Newcastle United were one of the most exciting teams to watch in the mid 90’s.
Les Ferdinand
Former Magpies striker Les Ferdinand admitted that he never wanted to leave the club, and should have in fact stayed longer, when speaking exclusive to the Shields Gazette.
The former England international also shared the moment when he had to give up his number nine shirt following the arrival of Alan Shearer, explaining how that was when it dawned on him that he was no longer Newcastle’s main man.
Ferdinand moved to St James’ Park in the summer of 1995, for a fee believed to be in the region of £6 million, and went on to score an impressive 50 goals in 84 appearances in all competitions for the Tyneside outfit.
And during a wide-ranging interview with the Shields Gazette, he opened up on a variety of subjects regarding his time in the North East, including the moment when he knew his time was up at St James’ Park:
“I didn’t want to leave. But Dalglish had made it clear to me that there was going to be changes and I’ve got to be honest, we went to Maiden Castle, on the day that I was leaving to go for my medical at Tottenham and he shook my hand and said ‘I hope the medical falls through’. He had told me what his intentions were for the season and I said – look, all I want to do is play football.”
Alan shearer signs for Newcastle
Ferdinand also lifted the lid on an exchange he shared with Kevin Keegan, following the arrival at the club of Alan Shearer:
“Keegan said ‘Alan has asked for the No 9’. So I said, ‘well what did you say?’ he said, ‘I said I’d ask Les, Alan has worn it all of his career’ and I just said ‘well I’ve worn it all of my career but the fact that you are asking me means that you want Alan to have it’. So I had a couple of minutes to think about it and it dawned on me that he wanted Alan to have it, the majority of the Geordie supporters would want Alan to have it.”
And looking back on that period in the mid 90’s, it must be for Newcastle fans not to think what might have been, had Ferdinand stayed on for a few more years at least, and continued this fearsome partnership with Shearer.
Alan Shearer
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