Newcastle United to hold training camp in Austria, play three more friendlies in July

After scheduling games against Benfica, Atalanta, and Athletic Bilbao at the end of July, it made sense for Newcastle United to organize a few games in the first half of July to have a more balanced summer in terms of the players' preparation for the upcoming season. That’s precisely what the club just made official, confirming a training camp to be held in Austria along with three friendlies on top of everything.

Newcastle will kick its preseason off with a game against neighboring club Gateshead—recently promoted to the National League—in a match to be played behind closed doors at the NUFC Training Center next Saturday, July 9.

After that little friendly takes place, Eddie Howe and the rest of the Toon Army will take a plane straight to Austria where the team is expected to spend a week. That time will be spent on the training ground and facing two rivals in friendly games, those being two German clubs.

The first friendly will be against 1860 Munich on Friday, July 15 (5pm UK/11am ET) with the second pitting the Magpies against Mainz 05 on Monday, July 18 (4pm UK/10am ET). The former team is part of Germany’s third division while Mainz played in the country’s top-tier finishing eighth in the last Bundesliga season.

This news makes it five games—six, counting the one against Gateshead—in Newcastle’s preseason schedule as the team gears up for their 2022/23 Premier League campaign, slated to kickoff earlier than ever with the first game taking place on Aug. 5 and the Magpies debuting one day later on Aug. 6 facing Nottingham Forest at St James’ Park.