Pardew And Colo Place Wreaths

Last updated : 22 July 2014 By Footy Mad - Editor

... seats at Forsyth Barr Stadium in New Zealand for Newcastle United fans John Alder and Liam Sweeney who were on doomed MH17 flight
 
White ribbons have also been tied around the seats in a bow.

As soon as the news broke the club made Sir Bobby's statue a shrine to the two fans, having their names printed on Toon shirts placed on the site.

The club have arrived in Dunedin for their pre-season tour amid the tragedy of flight MH17, which claimed the lives ofJohn Alder, 60, and Liam Sweeney, 28.

Landing at Dunedin International Airport Alan Pardew declined to discuss the two British fans who died in the MH17 tragedy.

They were on their way to New Zealand to watch their beloved team in action.

It is expected Pardew will talk about the men at a press conference tomorrow.

United will play Sydney FC at Dunedin's Forsyth Barr Stadium on Tuesday night, and the Wellington Phoenix in Wellington next Saturday night.

Wreaths will be laid on the stadium seats where Alder and Sweeney would have sat and photos of the pair will be shown on the big screens before kick off.

A minute's silence will be observed before the match on Tuesday, and a minute's applause has been scheduled for the 29th and 60th minutes to represent Sweeney and Alder's ages.

Sydney FC and Newcastle players will also wear black armbands at the game in Dunedin. 

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Flight MH17 came down between Krasni Luch, in Luhansk region, and Shakhtarsk in the neighbouring region of Donetsk - 50km from the Russia-Ukraine border.

The two sides in Ukraine's civil conflict have accused each other of shooting the jet down with a missile.

Malaysia Airlines said that of the passengers' nationalities identified so far, 154 were Dutch, 27 were Australian and 45 were Malaysian, including 15 crew.

As well as nine from the UK, there were passengers from Indonesia, Germany, Belgium, the Philippines and Canada, he added.