Newcastle United players who once they got here, never wanted to leave | OneFootball

It’s a well known fact that a fair few Newcastle United players who were born outside the region, then settle long-term  in the North East upon their retirement from the game.

Here are some of our stars from the 1960s, 70s and 80s who did just that.

Whitehaven lad Ron McGarry joined United in the swinging sixties and would go on to score 46 goals in 132 appearances.

The lads on the terraces liked Ron because he was no shrinking violet when it came to putting himself about. He earned the nickname ‘Cassius’ because he also wasn’t averse to getting involved in a scuffle or two.

Ron finished his career with Gateshead and in the 1980s I had the pleasure of meeting him in North Shields.

For a time he was involved with his old Toon pal David Craig, helping him with his two newsagents shops in our town.

Ron was also a taxi driver and would often regale me with his entertaining and amusing tales of when he played.

Mr McGarry, as I used to call him in my teens, is now a grand 87 years young.

The aforementioned David Craig was a Northern Ireland international alongside Pat Jennings and Georgie Best and in my opinion, Newcastle’s greatest ever right-back. He is also a very good bloke and was a familiar face in North Shields for many years.

Malcolm Macdonald is undoubtedly the most exciting player I have ever seen in the black and white stripes.

A true living legend, Supermac resides in North Shields and is Honorary President of the town’s football team.

Malcolm may have been born down South but he is also now an honorary Geordie to go with his honorary Presidency. He is still instinctively recognisable when he’s out and about, also likes the odd natter.

My brother used to bump into another Northern Irishman, David McCreery, in Morpeth.

Even though he played in two FA Cup Finals for Manchester United, Davey Mac regards Newcastle as his team and still lives in the area.

Jimmy ‘Jinky’ Smith can regularly be seen in the likes of Tynemouth and Whitley Bay. A true man of leisure, Jinky is one of the straightest guys you’ll ever meet and doesn’t suffer fools.

He was awesome when he appeared as a guest at Chirton Club to raise money for North Shields FC. Beforehand, Jinky had said that public speaking wasn’t his thing, you would never have guessed it.

Whenever he’s out, I usually get hold of some of the young uns and say something like….”Do you see that auld Scotsmen over there? That’s Jinky Jim, our maverick playmaker in the early 1970s. He was some bloody player lads.”

I always admired the late Tommy Cassidy. Another Northern Irish lad who became black and white through and through, and stayed till the end.

Whenever I read all of the nonsense about footballers not wanting to live in the North East, I tend to think of some of my heroes from yesteryear.

You could even turn The Animals lyrics around and say that ‘They’d want to get into this place, if it was the last thing they ever did.’