Premier League – Page 2 – Middle Age Fanclub

Magpie Moments Episode 4.

Being a Toon fan means that there’s never a dull moment…unless you had the misfortune to sit through much of Steve Bruce’s football. But our football club has provided its fair share of memorable moments over the years. So, welcome to Magpie Moments, episode 4!

Griffin Conquers Juve! It’s October 2002 and Newcastle United have lost their first three Champions League group matches. Next up is the mighty Juventus at St. James’ Park under the lights. A classic European night. Memory tells me that we were getting a bit of a chasing for most of the game, but won a free kick over by the corner flag on the East Stand side of the Leazes just after the hour. With the box loaded with the likes of Shearer, Speed and er… Titus Bramble, Laurent Robert shaped to cross it before slipping it short to the edge of the box for Andy Griffin. He then went round a defender before a heavy touch took him almost to the line. Faced with the chance to cross it he just hammered it across the box where Gianluigi Buffon’s attempt to stop it just diverted it into the net. Cue delirium and the start of a great escape from the group that no one could have seen coming! Sir Bobby Robson called it “one of my greatest Newcastle victories”. I was sitting next to a group of Italians in the Leazes that night and even they went mad. I never found out who they really supported!

Matty Longstaff’s debut screamer. Everything about this made for a magical moment. The game had seen both sides have good chances to score, but going into the final 20 minutes things were deadlocked at 0-0. Suddenly, Newcastle broke. Alain Saint-Maximin ran forward and surrounded by defenders, fed the ball wide to Jetro Willems who still had little in the way of options in the box. Sensibly he held it up and then laid the ball off to the edge of the area where Longstaff was steaming in. Without breaking stride he belted a grasscutter into the bottom left hand corner as St. James’ went crazy. Matty had started the game, making his Premier League debut alongside his older brother Sean; a moment in itself. And for me, the best thing after the goal itself was seeing brother Sean delightedly celebrating with Matty at the Gallowgate end. The winning goal on debut against Man Utd, under the lights at the Gallowgate with your brother. The stuff that dreams are made of!

Takeover Take Off! As the recent anniversary of the takeover shows, we can all remember where we were and how we reacted to the news that Amanda Staveley had finally done the deal and freed us from Mike Ashley. For me though, it didn’t feel real until the first post takeover game. There were a few big moments on the day. The Wor Flags display and the line from Big River on the banner in the Gallowgate was pretty spine tingling. Then there was the sight of Staveley, Mehrdad Ghodoussi, Jamie Rueben and Yasir Al-Rumayyan in the director’s box that confirmed that this was really happening. But the biggest moment of the day for me was the moment when Callum Wilson put us ahead inside two minutes. The noise, the relief, the expressions on the faces of everyone involved. The result didn’t matter a jot. Newcastle United were finally on the up again!

Three more fantastic Magpie Moments. I hope you enjoyed reading about them as much as I did writing about and reliving them!

Where are they now? An update on some of our released academy players.

At the end of every season our list of released players is published and without fail there are a lot of academy players on it. For some, it’s the end of a promising career with Newcastle while for others, it must have seemed inevitable for a long while.

What has always struck me about our released players is the likelihood that they will disappear from the professional game altogether. It’s always felt like a rarity to see any of them picked up by a league club and then go on to have a successful career. James Tavernier, once of this parish, has gone on to become a Rangers legend, Jamie Sterry is still playing at Doncaster Rovers and Dan Burn, released when he was 11 seems to be having a decent career nowadays too!

Recently, I got to thinking about our released players from last season. A little bit of digging revealed…not much. Players have mainly been picked up by local non league sides. Only a couple stood out as paying at a slightly higher level.

Jay Turner Cooke was brought into the NUFC academy from Sunderland in 2021 after a family issue saw him leave the club. He was highly thought of at the Academy of Light and it looked like a bit of a coup. However, despite much promise and even a couple of first team appearances in friendlies, he never quite bridged the gap to the first team and was released in summer.

Turner-Cooke subsequently signed for FC Halifax Town of the National League in August. Since then he’s made 12 appearances, scoring 2 goals from midfield and with Town currently sitting 6th in the league and on a 5 game winning streak, he might just find himself back in league football next year. It seems he’s settled well into first team life and hopefully can have a successful season and start to fulfil the promise he showed in our academy.

