Newcastle fans at a reserve game at Sunderland It's unusual to see such a big turnout at a reserve fixture, but it reflects the rivalry between these two clubs. The traditional reserves have been replaced in large part by the under 23s and they were the subject of a feature article in The Times last Saturday. The insertion of under 23s into the Carabao Cup has not gone down well with fans and it is a relief that the final will be played between two first teams. Let's start with the traditional reserves. They were a mixture of players returning from injury, fringe players and young hopefuls. Crowds were sparse, particularly as it was often difficult to find out where they were being played. I was sent by Charlton to cover an Oxford United v. Charlton reserve game, turned up at their old ground at Headington, only to find it was being played at Witney (Wendy Toms was the referee). Four Four Two magazine had a nice feature on the reserves in February 2007 entitled: '...