Letters to my sons.

Dear boys,

Today, William, you rode your bike without stabilisers for the first time. I took them off yesterday and you had a few rides up and down the garden with me holding the back of your bike. Yesterday after a few rides up and down the garden you started crying because you couldn’t ride your bike without my help. I understood your frustration at not being able to do something that looks so simple. I asked you if you were able to do sums a few weeks ago and you said “no”. I then explained that you had been taught how to do sums at school and now were very good at it. I also told you that I was not able to ride a bike without stabilisers the first time I tried either and that it took me a few weeks before I was able to do it. At this point you stopped crying, got back on the bike and tried again.

Today I was certain that I could let you go and you would continue without falling off – which you did. I’m not sure when we will get the chance to go to the park so that you can have a proper go at riding on two wheels as tomorrow we are at football all day then on Saturday there is a kids party and then you are going for a sleepover. Maybe we will go on Sunday.

Dear Boys,

So after one single season in the 2nd tier of English football, Newcastle return to the top. William and I went to the game at Peterborough last Saturday and it was a cracking game. Newcastle going behind early on, playing badly for all of the first half before scoring in added on time. The second half was completely different – the Toon scored 2 quick goals and took control of the game before Peterborough came back and got a goal back. Newcastle almost went to sleep at this point and if Peterborough’s strikers had been a little more accurate then they would have taken all three points. But they weren’t – which is why Peterborough have been relegated.

The singing during the whole match was constant and unbelievably loud. Fantastic support from start to finish.

The problem now though is putting together a team that can stay in the Premiership. The team that has won the Championship is not good enough to stay up as the gulf between the first and second tier is huge and gets bigger every year. If Newcastle are not to become a yo-yo team then money needs to be spent.

Having said all that I am chuffed with the way the season has gone. While walking around Sainsbury’s today I just wanted to shout “We’re Newcastle and we’re gonna win the league!” over and over.