A while up the road Jamie Miley continues to do well at Hartlepool, also of the National League. In fact, having only been at ‘Pools since January of this year, he’s already signed a contract extension to keep him there until 2027.

Miley, the elder brother of Lewis, spent almost a decade in our academy and appeared in a few pre-season friendlies for Newcastle, but his time was blighted by injuries. Now, he finds himself in the National League playing alongside other former Toon academy graduates like Adam Campbell, Jack Hunter and Luke Charman. So far, Jamie has made 30 appearances for Hartlepool, with 14 of them coming this season where he has managed to grab two assists from a defensive midfield position where he’s been described as “pivotal”. Sounds like he’s doing well in a side that hasn’t really lived up to early season promise and recently sacked manager Simon Grayson. Best of luck for the rest of the season, Jamie!

Of other recently released academy players, forward Josh Donaldson is also at Hartlepool, but currently on loan at Dunston UTS. Slightly further south, midfielder Ellis Stanton is in the National League North with Darlington and has made 9 appearances this season, grabbing 2 assists in a struggling side. Finally, brothers Rory and Harry Powell are both at Ashington AFC.

Great to see some of the young lads fixed up with clubs and carrying on with their careers!

A little bit of appreciation for Nick Pope.

It’s easy to miss things these days as a Newcastle fan. Where for many seasons in the past we’ve had one or two stand out players capable of running a game or producing a moment that might change one, nowadays the squad is chock full of matchwinners and favourites. Tonali, Bruno, Big Joe, Anthony Gordon, defenders like Burn, Thiaw or Botman and of course Big Nick Woltemade. But it’s another Big Nick I’d like to pay a little bit of a tribute to.

Nick Pope has been excellent so far this season. In a defence that’s been miserly, conceding only 8 goals in 10 games, Pope has bailed us out on more than a few occasions making big, big saves when it’s mattered. He’s also displayed a renewed confidence when commanding his box too.

In terms of statistics, Pope has saved 19 of the 24 shots he’s faced in the league – a 79% save percentage. He’s also only conceded a goal for every 210 minutes played, which is an admirable record so far.

There have still been errors such as the Arsenal winner when you could argue that he should have just stayed on his line, but let’s face it, if he had and the header had still found the net we’d have all been asking why he didn’t come for the cross. And his kicking and distribution will always be under the microscope simply because it is a genuine weakness in his game. Sometimes keepers can’t win.

In the league, Pope has made 19 saves so far this season. A fair few have been pretty vital such as the one down low to his left from Eze against Arsenal, a game in which he made a few crucial saves. There were important saves in our most recent win against Forest, too. With 5 clean sheets in 7 league games it’s clear that Pope is reacting well to the challenge of Arron Ramsdale’s arrival. A player who has not always been universally popular on Tyneside, Pope is now proving to be a superb member of the team, as he has on many occasions in the past, to be fair.

Now in his fourth season on Tyneside it’s clearer than ever that Nick Pope is a top keeper and an asset to the team.

Magpie Moments Episode 3.

Whatever your era or age as a Newcastle United supporter, you’ll have rarely experienced a dull moment. Unless of course you still remember almost every deadline day under the stewardship of Mike Ashley. However, in the third episode of the Magpie Moments series I think I can bring you a few moments that might just raise a smile.

Who the f*** is Micky Quinn? Micky Quinn can be safely referred to as a legendary number nine at Newcastle. But when he signed it was a bit of a different matter for some fans. At the time there was a bitter battle between fans and board and some fans were boycotting the first game of the 1989/’90 season. I remember it well. My cousin Shaun was standing on the ‘picket line’ and almost persuaded me to join him as I walked up towards the Gallowgate, but thankfully I went in. Quinny himself remembers it well too and wrote about seeing a banner that read ‘Who the f*** is Micky Quinn?’ as he walked up to the stadium in his excellent autobiography ‘Who Ate All The Pies?’! Thankfully, most Geordies knew exactly who he was by the end of that 90 minutes, Quinny scoring four as we beat promotion favourites Leeds United 5-2! The first was a penalty at the Gallowgate end and what I remember most about it was Quinn’s technique of standing outside the box with his back to to the keeper before his run up. The hat-trick goal was a hooked right foot volley from close in at the Leazes end and then the fourth was a one on one with Quinny looking exhausted as he ran through and just finishing with a shot from outside of the box before he got caught by the chasing defenders! Some amazing moments at the start of a season that would promise much but fail to deliver in the most spectacular style.

