‘Maybe I was destined’ - NUFC Blog’s Ed Harrison considers Newcastle United online u-turn

For a generation of fans - long before the colossal rise of online publications and social media - Dr Ed Harrison’s The Newcastle United Blog was the go-to site.

Now, I know I’m not alone when I say the blog was a daily staple during my teenage years - morning, day (on a school proxy... shhh!) and night as I eagerly loaded up my laptop to trawl through the latest Newcastle transfer and takeover gossip.

How do I know thousands of Newcastle fans did the same? Well, when Ed announced on Monday, October 2 he was closing the blog after 16 years due to his terminal cancer, the outpouring of emotion towards him on Facebook and X, in particular, was heartwarming and totally fitting.

Ed has seen the tributes and tells NewcastleWorld: “It has surprised me completely - I didn’t read the comments until 10 days after the final article went out. I read some of the comments and I read the many emails sent to me via the blog and they were very moving - and basically thanked me for the blog and the work I had put in.”

Words such as “legend” and “hero” have been used to describe Ed, although he’s too modest to accept. Instead, he is keen to talk about Bob Moncur - the last captain to lift a trophy for Newcastle - who has been in touch.

“Yes I know about that and it’s all complimentary - but I don’t think I am a hero or legend in any way - in fact far from it,” he says. “Bob Moncur is who I consider a hero and legend of Newcastle and I was honored to play with him.

“I played for the Newcastle Junior team back in 1960 as a goalkeeper and one of my friends at that time was Bobby Moncur. Bobby - that’s what we called him back then when he was a right half-back - sent me a heartfelt letter a few months back reminiscing about the old days.”

But what Ed can’t dispute is his own courage. For all but the first four years of launching the blog, he has battled prostate cancer. In 2016, he was diagnosed with stage four cancer and from April next year will go into palliative care once his final round of treatment has finished.

Given strength by all the comments he’s received, Ed, who lives in North Carolina, admits he is considering keeping the blog going for as long as his health allows.

“I read the comments before telling the blog hosting company to end the blog but I am now having second thoughts about it,” he says.

“I may even restart the blog because I believe I can write one article a day with the Newcastle news for that day. If it’s good for people around the world - I feel I must carry on and do what I can. Maybe this is a thing I was destined to do.

“I am tickled pink - as they say - with the messages and comments I have received from the readers and maybe I was destined to keep the blog going until the end.

“I even talked to my wife of 51 years Madeline - a Geordie from Longbenton - and she is all for it as long as I can do it with my limited energy.

“I am thinking long and hard about that but I have to convince myself that I can stay the course. My latest (and last cancer treatment) is going along with very few side effects, so I am buoyed by that.”

Ed is also buoyed by Newcastle’s change of ownership after what he described as a “depressing period for us all” under Mike Ashley.

His blog was launched just before Ashley took over from Freddy Shepherd. Ed, like every other Newcastle fan, hoped for change, so much that he might have annoyed his readers on one occasion he recalls.

“One memory I have is I used to write fake articles on April Fool’s Day and one I wrote caused real anger among the readers,” Ed explains. “I said something like Mohammed Al-Magpie is a billionaire in Saudi Arabia and he has bought the club.

“And then I listed everything he was to do - give £200m for transfers - expand St. James’ Park up to 65,000 and make Newcastle into a top team in Europe. It wasn’t until the end that I said something like - isn’t it April Fool’s Day today - if only if the above were true.

“But many readers didn’t read all of the article - they were so thrilled at the news and spread to word on the takeover. I thought Mohammed Al-Magpie might have been a clue - but I had some very angry comments and emails about that.

“I was forever hoping that Mike Ashley would change his running of the club and make Newcastle into a good team at the very least.”

Having attended his first game at St James’ Park in 1949 along with his mother and father, Ed has witnessed more than just Ashley. But he’s pleased he got to witness the takeover.

Ed says: “It’s just great for the young fans and I am so pleased the takeover happened in my lifetime - very pleased.

“Now we have fantastic owners, a great manager, and an improving squad with every transfer window: now is the time to be Newcastle fans.

“I really understand what the new owners are doing and with any new business, you have to have a vision - where do we want to be in say 5 years’ time? The owners have it right that they want Newcastle United to be the best-run club in the world with the best team in the world, be part of the Champions League every year - and win some trophies on a regular basis.

“You have to have huge aims if you are to be successful - it’s not for the faint-hearted.”