Newcastle United supporters love a local lad.
Most Toon fans have dreamed of donning the famous black and white stripes. That’s what makes seeing an academy player graduating to the first-team all the more special.
In the current Newcastle squad we’ve got Paul Dummett, Sean Longstaff and Matty Longstaff who’ve made their way through the youth ranks at the club.
We’ve also got Mark Gillespie, who started his youth career at Newcastle before returning to the club last summer.
Elliot Anderson is on the brink of breaking through, having made his first-team debut in the FA Cup defeat to Arsenal.
Despite being just 18, Anderson looked comfortable in his surroundings.
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But he wasn’t the youngest player to represent the club. That honour belongs to Steve Watson.
Steve Watson: Newcastle’s youngest ever player
When he was just 16 years and 223 days old, Watson made his Newcastle debut.
The date was November 10th 1990. The game was against Wolves. While it ended in a 2-1 defeat, it was a game that will live long in the memory for one lad from North Shields.
Watson came off the bench to make his debut, kicking off a long association with the Magpies.
Newcastle were in the second tier when Watson broke into the team. By the time he left in 1998, they were a Premier League side who had came within a whisker of the title just years before.
Watson played in a golden era for the club, dubbed ‘The Entertainers’. While they didn’t win anything, the side played their way into the hearts of the fans and neutrals all over the world.
Watson was a wonderful utility player for the Magpies, doing jobs all over the pitch.
When he left the club for Aston Villa in October 1998, Watson had made 263 appearances for Newcastle in all competitions.
But his first came in November 1990 when he was just 16, where he became Newcastle’s youngest ever player. And it is a record he still holds today.