The away kit at home, under the lights and Alex Mathie! Monday 13th September 1993 saw a Newcastle game almost called off because of the opposition’s kit! Sheffield Wednesday rocked up at St. James’ Park in our first season in the newly formed English Premiership (now the Premier League) with a specially commissioned one off kit for the televised match. The only problem was that the kit was white and featured a black stripe. Until Newcastle offered to wear their all blue away kit, the fixture was in danger of being called off! As for the game, well first of all I remember that it was just too weird to watch us play in blue at home. And it seemed so for the players as well as Sheff Wed gradually took control and went 1-2 up as we looked like a side who’d never played together before. In the meantime Wednesday had chance after chance after chance. Toon substitute Alex Mathie – recently signed from Morton – changed the game. Firstly he provided the cross that eventually fell to Andy Cole to equalise and then he scored a beauty. Mathie was around the edge of Wednesday’s box when a ball was played forward from the right. He allowed it to come over his shoulder before volleying it over the keeper and into the net without breaking stride. Ultimately, Mathie didn’t make it at Newcastle, but he gave us a hell of a moment with that goal.

Shola’s new identity. Not particularly a ‘moment’ this one, but just a quick story that always makes me smile. It was well known that Sir Bobby Robson wasn’t always the best with names and could be quite forgetful when it came to his players identities. One of the best examples of this came up when Shola Ameobi was asked about nicknames in an interview. At first he said he didn’t have one, so the reporter asked, ‘what does Bobby Robson call you then?’ to which Shola replied, ‘Carl Cort’! Always makes me laugh!

Magpie Moments Episode 2.

From limbs all over the terraces celebrating the latest goal to watching on helplessly as a much loved favourite is sold, as we found out last time, there are many types of moments as a football supporter. So, here’s some more Magpie Moments for you!

Fabian Schar’s thousand yard chip. Ok, so it wasn’t that far out and it was only last season, but I thought this one was well worth a revisit. Last season’s away game at Leicester was an excellent all round Toon performance. Three goals, a clean sheet and we can even throw in a cracking interview with Jacob Murphy on Sky afterwards. But none were the moment of the match. That came in the 11th minute of the game. Newcastle were already 1-0 up and cruising thanks to a Jacob Murphy tap in. Step forward Fabian Schar. Moving forward with the ball and still inside his own half, our Swiss genius looked up and decided that a chip at goal from 55 yards out was well and truly on. I mean, find me another centre half who thinks like this! Leicester’s defenders are up near the halfway line and their keeper has decided to go on the wander and is a good 30 yards from goal. Schar looks up and goes for goal and as the ball sails over the keeper’s head it’s odds on that Schar is joining Murphy on the scoresheet. The commentary team are giving it big ‘Ooooohs’ and we’re told ‘This could be something extraordinary’. But no, with a resounding ‘smack’ the ball hits the bar and despite his best efforts to shin it out for a goal kick, Murph is there to bundle it home. But imagine if Schar’s attempt had hit the net!

A Budgie saves the day! Hands up if you’ve ever watched a football match in an ice jockey rink. Aye, there won’t be many of us! But one of my personal favourite memories of watching Newcastle happened in Whitley Bay Ice Rink. Despite wagging school and queuing up outside St. James’ from very early, we couldn’t get tickets for the away leg of the now infamous Play Off semi final against Sunderland at Roker Park. But our disappointment was tempered when someone told us of a beamback at Whitley Bay Ice Rink of all places and so we bought tickets that same morning. So, on a Sunday morning in May 1990 we found ourselves sat high up in the ice rink as a big screen beamed back grainy images from Joker Park. Strangely, we’d managed to arm ourselves with a cut out of Uri Geller’s hand in the hope that the legendary spoonbender might bring us some luck. It was a scrappy game with very little goalmouth action until a penalty was given to sunderland in the final minute. There was nothing else for it but to place all available hands on Uri’s! Then, we started to try and channel his superpowers, chanting ‘We Three Are One’, something we still do to this day. Safe to say that it was a bit of an unusual sight as Paul Hardyman ran forward to take the kick. It felt like there was going to be nothing we could do to avoid taking a defeat into the second leg at St. James’ Park. But as their left back placed his penalty to the left hand side of the goal, our keeper John Burridge sprung over and dived onto the ball. Cue absolute bedlam, which got worse as we watched the penalty taker go on to kick Burridge while he lay on the floor. At least one of us toppled down the seats of the ice rink, drinks were spilled, beanie hats thrown and Uri Geller’s photocopied hand was lost forever. But we’d had our moment and surely the second leg at home was to be a formality. Sadly not though and the rest is history. However, the Budgie moment will live with me and my mates forever!

