It was Newcastle’s first European Championship since 1977.
It was also their first since the ban on English clubs playing on the continent after the Heysel Stadium Disaster was lifted in 1990.
There is still a reasonable police presence in Bilbao on what is a national holiday.
Supporter Karl Mayley recalled how Newcastlele fans were accompanied by San Mames by “the entire Riot Police, some of whom were armed”.
However, just a few minutes into the game, he noted how “a lot of people were sitting with their helmets and pads off, and were happy with what we did”.
There was no edge, even after Newcastle lost 1-0, and athletic fans stormed the pitch and circled outside to walk the traveling support.
Newcastle supporters responded by chanting “Athletic! Athletic! Athletic!” – But that is not the end of the matter.
“The police got us back in a short time and took us up a long concrete staircase to the main street,” Pickey said. “All we can see underneath is this mass of red and white.
“They bring us in single file and we go. We think ‘Oh, here we are.’ But all Atretic fans want to do is grab your hand, stick you in the back and take you to a bar. It’s like they’re like ‘Adopt a Geordie’.
“I don’t think there was anyone in a Newcastle United United Sirh who wasn’t fed and watered that night. They were very happy that we were happy in their city.”
Chants broke out as Newcastle fans instructed the athletes’ supporters – among others – to “walk into a keegan wonderland” and “he got the ball and the mark, andy cole”.
Shirts and scarves were exchanged and this remains, probably, the only occasion where many Newcastle supporters wear red and white, which are also the colors of bitter rivals Sunderland.
One such athletic outfit remains a beloved Memento from a day that Newcastle Fel Philip Long will not forget.
“I still have hundreds of my Newcastle Tops in the closet,” he said. “I won’t give it up.”