Lee Clark giving an exclusive interview to The Mag.
This interview took place over zoom on Wednesday 23rd September.
We began by talking about Lee supporting the Toon from the terraces.
Before moving on to his memories of playing for the club he loves.
(ED: This epic interview covered a lot of ground and was split into three parts. This is the third of the three, you can READ PART ONE that was published on Friday, as well as READ PART TWO that went out on Saturday. Our thanks to The Armchair Fan for this top quality interview with Lee Clark)
Les Ferdinand said he wasn’t happy to be asked to give up the number nine shirt when Shearer signed but did it bother you having to give up the number ten so Sir Les could wear that?
Yeah because Les didn’t want it! He was forced, he’d been told that he had to take that from the directors. Me and Les got on great, he knew my background and he was really unhappy about it. It had a knock-on effect, am I going to say that it didn’t bother me or affect me? No, it did bother me, I was upset when the manager spoke to me and said I was going to have to change my number but you have to have the realism that whatever number you have on your back doesn’t give two hoots. Unless you are the number nine for Newcastle which is important and that’s why Alan wanted it so we got new numbers and all that mattered to me was making sure I could be in the team as often as I could be week in, week out, not what number I had on my back.
I’ve got to admit though that it did become a bit of an issue with Les, it didn’t sit comfortably with him. He wasn’t just an unbelievable footballer but an unbelievable guy as well. If you’re a centre forward and a top one, as Les was, you want to wear the most famous jersey and for our football club that’s number nine. There’s some players that have buckled under it but others take in on and wear it with aplomb which Les did and obviously Alan did as well, as other players before that, so of course Les would have been gutted by that but they’re some of the sacrifices you have to make when you are attempting to buy the best number nine of his era.
Issue 98 – April 1997
How did Kenny Dalglish differ as a manager to Kevin Keegan?
Not a lot in the training and he was a great guy behind the scenes but he put on a different face in front of the cameras. He was a brilliant fella around the training ground and he was still a class player when he joined in the training matches. We liked him, he was approachable and humorous. He did do a little bit more tactical stuff than Kevin did and would look at the game a little bit differently in terms of the way he wanted the team to progress, so a lot of players who had been successful under Kevin maybe didn’t feel it was benefiting them with the changes in the way we played or them getting left out.
The squad then got dismantled a little bit to be honest that summer so it was a tough one. He’s a top man and a brilliant manager but had big shoes to fill following on from Kevin. He’d filled them unbelievably as a player at Liverpool when he replaced him but I think it was a different ball game at Newcastle because of the high esteem that Kevin was held in as well as the rapport he had with the fans. The signings he brought in didn’t hit the ground running as well as the signings that Kevin had made, so it became tougher in terms of getting results.
Did you know that you would be leaving Newcastle at the end of the 96/97 season or did you still feel you could do a job for the Toon?
I knew I was leaving because I’d made the decision myself.
We went to Villa away for the first match after Kevin left, we drew 2-2 and I’d scored. Kenny then came in and we beat Charlton in the FA Cup reply and I scored, we then went to Southampton away and drew 2-2 and I scored again. I wasn’t just playing well but I was on a bit of a scoring run as well. The week after, we had Forest at home in the FA Cup and the gaffer got me in, I think it was Peter Beardsley who was coming back from injury, it was one of the midfielders anyway. Basically he said “listen, you’ve been brilliant but I have to make this change” and I thought ‘hmmm, I’ve just scored three in three, I’m playing well but now I’m the one being left out. If I’d been a big signing would that have happened? Or is it just because I’m a local player?’
I thought to myself ‘time’s up. I’ve got to go now, I’ve had a great spell but if that’s the way it’s going to be. I was actually offered a new contract even though I had time remaining on my current one but I needed a new challenge. I didn’t want to be training Monday through Friday to then be disappointed when the team is announced on the Saturday because I’m on the bench. Football is such a short career and you don’t want to look back and see that you were spending most of your time on the bench just because you were playing for your local club. It was my decision, the club wanted me to stay but I accepted they weren’t able to give anyone any guarantees that they were going to get a game.
You signed for Sunderland when Leaving the Toon in 1997, were you worried at the time about crossing that divide from Tyneside to Wearside?
