Spending an hour with Shola Ameobi | OneFootball

Just fifteen hours after taking in the emotional rollercoaster of Newcastle United’s dramatic defeat at Old Trafford from my favourite armchair, I was lucky enough to be one of the club members selected to attend a live online talk-in with none other than Shola Ameobi.

Shola had been a key part of some of my earlier memories of supporting the Toon, due to the fact he made his debut the first year I had a season ticket.

Stand out highlights for Shola Ameobi in a black and white shirt, include scoring a fabulous seven goals against arch-rivals Sunderland, netting impressive Champions League efforts away to Barcelona and Bayer Levekusen and an oft-forgotten belter at home to Chelsea in 2004, that was subsequently overshadowed by an even better strike from the not-to-be-upstaged Alan Shearer.

I understand the club has recorded the entire event and this will be available to watch for those of you who are interested, so I don’t want to say too much, but if anyone wants a brief summary including some interesting nuggets of information, then feel free to read on.

The event was attended by just over five hundred fans and the briefest look at the comments section showed that this was very much a global event. For every local supporter watching from Newcastle, Gateshead, Durham and Northumberland, there were also those attending from further afield, such as Ireland, Los Angeles, California, Italy and Australia… slightly more exotic locations than my humble abode in North Manchester!

Shola Ameobi talked at length about his memories of Newcastle United in the Champions League, from watching the 3-2 victory over Barcelona as a fifteen-year-old in the East Stand in 1997, to scoring himself against the same opposition six years later and ultimately being a part of the backroom staff as we hammered PSG at St James’ earlier this season, which he considers the highlight of the campaign.

Shola Ameobi and his Newcastle United teammates winning 3-1 away at Bayer Leverkusen

He was asked whether he thought the current set of magpies was even better than the side that last competed in the Champions League in 02/03 and whilst he acknowledged he was biased when saying the team he played in just pips our current crop, he does feel we have a great team and can compete in Europe for years to come.

When singling out players that represent Newcastle United these days, he claimed Alexander Isak is world class but Anthony Gordon has been his player of the season due to his work rate, which has seen a massive improvement.

He also feels Callum Wilson (who was due to attend this event but couldn’t due to illness) is a constant goal threat and is pleased he was able to overtake Shola in terms of Premier League goals scored for the Toon. This is despite the fact that when looking back on his time at NUFC, Shola feels he should have scored more than he did overall, especially in the teams he was a part of.

He also rates Sir Bobby as the best manager by far he ever played for and praised his man management, being able to develop the young players as people, as well as footballers.

A big talking point was Shola’s superb derby record with a number of goals in the Tyne-Wear clashes. He said he didn’t specifically prepare differently for these matches but was one of the most vocal in the dressing room on derby day due to being a local lad. He said the atmosphere at St James’ Park really is second to none on these occasions and it’s the best in the world when the fans are passionately getting behind the players. He still gets called ‘The Mackem Slayer’ when out and about and loves the nickname, seeing it as part of his legacy as a Newcastle United player. Needless to say, he doesn’t need to buy a drink when enjoying a night out in the Toon.

When asked about his brilliant penalty record, he said he never feared taking penalties and used to practice them after training every Friday. The only time he ever changed his mind was when waiting over five minutes to take one against Sunderland but fortunately he scored it anyway!

He names Sol Campbell as his toughest ever opponent and the only player to have winded him when running into him, during a match against Arsenal twenty years ago. He feels Sol (who was briefly a team mate at NUFC) was the best defender in the world at that time.

Some of the questions were more light-hearted than others and Shola seemed genuinely amused at the amount of attention he still gets for that iconic photo of him riding a bicycle whilst eating an apple – both Joeliton and Guimaraes imitating this last year. He says he doesn’t yet have a framed photo as the Mrs won’t allow it on the mantelpiece, the presenter then quipped he’d sort one for his office.

Overall, this was a very enjoyable way to while away an hour during a day off work and I would recommend upcoming talk-ins to any fan interested in hearing about the goings on at the club from someone directly involved.

As this was completely free, it was more than value for money with a quick quiz at the end to win a signed Toon shirt. Well done Newcastle United for putting this on and inviting a guest who has a lot of insight into the past, present and future of NUFC.