Newcastle United players haven’t been in and around the England squad all that often in recent years.
Indeed, after years of struggling under Mike Ashley’s ownership, the Magpies rarely had a player who was good enough to be a Three Lions regular, but that’s all changed now.
After the Magpies became the richest club in the world last October, they’ve improved immensely and their players are receiving their rewards.
The likes of Callum Wilson and Nick Pope have made the England squad, while Kieran Trippier looks set to be one of the Three Lions’ most important players this summer.
In fact, Trippier achieved something on Monday afternoon that no Newcastle player has since Alan Shearer.
When Harry Kane was substituted against Iran, he handed the captain’s armband over to Trippier, making the right-back the first Newcastle player since Shearer at Euro 2000 to captain England at a major tournament.
Newcastle players barely had a sniff at being a part of England squads in recent years, but now, the Magpies have a player who is seemingly second-in-command when it comes to captaining the team.
With Harry Kane likely to start every single game, Trippier probably won’t get the chance to lead the team out, but with Gareth Southgate seemingly keen to give another Newcastle player, Callum Wilson, his fair share of chances, Trippier may close out a number of games with the captain’s armband on.
The fact that a Newcastle player has captained England at a major tournament 22 years on from Shearer leading the team at Euro 2000 just goes to show how far the Magpies have come in such a short period of time.
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