In all honesty there were about seven or eight clubs and I went to speak to Peter (Reid) and Paul Bracewell who was the assistant at Sunderland. I’ve told you how much I respected Paul and then I ended up signing for them. They actually made contact with me in the January transfer window trying to sign me then but I wasn’t ready to go, I wanted to see out the season with Newcastle. I was never going to hide from the fact that I was a Newcastle fan. I was a young man and had a young child at the time so it meant I didn’t have to move, so there were all those factors. I used to still go and watch Newcastle when I played for Sunderland.
I knew, that to make it work, I would have to play better than the other players and I did that. I ended up getting some great teammates, working with Peter Reid who I absolutely love to bits and is a brilliant guy. Peter, even as Sunderland manager, would go to St James’ Park and loved watching the games there, he had good craic with the Newcastle fans.
When I went to watch Newcastle, I’d be there amongst the Toon fans so there was good craic but it never overstepped the mark, it was fine, I look at players that have done it for both clubs – Bobby Moncur, Shay Given, there’s plenty. It becomes your profession and your job more than your dream. When I was at Newcastle, I was living the dream but with other clubs, I was in job mode and trying to make the best of it for the future of my family and career.
Did you still socialise in Newcastle when a Sunderland player and if so what kind of reaction did you get from Newcastle fans in the city?
I still lived in Newcastle, I socialised and shopped there, I lived my normal life there, so nothing really changed. It never got stupid, personal or aggressive. There was a bit of craic but no problems.
Do you regret the circumstances of how you left Sunderland?
Being now nearly fifty-four years old and a lot more older and wiser, it’s not the way you want to be portrayed or remembered but it was what it was and I knew the consequences. I think a lot of Newcastle fans enjoyed it! (laughs). I wish I’d got the patent on the SMB sign because I could have made myself a right few quid off that! (laughs) I’ve been asked to sign plenty of them!
You refused to celebrate on two separate occasions when scoring against Newcastle for Fulham, how did your teammates feel about that at the time?
They knew! They knew how big those games were for me and they knew I was ready to do anything I could to help Fulham win. There was no nonsense about it, they knew that I was captain of the team and I wanted us to get results. The one where we were 2-0 up, myself and Louis Saha scored, but we ended up losing 3-2, that was one of the most gut wrenching results I’d had at Fulham. I wanted the team that I was playing for to win but I wasn’t going to disrespect the club I love and the fans I love to celebrate when I scored. It was my job, I just got on and played two really good games. I did what I had to do but I didn’t have to celebrate the goals and that was out of respect for my football club. The time I scored the winner, my Dad was in the away end, he was probably one of the ones giving me a bit of gip!
Who from Newcastle United approached you about signing for the club again in 2005?
Initially it was Terry McDermott who’s a big friend of mine. It wasn’t actually about signing, he was just asking what I was doing. My contract had run out at Fulham and I was still living in Surrey. Pre-season was just about to start, I didn’t have a club and it was weird because I’d never been in that position before. I’d spoken to a couple of clubs but I didn’t really fancy them, Southampton was one and Leeds was another. Terry asked if there was any time I was coming up to visit family and also said anytime I was in the North East to just pop in, do a bit of training and chat to the group. I didn’t really want to do that as I felt I’d had my time there and I didn’t want it to look like I was going in to try and nick anybody’s position in the team.
I did go in though and I really liked Graeme Souness. I thought he was a great guy and I really enjoyed Dean Saunders’ coaching sessions. I was really close to Terry and there were still five or six of the lads I knew, even though the club had changed. I went in and after a couple of days, Graeme asked to see me and said “I’ve enjoyed what you’ve brought to training, I think you can add something. Terry told me you’ve started your coaching badges, why don’t you sign as a player but also work alongside Tommy Craig who’s taking the reserve team and learn from him.” Tommy was a very experienced coach and also an educator at the Scottish FA. I went in with no expectation thinking I’d only get used in an emergency, that’s why clubs have big squads, I carried on training and within a couple of games I was involved, firstly on the bench and then I got a start. I think I ended up with twenty-six or twenty-seven appearances so it was like a dream world, I was finishing where I’d started, I didn’t think that would ever happen.
There was one occasion when Sir Bobby was in charge, I’d been at Fulham for about two years and he got John Carver to speak to me to see if I would be interested in coming back. They wanted a midfield player and my answer was “Of course, one hundred percent, I’d walk over broken glass to come back”, but they couldn’t agree on a fee so signed Christian Bassedas instead, who didn’t prove to be much of a success.
