I went to an England Euro 2024 fanzone in Newcastle and saw the best England comeback of my lifetime

As soon as England qualified for Euro 2024 it was fair to say Newcastle began preparing for a big summer.

Fanzones were quickly put in place while orders of flags saw pubs and bars across the city draped in St George’s Cross flags, which makes it a shame when England’s group stage campaign was lacklustre at best.

But, after clinching the top spot in their group, Gareth Southgate’s squad faced Slovakia for a 5km kick off round of 16 fixture on Sunday, June 30 and I headed to NX for their fanzone to watch the game.

The Westgate Road site is usually a music venue and is most likely known as the former home of Newcastle’s O2 Academy and is one of two major city centre fanzones, the other taking place at Times Square.

It was my first time in the building since its renovation and reopening in 2022 and I was initially impressed with the site, which has seen the seated balcony removed in place of a series of standing options to give fans a better view of the stage, although it was floor only for the fanzone. These balconies were draped in flags for tournament fixtures.

The fanzone leaned into the site’s main use as a music venue and hosted local indie act The Avelons to kick off proceedings with a set which included renditions of England anthems such as Fat Les’ Vindaloo before the next point which sets the fanzone apart.

Newcastle United fan favourite Micky Quinn was then introduced before kick off to talk all things England and Euro 2024. The former striker who played at St James Park in the late 1980s and early 1990s gave his thoughts on England’s current setup and performances throughout the group stage, which seemed to be mirrored by the crowd.

Soon enough, it was time for kick off and, as much as I’m sure everyone in the room wanted a positive experience from the 90 minutes of football, there is only so much you can take from that performance.

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A first half of frustration was helped by the bars which offered the full range of drinks you would expect from the venue on a normal night and a friendly atmosphere remained despite the dire performance from the players in Gelsenkirchen.

Eventually England’s quality shone through and the venue was treated to the modern tradition of pint throwing following Jude Bellingham’s stunning overhead kick - and the quick ber service meant fans were able to get their new drinks ahead of Harry Kane’s winner a matter of minutes later.

The win means the fanzone is set to return this weekend for England’s quarter final against Switzerland on Saturday, July 6. Kick off is at 5pm UK time and tickets are now available through the NX website.

The venue also has plenty of gigs coming up, including Bob Vylan and Confidence Man which we can’t wait for!