Hibbitt’s pass, Supermac’s goal! I wasn’t there as I was only actually two years old, buy I’ve heard all about this one as well as having watched it time and time again over the years. What a goal and what a moment! In between telling me all about Tony Green and Malcolm MacDonald, my dad is happy to wax lyrical about Terry Hibbitt’s pass for the second goal and I used to think that he’d romanticised it, having been at Hillsborough that day. He hadn’t. This was the FA Cup semi final from 1974, played at Hillsborough and having been under intense pressure from Burnley for much of the match Newcastle had scored on the break in the 65th minute. Our number 9 Malcolm MacDonald had scored after chasing a long ball from Terry Hibbitt having been almost wrestled to the ground by the Burnley centre half. But the moment of the match came ten minutes later, again on the break. Burnley launch a high ball into the box and Bob Moncur heads it out. It drops to John Tudor who hooks it clear out towards our left where Hibbitt is running on to it. Hibbitt lets it bounce once and then hits the sweetest left foot, first time through ball over the Burnley centre half and into Supermac’s path. Supermac seems to use his bollocks for the first touch, knocking the ball into his path and then finishing with a bobbling shot through the keeper’s legs. Cue bedlam! If you’ve never seen it, get on YouTube and search it out. If you were there, feel free to let us know how it felt!

And there we have it. Three more Magpie Moments and a fair few more to come! Howay the Lads!

Gallowgate Cult Heroes Number 14; Liam O’Brien.

In terms of word association, if I was to mention the phrase ‘over the wall’ many of you would shout back Ryan Taylor’s name. But for older Mags, the original ‘over the wall’ fella was none other than Liam O’Brien.

Signed for £275,000 from Manchester United in November 1998, O’Brien was primarily a central midfielder (a ‘6’ if you play want to sound all clever and modern) who would go on to make 185 appearances, scoring 19 goals. Never the quickest over the ground, his range of passing was to be admired and O’ Brien was what we’d probably best refer to as ‘classy’; a player who always seemed to find just enough time on the ball. He worked hard and could always be relied on for a bit of a killer pass, often dictating the pace of games in the centre of the park. Not a world beater, but good enough to take a game by the scruff of the neck on occasion.

In his first season we were relegated from the old first division, but it was testament to O’Brien that he didn’t immediately jump ship. His loyalty wasn’t particularly rewarded though as we were to stay in Division 2 for three years before getting promoted in that memorable ’92-’93 season under Kevin Keegan. O’Brien had been instrumental in the latter stages of the previous season in helping keep us from the drop into the dreaded third tier.

It was in the promotion season though that Liam O’Brien cemented his place as a cult hero and Newcastle United legend in particular with his free kick against Sunderland at Joker Park.

A Gary Owers own goal had put us ahead before Gordon Armstrong equalised at the Fulwell End in the 70th minute to raise mackem hopes. I remember him going particularly mental as well and rather than celebrate in front of their fans, he seemed to make a beeline more for our fans than anything, screaming his vitriol like a deranged madman. Alas, it would do him no good, the silly mackem…

Just six minutes after the equaliser we won a free kick that was fairly central and just outside the D of the 18-yard-box. A few of the players stood around the ball, but none looked overly likely to take the kick. O’Brien himself just seemed to be stood, casually chatting to Kevin Brock and John Beresford, but as the whistle is blown he simply took a couple of steps forward to plant a beauty over the wall and curling into the near corner. Mackem keeper Tim Carter had been stood on that side of the goal, but was totally powerless as the ball nestled in the bottom corner.

