Exclusive interview with Warren Barton – Outstanding | OneFootball

Welcome to this exclusive interview with Warren Barton.

Our thanks to The Armchair Fan.

This lengthy Warren Barton interview has been split into three, with the second and third parts to follow on Thursday and Friday.

An excellent read and our thanks again for all the hard work from The Armchair Fan in bringing this to The Mag.

Enjoy.

Over to The Armchair Fan…

This interview took place over Zoom on Wednesday 2 July, Warren currently lives in America as he is a broadcaster for Fox Sports.

We began by talking about him signing for Newcastle United in 1995, before moving on to his time playing for the Toon under four different managers and his opinions on the current state of the club.

What memories do you have of playing against NUFC before you signed and what was your perception of Newcastle fans at that time?

In the 1994/95 season, I was at Wimbledon when we played away at St James’ Park and I was doing a cool down after the match with Robbie Earle. We were jogging around the pitch and I said to him “Imagine playing here in front of these fans and this atmosphere.”

The players we were playing against too, Peter Beardsley is someone I always respected and had been involved with at the England set-up, Robert Lee and Steve Howey were breaking in as well. Newcastle had won 2-1 and we stayed over in the North East. I bumped into Arthur Cox that night who was Keegan’s right hand man. We ended up chatting about NUFC for almost an hour.

I had been linked with Man City, Sheffield Wednesday, Celtic, Arsenal, Everton and there were rumours about Newcastle as well. I wasn’t trying to do my homework but I was interested in the club. Arthur was brilliant, I’ve got a lot of respect for him as a coach and as a person.

We then played at home to Newcastle, I missed a penalty against Pavel Srnicek but we won 3-2. I was playing at right back and the whole right hand side of Selhurst Park was filled with Newcastle fans, the only other time that ever happened was when we played Man United who had a lot of London-based support. Selhurst Park isn’t the easiest stadium to get in and out of but all the Geordie fans had travelled down. That was my recollection of the fans.

With Kevin Keegan, it was new, vibrant and appealing. We’d had Wimbledon players go to Newcastle before but this was a different era. Newcastle had a brilliant team, they way they would pass and move. Six months later, I signed. Anfield was great, Highbury at the time too and Old Trafford but Newcastle was different.

Issue 83 – November 1995

Who from Newcastle United approached you in 1995 and did it take much persuading for you to agree to move to the Toon?

Les Ferdinand and I were in the England set-up together and were both at unfashionable clubs, particularly me at Wimbledon. We used to sit next to each other on the coach, we’d both previously played non-league and were based in London so became friends along with Ian Wright, Paul Ince and Stuart Pearce. Me and Les would joke together and say “where are you going?” and “who are you joining?”

There was a lot of speculation that he might sign for Everton, Sheffield Wednesday or Arsenal. I’d actually already spoken to Blackburn and met Kenny Dalglish but the move was knocked back because Wimbledon wanted more money. On the Easter bank holiday Monday of 1995, Shearer scored a header at the far post against John Beresford when Blackburn beat Newcastle and I got a phone call from my agent saying “get yourself into the centre of London because Newcastle are wanting to speak to you.”

Joe Kinnear (the Wimbledon manager at the time) then picked up the phone and said “we’ve agreed a fee with Newcastle and you’ve got permission to speak to them”, so I got myself together and went to a hotel in Kensington.

I was sitting in reception when Kevin Keegan walked in, tapped me on the leg and said “come and join a big club.” He went upstairs and my agent was there with Terry McDermott. As soon as he spoke to me that was it. I’d already spoken to David Dein at Arsenal but they were waiting to appoint a manager, I’d spoken to Kenny at Blackburn, but when Kevin Keegan said that, it didn’t take a lot for me to sign.

I must say as well, I got friendly with Barry Venison at the England set-up and he said “what they’re doing up there is unbelievable!” In his mind he knew I was coming in to take his place as he and Paul Bracewell were leaving. With all of that, speaking to Kevin, Venners and Arthur Cox, it didn’t take a lot of persuading – It was a no-brainer really. Newcastle had already agreed the fee so it was sorted in about twenty minutes. I had to keep it quiet as it was a done deal in April and the news didn’t break until May or June but I knew I was signing. It was a great opportunity for me to compete, try to win something and play for a big club. Eight years later and I’d never been disappointed.

