a chance to celebrate all that - and if you're in the Gallowgate, you have the chance to play your part in showing that off to the world.

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