Pandemonium ensued as O’Brien leapt in the air to celebrate with our fans before being swallowed up by the likes of Barry Venison and Ray Ranson. Watch it back now and you’ll see that the Roker End is just a sea of tightly packed in Geordies all going mental at the goal. You’ll also hear Middlesborough manager at the time, Lennie Lawrence call it just before the kick is taken telling the commentator, “I fancy Liam O’Brien over the wall”. Incredible stuff.

O’Brien would have other notable moments in a Toon shirt. He’d scored the equaliser in the previous season at Roker Park with a lovely chip at the same end and I seem to remember a few piledrivers from range across the years. But he will be forever remembered for one of the most nonchalant free kicks in one of the most high pressured games that any of us will ever recall.

Within a couple of years Liam was transferred to Tranmere where he’d spend 5 years before moving back to Ireland with Cork City and his first club, Bohemians where he retired in 2002.

Over the years O’Brien and that goal have been the subject of a much loved terrace song as well as one of the most iconic Newcastle photos you’ll ever see, taken from the camera gantry high above the pitch. A fitting tribute to a true Gallowgate Cult Hero. Liam O’Brien, cult hero and Newcastle United legend.

Magpie Moments – Episode 1.

Football fans will tell you there’s almost nothing like the moment the ball hits the back of the net. Players too, obviously. It’s visceral, animalistic almost; the roar, the way we throw ourselves around, hugging strangers, screaming at the sky!

But football’s moments can never really be restricted to just goals. Over the course of a season there will be hundreds of things you remember for years to come. Over the course of your life supporting a team, there will be untold thousands. So, I thought I’d write about our my own Newcastle United moments. Each month I’ll string a few together in I guess what we could call a trip down memory lane. Some are from games I’ve attended, some from stuff I’ve watched on the telly, while others have been passed down to me by others. There’s no order of importance, just Magpie Moments.

Mitrovic’s late equaliser v Sunderland (2016). I remember this one quite vividly. We’d lost the previous six games against Sunderland and it looked like we’d make that seven. Rafa Benitez had not long taken over from Steve McLaren and the team were still without a win under the new manager. This felt like a turning point though. With less than ten minutes left, Georginho Wijnaldum clipped over a beautiful hanging cross that Aleksander Mitrovic gladly headed home at the back post. St. James’ Park erupted, a few thousand mackems deflated rapidly and Mitro took off his shirt to reveal a surprisingly doughy physique! Spinning said shirt around his head, he seemed to just run around in circles for a bit before a supporter joined him from the East Stand. As Mitro ran towards him the bloke slipped and almost two footed the Serbian into next week until he took evasive action and dived over the supporter! Both ended up on the floor before jumping up and hugging like long lost brothers. The pitch invading fan was then carted off by stewards with a look on his face that said, ‘What have I done wrong?’ Only at Newcastle United!

Keegan vs Ashley. It was never a great fit and never going to last, but when Mike Ashley brought Kevin Keegan back to the club the romantic in us all probably took over. We were once again royally in the brown stuff, but King Kev would work his magic and before too long he’d have Shola playing like Messi and the Toon climbing the table. And then, in a tale of lies and deceit and one that takes in names such as Milner, Schweinsteiger, Llambias, Wise and Xisco, it was all over. Keegan resigned less than a year after being appointed and Chris Hughton was left in caretaker charge for the next home game against Hull. The atmosphere that day was poisonous; possibly the most toxic I can recall as a Newcastle fan. Walking up to the ground the tension was tangible and the closer I got to St. James’ the more I thought there might not even be a match. It felt like something close to a riot or a revolution was in the air and the match itself felt irrelevant, played as it was in front of a crowd baying for blood. Leaving the ground that day, I felt as low as I’d felt as a Toon supporter. And believe me, that was a tough competition. It wouldn’t matter. Ashley and his cronies would remain for quite some time, mismanaging the club horrifically. Keegan would never return, although there’s hope for next season. This wasn’t quite the straw that broke the camel’s back, but it was a moment that told us that drastic action would be needed to rid our club of this particular owner and although it took some time, we got there eventually.

