Newcastle, AC Milan At Work On Pittsburgh Friendly

Philadelphia didn't pan out for Newcastle United. Pittsburgh might.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is reporting that AC Milan, which has been searching for an opponent for a friendly in early August at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, is now targeting Newcastle for a match on Friday, Aug. 3. Originally Milan had broached plans for a Pittsburgh match the following day, but that's been changed to accommodate the Women's Football Alliance National Championship, which will be hosted at Heinz by the Pittsburgh Passion on Saturday, Aug. 4. "The match against Newcastle is not finalized, but moving the game back one day could help facilitate a deal," says the Post-Gazette report.

For English and international readers who may not be familiar, Heinz Field is home of the NFL's Pittsburgh Steelers and U.S. college football's Pitt Panthers. The stadium seats 65,000 and is positioned spectacularly at the confluence of the Allegheny and Ohio rivers near downtown Pittsburgh. One soccer blogger has made the case that Heinz could become American soccer's equivalent to Wembley, but Pittsburgh, a hotbed of American-style football, isn't widely known for its soccer following. The city is home to the Passion and the Pittsburgh Riverhounds of USL Pro, U.S. soccer's third division, with a new 3,500-seat stadium in the works to house both clubs. Chelsea and Roma played a friendly at Heinz in 2004 as part of the ChampionsWorld Series tour of top European clubs.

Newcastle had previously been in the mix for a friendly this summer against the MLS All Stars at the other end of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia. That was scuttled by uncertainty late in the Premier League season over Newcastle's potential European schedule, with Chelsea being tabbed instead for the All-Star game. Pittsburgh offers similar advantages for Newcastle, relative to last year's U.S. sojourn: a location nearer to other major population centers for easier domestic travel should additional matches materialize, and less risk of oppressive heat than cauldrons like Orlando and Kansas City (though nearly any U.S. city, including Pittsburgh, can roast in the sun on a given summer day).

Stay tuned for more (hopefully good) news about a return to America for Newcastle.

Comments

[JOJO BENNET_TROJAN7774B]

Bob, any chance you can send some of that oppressive heat over to the north east of England, we certainly need some.HWTL!!

[Rob]

BOO YA!!!!!!!!

[DCMag]

Ohmygod let this happen!!!!

[LC]

DEFFO... LET IT HAPPEN. 6 hours is nothing to travel to see the 'Toon!

[Brian Pcionek]

Technically, the stadium sits at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers at Point State Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Thus, forming the Ohio River.

[Bob M]

Here's the thing that I find suspect about this. The club confirmed that they are going to play a friendly at Gateshead at 7:30 on Aug 1. It seems a bit rough on the players to Play Wednesday night, fly to the states (probably the next day?), only have one day to adjust to the time change and then play one of the biggest Italian clubs (who would have been states side for at least a week).

Being a Newcastle fan who lives in the Pittsburgh area... PLEASE MAKE THIS HAPPEN ANYWAY!

[Belton]

It looks like it will be a Newcastle reserve side that they'll send for the Gateshead friendly so maybe that will make a first team trip to the US still possible?

http://tyneandwear.sky.com/newcastleunited/article/21515

[Drew]

Is there any word on if or when this may be finalized?

[Bob]

Not yet. It has to be soon. Last year the summer plans were finalized in late March, and that was still too late to figure out visas and travel requirements for all the players.

[Rick]

Nice! Too bad a Bundesliga team could not make it... Like Bayern!

[LC]

Looks like this may not happen now with the team committed to a tournament in portugal (This was off the club website) at the end of July. =(

[Bob]

Well, there's still a two-week gap in the preseason schedule, with this potential date right in the middle. Portugal is a relatively short hop from England and it seems like the club could still make a one-off American trip. My question is more about how they would generate interest in a city with no MLS club or fan base, and how much they could provide NUFC as a guarantee. Chelsea-Roma drew just 25,000 to Heinz in 2004. Those are probably the main obstacles keeping this from happening, not the schedule per se.