Les and I met up for the Umbro tournament with England in 1995 and looked at each other, we both said “Have you agreed yet?” and he had this big smile on his face and just nodded his head. I was like “great because I have as well” we were both so excited about it. Thirty years ago and I still get goosebumps. It was an easy decision to make.

Issue 81 – September 1995

What did you make of Kevin Keegan when you first met him?

Just oozing personality, oozing charisma, positivity and fun. He had an edge to him as well as he was so focused on building something for Sir John Hall and the fans. It was never about his own legacy, he was always of the mindset “we’re doing this for these fans, we’re doing this for the area, for this football club.”

That was apparent when I walked into the changing room and spoke to Lee Clark, Peter Beardsely, Steve Watson, Robbie Elliot, Paul Kitson and Scott Sellers. It was all about the club, it was the opportunity to win something for the football club.

Every club thinks they’re special in their own way but Newcastle really is!

The first thing you see when you go into the city on the train is that stadium and everybody is wearing black and white. You don’t have a choice of who to support if you’re from there, everybody is a Newcastle fan and actually you wouldn’t really want to support anybody else. It’s a unique place and it was a really exciting time as Sir John had done a lot of work in the community – we had the stadium, the basketball team, hockey and rugby too as well as the Metro Centre building up and the Quayside. It was an exciting time.

Newcastle fans are often described as insular in the media. How welcomed were you when you moved up north?

Apparently they don’t like Cockneys – well I think they liked Rob Lee and Les Ferdinand! Glenn Roeder too. I remember speaking to Mark Bright who had signed for Sheffield Wednesday a couple of years before and he said you couldn’t even go into a supermarket without people looking at what you were buying, well times that by ten in Newcastle!

The way you were welcomed though, I remember the security guards and others at the club, I got friendly with them and they genuinely looked after you and your family when you were away at the matches. Of course there was pressure as they’d say “make sure you bloody win at the weekend!” so you did have that responsibility. Everyone was so friendly, people there are just kind to you.

The group of players right now have got the same identity with Newcastle fans and have that connection. When we were out we would never just walk past a fan – before the match, we were all signing autographs, at training too even when there were four or five thousand people watching. It would take us an hour to sign all the autographs and then you would see the same people at the match or out in town. There were a lot of connections with the fans back then and it feels the same now with the likes of Bruno, Dan Burn and Joelinton. The fans love them. Once you’re one of them, the Geordies never forget that.

Years after I left, when things weren’t great under Ashley, Newcastle were being made a mockery of. I came out publicly and said “this aint our football club.”

I got a group together and tried to raise some money to get the fans involved in the club again, it was just after Covid. Shearer backed me, then Rob Lee and John Beresford got on board. We had a little bit of movement but thank God new owners then came in and the club went in a totally different direction.

We were so well looked after up there. Even now when my sons visit, as soon as people know who they are, they’ll take care of them. I’ve got friends in the area who had nothing to do with football. Just people I met who are still friends. They’re real people up there. There were more fans to watch me train at Newcastle then would see me play some Premier League games for Wimbledon, so that puts it into perspective.

Do you think it’s a myth that Kevin Keegan is tactically naive?

Yes!

He was the first one with full-backs, he had me and Beresford pushing on. My first thought with Kevin was what to do when John goes forward, as I had Keith Gillespie in front of me. I asked if he wanted me to come inside and he said “no, I want you to push on, let’s suffocate them. Any time the ball comes in we go to Rob Lee and Peter Beardsley, then we play off them.”

Issue 96 – January 1997

The myth comes from us losing a twelve points lead but ultimately we couldn’t handle the pressure. Man Utd pressured us, they were relentless in what they were doing and we all failed, we were all part of it. I remember speaking to Peter Beardsley and Les Ferdinand with the gaffer and he said “we’re not going to change, we’re not going to start grinding results out. It’s not how we’re going to win it.”

Similar to what Pep said but KK was the first one to have a number nine with someone behind them. When we then got two centre forwards, he changed things to suit that.

He wasn’t tactically naive. The one thing about him was he was so honest, maybe even too honest and that left us vulnerable. Maybe if he’d had a slight bit of Mourinho about him, we would have closed shop a little bit but the fans didn’t want that. Kenny Dalglish tried that two years later, we got to an FA Cup Final and into the Champions League. The fans wanted the entertainers though, they wanted that type of football and unfortunately not a day goes by when you don’t think ‘if only’.