Dyer v Bowyer. Saturday, April 2nd 2005 and unbeknownst to everyone in the ground, including our two protagonists, Newcastle United are about to reach a new low. And if you’ve followed the club from the depths of the 70s and 80s, I know that’s a big claim! In fact, if you know of this game and Steven Taylor’s ‘Platoon’ style handball, you might not even see Dyer and Bowyer as providing its lowest moment! This was a shocker of a performance as a team including the three aforementioned players plus the likes of Jenas, Robert and Shearer, found themselves 0-3 down and already reduced to ten men with only minutes left to play. Then, just as Newcastle continued labouring on, still huffing puffing and trying to find a route to goal, another pass goes astray and suddenly all Hell breaks loose. For a moment the Premier League turns into Sunday league as Bowyer approached his team mate Dyer and they started throwing punches. I mean, I say punches… In truth, barely a connection was made and the whole thing ended with lots of shirt grabbing before Gareth Barry and Stephen Carr managed to intervene and dragged the scrapping pair away. Inevitably, both Dyer and Bowyer were sent off and we finished the game with 8 players! Apparently Bowyer had become more and more wound up, believing that Dyer wasn’t passing to him, words were exchanged and then…FIIIIIIIGHT! Personally, I missed the whole thing up in Level 7 as my eyes just naturally followed the ball! In fact, around me, no one seemed to know until word filtered around the Leazes. Once again though, the kind of moment you rarely hear about but fully expect at Newcastle United!

What’s your favourite Magpie Moment? Any spring to mind? I’m happy to take requests!

NUFC: A Tribute to Callum Wilson.

And so, it came to pass; Callum Wilson actually did leave Newcastle United. Despite at least the one initially convincing hoax announcement on social media about him extending his deal for another year, the fact is he’s off to pastures new.

I genuinely didn’t think that it would happen yet. When it was announced that there were discussions about another year it felt like the most Newcastle United thing would be that we’d see him back for season ’25-’26.

It would be churlish to call Wilson’s time in Toon anything but a success. Sure, there have been injuries – we’ve lost count – but there have also been goals galore. 49 of them that make him the club’s third highest Premier League goalscorer as well as putting in the top 40 of all time scorers.

Joining from Bournemouth in September 2020 for a fee thought to be around £20m Wilson immediately hit the ground running with a goal on debut away at West Ham. He would go on to score 12 in that first season; not a bad return in a side that would struggle to find any kind of form and consistency throughout the season and would eventually finish in 15th. Wilson himself was consistent though and invariable when a chance came his way, he took it. Things would stay this way for the whole of his time at the club.

Rather than drone on through his record across 5 years though, I thought about the things that made me smile about Wilson. Here’s what I came up with.

The goals. Callum Wilson scores goals. End of. And he scored all kinds of goals for us as well. Not just a poacher in and around the six yard box, Callum. Remember the chip from outside the box away at Spurs after their keeper had fumbled the ball? What about the curler from the edge of the box away at Everton in 2023? Or you could just cast your mind back to the countless times where he stayed ice cool when put clean through on goal or just when taking a penalty. That said, one of my favourite Wilson goals had to be his opener in the 5-1 away win at West Ham in 2023 when he was able to find room enough to get a free header from a Saint Maximin cross while being surrounded by 4 or 5 defenders.
The alertness in and around the box. Few strikers have had this instinct in all the time I’ve watched the Toon. Wilson just sniffed goals and chances out. While he was a pacey striker, it was his pace over those first few yards, particularly in the box that set him apart from many others. For me, Wilson was the best at this type of thing since Micky Quinn.
The trademark grin. Wilson’s smile said a lot about the man. Confidence, swagger and calm. Callum Wilson just loved scoring goals and loved playing for the Toon. The grin told us that he was self assured and had the kind of self belief required to wear the number 9 shirt when he eventually got it.
The salute. He loved celebrating in front of the fans and that salute often topped it all off. Wilson loved the adulation and our fans served it up in spades! Callum Wilson just loved scoring goals for Newcastle United.
That post takeover goal. The first game at St. James’ Park after the takeover was confirmed. A renewed optimism around the place after years of utter drudgery under Mike Ashley and his cronies. Early on in the game, the ball was worked across the edge of the box before finding Allain Saint Maximin who in turn slipped in the overlapping Javi Manquillo. Manquillo fired over a hard, low cross and there was Callum Wilson getting across the defender and stooping to bullet a header beyond Hugo Lloris. The whole place erupted. There were even the proverbial limbs in the director’s box as messrs Rueben, Al-Rumayyan, Ghoudousi and Staveley leap about in celebration. Okay, we lost the game, but in that moment we all believed that this was the start of something and it was fitting that it would be Wilson flying in to grab the goal. It’s definitely one that I’ll never forget.

