Sir Bobby Robson looked awfully lonely. The bronze statue of Newcastle United's legendary manager perched outside St James' Park would ordinarily look down smilingly on a throng of people at 1.30pm on a home matchday.
But the concourses and the staircases were deserted, the box office and the players' entrance shuttered, St James Metro station eerily empty.
There were no drinkers in The Strawberry, the pub that faces the Gallowgate End, while staff in the club shop kicked their heels waiting for customers who wouldn't come and queues that wouldn't form.
One Newcastle fan posing for a picture with the Robson statue had made the journey from Paris for their Premier League game against Sheffield United.