Les Ferdinand has opened up on what it was really like to play in front of Newcastle United fans as the opposition.
Ferdinand had a fairly decent record whenever he played against Newcastle, scoring seven times in the 15 games he played, though he only ever scored twice at St James’ Park for an away team.
Speaking on Simon Jordan’s podcast, Ferdinand shared how appreciative Newcastle fans can be towards the opposition if they play their team off the park.
Ferdinand says Newcastle fans are similar to Liverpool’s
Newcastle pride themselves on having some of the best supporters in the country and it’s difficult argue against that when you see the numbers they travel in and the noise they make throughout games.
Ferdinand experienced playing in front of them first hand both as a Newcastle player and as the away team, and the iconic striker has given them huge praise for their support.
Everybody knows that Newcastle is a football mad city, everyone you meet there will support the club and will have a good idea about what is going on currently in terms of the football.
Although he was only there for two seasons, Ferdinand made his mark in the North East and will forever be remembered for the role he played in that exciting team under Kevin Keegan nearly 30 years ago now.
On the podcast, Ferdinand said: “Newcastle fans are like Liverpool fans, in terms of if you go there and play well, they will clap your team off the pitch if they feel like you have given their team a good seeing to or if you play well against their team, they will appreciate good football.
“I didn’t know that I was going to go to Newcastle. But Kevin Keegan called up and I had a conversation with him and he told me where they wanted to take the club and what they wanted to do. I felt if there was anyone I was going to learn from, it was going to be him.”
Newcastle finally have a team to rival The Entertainers
It feels like Newcastle have been waiting forever to have another team to be proud of, one that gets them up out of their seat and gives them hope of breaking that long wait for a trophy.
Eddie Howe and his players have done a remarkable job to turn the club around in just two years into a Champions League side when they looked destined to be relegated to the Championship in 2022.
Not much has changed from Ferdinand’s time in terms of the support, the fans still turn up to support the team every week no matter what and they can appreciate a good player when they see one.
It was only last season when Newcastle’s fanbase at St James’ Park clapped off Declan Rice in what was a brilliant performance in the Premier League for West Ham.
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