Callum Wilson will go down as a hugely important figure in the last 5 years at the club. I’d go as far as to call him a legend. One of the reasons why we were still in the division both pre and post Eddie Howe. Thanks for the memories, Callum.

NUFC Academy: Next Cab Off The Rank?

Every year Summer brings what feels like a never ending, exhausting amount of transfer talk. From bedroom ITKs with their insider sources and local journalists who can never seem to agree on the status of a transfer to the new breed of ‘celebrity’ internet transfer gurus; they’re all at it to the point where it becomes tiresome. And that’s before we get to the flight trackers!

But what about getting one or two breakthroughs from our youth ranks?

It’s a bone of contention for many Toon fans; the will to have young players coming through versus the dearth of talent in the youth ranks that we’ve seen over the years and also our demands for shiny new names and star players.

But, given the demands of the fixture schedule in the coming season, academy talent could well be in demand at some points. Especially if it means solving the habit of putting two keepers on the bench! So, who could be the next sensation after Lewis Miley to make the leap from academy up to the first team squad?

There are some more obvious candidates, if you look at our loan lads from last season. Young Alex Murphy has already featured in the first team and then spent the season on loan at Bolton last year, so maybe he’ll make the step up this season. Similarly, there’s Charlie McArthur, also a defender who was out on loan last year and could well get a chance next season. There’s also the exciting prospect of Trevan Sanusi stepping up, after making his senior debut last season before succumbing to injury. However, I’ve decided to pick out three players whose progress intrigues me the most.

Leo Shahar. A name that many of us will already have been alerted to, but also perhaps a pertinent name for us with the coming season in mind. While Tino Livramento seems to have deservedly nailed down the right back spot in the team – when he’s not filling in at left back that is – it could be a position of little cover this year. Kieran Trippier may well be sold, despite showing his value to the side last season and this then leaves Emil Krafth or Harrison Ashby as cover. While the former has proven himself a reliable squad member, he is prone to picking up injuries. Ashby, on the other hand, is yet to make an appearance for the first team since joining in 2023 and with only loan appearances since then, he may well be moved on. Shahar looks like a young player with a big future. With a wealth of experience at Premier League 2 level, Leo is also an England international at both Under 17 and 18 levels. Since I first watched him he seems to gained a little bulk and strength to his frame and now looks a lot more capable of handling the rigours of the mens’ game. He’s a pacy full back, with good positional sense and decent distribution. And of course, he’s been learning from two excellent examples in Tripps and Tino. Could he be one who makes the step up this year or is a loan the more likely option?

Alfie Harrison. Since joining us from Manchester City in the 2024 January transfer window, Alfie has made steady progress with the Under 21 side. With 5 goals and 7 assists last season, he certainly made an impact. The little I’ve seen of Harrison suggests a player of real promise. A really skilful player who looks at home as a number 10, Harrison is quick and carries the ball really well, while his movement looks fantastic. He looks to be a player who sees passes a step ahead of most and his stats back that up. And while those in the know seem to be suggesting that a loan may be the best course of action for the youngster, I think it would be interesting to see how he fares as part of the first team squad where minutes as an impact sub could well produce interesting results.

Garang Kuol. Kuol has had quite a turbulent time since his arrival in January 2023. A full Australian international, he’s been loaned out twice since then and has still only made 25 appearances. It’s safe to say that neither loan went well with both clubs – Hearts and Volendam having poor seasons and changes of management. From what I’ve witnessed of him, Garang seems to be a quick, skilful player with an eye for goal. Comfortable with the ball at his feet, he plays mainly as a winger, but looks at home anywhere across the front line. Kuol’s best time since joining the club was during the latter half of last season in the Under 21 set up where he scored 8 goals and might just have caught the eye of Eddie Howe and the senior coaches. It seems likely that next season may be spent on loan again, but for me this kid looks worth shot at some point, especially with the number of games we’ll be facing across a very busy season.

