The cathedral on the hill, Sir Bobby Robson used to call it. Although St James’ Park could easily have been compared to a palace, a temple, a castle.
It’s unique in English football, the way Newcastle United’s stadium sits proudly on high, overlooking the city and its people — fitting for a place where the football club is adored quite unlike any others. If the people are Newcastle’s life-blood, the stadium is its heart.
Then you have the physical city itself: from the picturesque Quayside to the lively Bigg Market, the eclectic mix of pubs, bars, nightclubs, restaurants, cafes, kebab shops and coffee houses that line the alleyways and lanes on the short walk — less than half a mile — for visiting fans from the station, on Neville Street, up to the stadium. Or jump in a taxi and it will take you up St James’ Boulevard, the road that stretches all the way to Sir Bobby’s statue warmly greeting visitors in the stadium’s south-west corner.
The point I’m making here is that the notion that footballers will not want to move to one of the UK’s most exciting cities is extraordinarily misguided and ridiculous. An idea that has been repeated since the takeover went through two months ago that overnight made Newcastle the richest club in the world.
It reached the point last week where new manager Eddie Howe felt the need to address it, pointing out the club being in the relegation zone would be far more of an issue than geography when attracting players in January.
Howe was responding to Gabby Agbonlahor, who doubled down on his stance last week. “Players don’t want to live in Newcastle, let’s be honest,” Agbonlahor, who was born in Birmingham and spent his entire career at Aston Villa in, er, Birmingham, said on Talksport. Players would choose Brentford or Watford over Newcastle if the same money was offered, the former striker said. Granted, Agbonlahor had a two-month loan at Watford in 2005, so perhaps he saw something there that a lot of others don’t.
Later in the week, Agbonlahor added that “10 to 15” players had contacted him to say how “spot on” he was. And Agbonlahor and his 10 to 15 mates haven’t been the only ones to make this claim. Shortly after the takeover, former Newcastle defender Jonathan Woodgate said “it is hard enough trying to get players up to the North East, I know playing for Newcastle, Middlesbrough, Leeds, it is difficult to get players up there”.
Turn Newcastle around and the players will follow
What Newcastle have never lacked is an attractive city with a fervent fanbase. What they have lacked is an attractive football club, run more like a discount sportswear retailer than a side with any aspirations during the 15-year Mike Ashley era.
In December 1999, Newcastle were fifth in Deloitte’s money league of the world’s richest clubs, listed only behind Manchester United when the table was refined to include only English clubs. In December 2021, the garish Sports Direct signage, put up by Ashley and staining the stadium’s visible surfaces, finally began to be taken down, like somebody removing the tattoo of a particularly regrettable ex.
When European football was flowing, the players followed, from Lisbon, Paris, Milan, Buenos Aires, even London. Alan Shearer is the obvious one — but then the obvious argument against that example is that Shearer was born and bred on Tyneside, so he had an emotional pull at a time when the club were doing well. But what about David Ginola, Faustino Asprilla, Andy Cole, Les Ferdinand? What about the young, highly-rated players it was still attracting in the early 2000s, such as an 18-year-old James Milner from Leeds United?
Players want to be loved, adored, cherished. They want to be heroes, revered for their feats on the football field, written into club folklore, living long in the memory, forever fit and young even as their bones grow old.
If Newcastle are re-established as greats once more, the city will worship the players who get them there. Who wouldn’t want to be crowned the King in the North? That spot will be up for grabs in the next five to 10 years.
“I’m sure Newcastle is an amazing city, an amazing place to live in but players in general want the lifestyle — not every player because it’s not important to some players — but some want to be close to London for the lifestyle,” Agbonlahor added.
If you’re going to go there, a direct train from Newcastle Central to King’s Cross takes less than three hours. From Manchester Piccadilly to Euston is only 40 or 50 minutes quicker.
Maybe famous footballers prefer to avoid public transport. Well good luck in London if you want to avoid the overground, underground and buses. Have you tried to get from one side of London to the other recently in a car? It would be quicker to get the train to Newcastle.
It may be a slow process turning Newcastle United around. But bring the glory days back, and the players will come running.
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3ExRCzW
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