I was 11, and we (me, and my ma and pa) had tickets in the Newcastle end of the ground that day. When Doyley went up to lift the cup, two of them kindly hoisted me up on their shoulders so I could see everything, so my view of the Barcodes has never been one of hatred - although I can obviously see why yours would be! The media hype about what great and loyal fans they are (despite just 9000 of them turning up against Swindon that time) is a perpetual irritant, and like many others I prefer West Ham and Sunderland as a result, but overall I've always found Newcastle fans to be amenable working class lads, and largely devoid of the bitterness of say Spurs and Everton. Certainly there's far worse out there