Obviously, given our transfer activity with youth players over the last few years, there are lots of players getting noticed at both Under 18 and Under 21 level. The future looks exciting with the likes of Lewis Miley and Sean Neave breaking through of late. And then we can look to players like Cordero, Vakhtang Salia Baran Yildiz, Miodrag Pivas, Travis Hernes before going even younger with players like Michael Mills, Mason Miley and Sam Alabi all breaking through into older age groups last season.

But will we see a first team squad breakthrough from anyone in the academy set up next year? It’s the kind of thing that always captures the imagination, so let’s hope so.

NUFC; The ones that got away – Matz Sels.

Over the years I’ve had a surprisingly happy knack at backing the wrong horses, both literally and metaphorically. Whether I’m studying form or sticking pins into a list of names, it’s a rarity for me to back a winner. And it’s a similar story with footballers, particularly those that play for Newcastle. Back in the early 90s I may have been the only person in the stadium convinced week in week out that Kevin Dillon was going to score. Similarly, I was sure that lightening quick Wayne Fereday would be a success and thought that Daniel Cordone was going to be the best Argentinian thing since Maradona.

Some years later, Rafa Benitez signed Matz Sels and again, with literally zero insight whatsoever, I jumped on this particular band waggon. Sels was going to be a brick wall. Hardly Director of Football material, eh?

Sels was signed from Gent in 2016 on the back of a ‘Best Goalkeeper in Belgium’ award in 2015. Costing £6.5m and given a 5 year contract, it looked like we really meant business. Surely Sels was going to be our goalkeeper for as long as he chose. Rafa had clearly unearthed a gem. At 6 foot 2 he was imposing and at 24 a good age. He couldn’t fail!

Turns out he could though. Despite a reasonable start that included a run of four clean sheets in a row, Sels quickly lost confidence following an error that let Aston Villa grab a late equaliser. He stuttered while coming for a cross that was never really his to take and was subsequently beaten at his near post while frantically back pedalling. Four days later and Karl Darlow was given the shirt.

Sels made only 14 appearances in his season at Newcastle. He was loaned out to Anderlecht in 2017 and to all intents and purposes barely heard of again by Toon fans. By July of the next year he was being sold to Strasbourg for £3.5m and enjoyed several decent seasons in France. And if that was the end of the story you’d no doubt all happily flood the comments with variants of us dodging a bullet and that he was terrible. But, it didn’t end there for Sels and his comeback got me thinking about whether he really was one that got away.

When he left Strasbourg after 6 seasons there was much unrest from supporters with many seeing it as another example of terrible management by their new owners BlueCo, the investment group that also own Chelsea. Sels had built a reputation as a solid, reliable presence in the team and his departure on the last day of the January transfer window was deemed a betrayal by the Strasbourg and also the kind of decision that we’d become accustomed to under Mike Ashley. It seems that Sels couldn’t escape mismanagement. He’d been team captain and Strasbourg president Marc Keller referred to his a “true soldier” and “an exemplary goalkeeper”.

Sels moved to Nottingham Forest in February 2024 and since then has steadily rebuilt his reputation in England. He looked like a man at the top of his game last season when he kept 13 clean sheets and shared the Golden Gloves award with David Raya of Arsenal. And it wasn’t just that. What impressed me personally about Sels was the range of saves. While some were what you might call ‘saves for the cameras’ others were instinctive and brave. Sels was a major reason why Forest were still challenging for a Champions League spot on the final day.

It seems ironic that while we grumbled about Nick Pope and Martin Dubravka for a lot of last season one of our former flops was proving himself to be Mr. Reliable. I’m not for one second suggesting that we should be looking to sign him, but I couldn’t help but notice how well he was doing last season and it did lead to me re-assessing Sels as a goalkeeper.

So was he one that got away? In my opinion, he could well have been. I suppose selling him was the best thing at the time, but with the benefit of hindsight, might he have been worth keeping, if you’ll pardon the pun? Maybe Rafa Benitez needed to be a little more patient. Obviously, it’s said that goalkeepers get better with age, so that could be part of the story here, but I do believe that Matz Sels always had the right ingredients.

What do you think? One that got away or another Mike Ashley dud?