On Tuesday 21 February, a Newcastle United fan made his first ever contribution to The Mag. He was known as ‘Ron from Hull’ to the readers, but in reality, he was ‘Ron from Newcastle Upon Tyne’ who had settled in Hull later in life.
In the 35 years that The Mag has been published, few articles have impacted me as much as this one. If you haven’t read it or can’t quite remember, it was titled ‘I am in the last year of my life and this is the final chance for me to see us win something domestic’ (I’ve included the article below).
The article was written just days before the League Cup final at Wembley, and Ron expressed his hopes and dreams that Newcastle United could win this time. Sadly, the heartbreaking punchline was that due to serious health issues, Ron knew it was highly unlikely he would still be around in a year’s time.
This pre-cup final article received an incredible reaction from readers. I wasn’t surprised, but Ron certainly was.
Some people have a talent for expressing themselves, and what made this article truly special was that Ron wrote about something so important to him, including such personal and serious matters, without seeking pity or sympathy in any way.
I began exchanging emails with Ron, and we shared many stories and personal experiences. Ron even suggested that under different circumstances, we could have become.
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