Preparation, preparation, preparation; it's pre-season

Singapore, Seoul, the Algarve, Bavaria, the Austrian Alps, the Lake District and Peak District, Glasgow and Edinburgh, South Shields, or even Hartlepool.

No, it’s not the latest Hays Travel brochure, but just some of the pre-season destinations for the North East’s big three.

With less than a month to go before the new season kicks off, and less than a week after Chelsea and Paris St Germain finally brought last season to a close with the inaugural World Club Cup final, Newcastle United, Sunderland and Middlesbrough are stepping up their summer workouts and run-outs.

Middlesbrough’s EFL Championship season starts earlier than their North East rivals, kicking off on August 9 with Swansea City’s visit to the Riverside.

New manager Rob Edwards and his Middlesbrough squad returned last week from a week-long training camp in Portugal, which ended with a narrow 1-0 defeat to CD Santa Clara.

The Azores-based side, who are the westernmost professional club in Europe, were further ahead in their pre-season preparations as they gear up for a first-ever UEFA Conference League campaign.

Edwards gave 23 of his new players a run-out in what the club’s website described as a ‘feisty affair’ and will tomorrow travel to Nigel Clough’s Mansfield Town for their second friendly of the close season. 

On Wednesday, they will travel to Bradford City, before their most serious test of the summer – a visit to Ibrox and a showdown with Russell Martin’s Glasgow Rangers next Saturday.

After that, they roll into Hartlepool for their annual friendly on Wednesday, July 30, and host Deportivo La Coruna at the Riverside the following Saturday. 

Former Luton Town boss Edwards was hired as Michael Carrick’s successor after the difficult and tardy decision to sack the former England and Manchester United midfielder, who is certain to resurface at a new club at some point this season.

So far Edwards – under the guidance of chairman Steve Gibson and head of football Kieran Scott – has not made any major additions to the squad inherited from Carrick, which finished a disappointing tenth last season, but there are signings on the way as the Teesside club pursues veteran striker Danny Ings and Blackburn’s Callum Britain, among others.    

The most significant business, though, could once again be who exits the Riverside, and Middlesbrough will be aiming to secure the best possible deal for the inevitable departure of local lad and part-time captain Hayden Hackney, who may have outgrown the club he joined as a schoolboy. 

Fresh from England Under-21 Euro success in Slovakia, 23-year-old midfielder Hackney has long been tracked by Premier League clubs and Tottenham are the current favourites, but Boro are likely to have plenty of interest, and offers, before the big league kicks off.

Another local lad reluctantly leaving his long-time love is Newcastle’s Sean Longstaff, who left the club’s training base in Austria earlier this week to complete a £17 million move to newly-promoted Leeds United.

The North Shields-born 27-year-old made just 25 appearances last season, and although manager Eddie Howe knows he needs reinforcements for their return to the Champions League this season, Longstaff fits the financial requirements of running one of the world’s richest clubs.

Newcastle are in Scotland tomorrow when they meet potential Champions League opponents Celtic at Parkhead, with Howe likely to give a first run-out to new signing Anthony Elanga, who completed his move from Nottingham Forest, which could be worth up to £55 million.

After the trip to Glasgow, Howe and co head for Singapore and South Korea, where they will play Arsenal, Spurs and a K-League XI.

Pre-season ends at St James’ Park on the weekend before the Premier League kick-off with intriguing meetings with Espanyol and Diego Simeone’s Atlético Madrid over two days.

This is all new territory for the current Sunderland squad, coaches, hierarchy and a generation of supporters after an eight-year absence from the top flight, which has included several relegations and promotions and a complete overhaul of the playing and coaching staff.

But the Algarve has become the regular pre-season destination for Sunderland and, after a breezy 4-0 win over South Shields, Regis Le Bris and his young squad have been enjoying workouts and warmth near Faro, before hitting the pitches again this weekend when they play Sevilla and Sporting Lisbon.

They have a busy programme after that, with a visit to Edinburgh and meeting with Hearts next Saturday, followed by the Championship's Hull City and their new manager Sergej Jakirovic on Tuesday, July 29, at the MKM Stadium.

The Wearside club have been busy preparing for a return to the big time with top ups at the Stadium of Light and Academy of Light training base, as well as bringing in new signings, including a new club record in Habib Diarra, and Jobe Bellingham’s exit to Borussia Dortmund. 

Like his North East contemporaries – and no doubt every manager in the land – Le Bris will want more reinforcements before kick-off and the first of two pre-season friendlies at the newly-polished ground on Saturday, August 2, when Real Betis are the visitors. 

The following Saturday, they travel to the WWK Arena to meet Bundesliga outfit FC Augsburg, followed, just 24 hours later, by a return to Wearside to entertain Rayo Vallecano.

A week later, West Ham United are the visitors to the Stadium of Light, while Newcastle travel to Aston Villa and Boro head to their first away league game at Millwall. 

And it's not just the North East's big three who are in action this weekend as the region's non-league clubs also get closer to kick-off.

For those who like an early football fixture, the pick of this weekend fixtures is Glen Taylor's testimonial at Spennymoor Town's Brewery Fields, where the National League North team take on Stockport County.

Hartlepool and new manager Simon Grayson also host a Glasgow Rangers XI at Victoria Park.  

 The fixtures are Blyth Town v Gateshead; South Shields v Shildon; Hartlepool United v Rangers XI; Stockton Town v Darlington; Gretna v Blyth Spartans; Northallerton Town v Bishop Auckland; Prudhoe v Whickham; Redcar Athletic v Easington Colliery; Thornaby v Hebburn Town; Newcastle Blue Star v Glossop North End; Guisborough Town v Whitby Town.

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