Coming back in 2005 helped me on to a new stage in my career in terms of coaching so it was the perfect opportunity. It gave my children a chance to see me play for Newcastle because they’d been really small when I left so that was really special. The end of that season came and the opportunity was still there to carry on as a coach, take over the reserve team on my own but without the playing contract so I had a decision to make about whether or not to stay and basically retire from playing. I’d just had a double hernia operation that I probably should have had in January but was asked to push it back as Emre had a knee problem so wouldn’t be available. Once I had the op I thought ‘I’ve had a brilliant career, I don’t want to go anywhere else now and it was a great way to finish it by getting into the Europa League’ when Glenn took over, God rest his soul, so it was time for the next chapter in my career.
What was Graeme Souness like as a manager?
Brilliant in terms of protecting his players, he was under a lot of pressure. He took on one of the toughest jobs by replacing Sir Bobby in terms of how much Sir Bobby was loved but Graeme was what you’d call a man’s man. He told you straight, he told you what was expected. He didn’t initially get the results and I think the relationship with the fans soured quite quickly but he never allowed that to affect his mood, he was still brilliant around the building. He was a great example for me trying to look into management and how people react to different situations. He didn’t want people to feel sorry for him, he was a proper man and was going to front up to the issues he was having. I thought he was top class, I really liked him. I just thought, and he knew this, he didn’t get the results that were required and he was always starting a tough gig replacing Sir Bobby. He had to be very, very successful to win the fans over and that didn’t happen with the results so he knew the consequences.
What did you make of the Mike Ashely era at Newcastle United?
Hated it! I absolutely hated it!
No ambition, wanting to finish seventeenth, fielding weakened cup teams. There was nothing there. I felt sorry for the players. When you’re a player and you know things are going against you, you want some help. You’re looking at the January transfer window, you’re looking to the summer and no one is coming through the door, you know for a fact that it is going to be a struggle again.
Good players aren’t frightened about other good players coming in, they want better players coming in because it improves the squad. Those lads had that year in year out, just wanting to survive in the Premier League to get the money so he could advertise his other businesses. It got to the stage where we would win five or six on the bounce and then he’d just announce something crazy like changing the name of the stadium, it was like he got bored. You could imagine him sitting there and thinking ‘oh, it’s going a bit too smoothly, I need to cause some chaos here!’ So yeah, I didn’t enjoy that era at all.
Do you feel that Kevin Keegan deserves a statue at St James’ Park?
Without a doubt! I’ll go further and say Sir Joe Harvey does as well. No doubt in my mind, a million percent!
Where did you watch the 2025 League Cup final and how did you feel at the final whistle?
I was doing co-commentary with Stuart Pearce for Talksport, I was on the halfway line at Wembley and I could see the lads coming up the stairs to collect the trophy and it’s the best feeling I’ve ever had as a Toon fan ever! Only probably beaten by, me being selfish, making my debut for Newcastle. It was brilliant, unbelievable.
Do you think our current owners will bring sustained success to the club in terms of both silverware and regular participation in the Champions League?
Well, the project seems to have changed. I think they are now looking to sign up-and-coming players, develop them and be successful in the transfer market. They’re still top players and can help us do well in the league and certainly the cup competitions but can we try to get back into Europe? I think that might be a bit tougher this season because of the transitional period even though it is achievable going forward.
I think they’ve maybe had a knockback on what they thought they could do when they first came in. Now you’ve got the PSR rules and how strict and structured they are, whereas I think they thought they could come in with their wealth and basically get to the level where they could be challenging every single year for the title, for the Champions League, for the cup competitions, because we could go out and get the best players with the biggest transfer fees and salaries. Through no fault of their own, that hasn’t been allowed to happen. The Premier League have turned into the HMRC and changed the rules whenever they fancy. So they’ve had to go to plan B, reorganise and reassess.
People are now talking about Newcastle United mark two and that could be the right saying because we have to go down a different route, we can’t compete, we can’t offer those transfer fees or salaries, we can’t spend the amount that other clubs are spending. We have to do it in a different way. We’re getting top players from around the world hoping that – one, they can do the business for us and two, make the club a substantial amount of profit to reinvest. There’s still a lot to hope for, I think the acquisition of the training facility is going to take the club to a new level. We’re still waiting to find out what will happen stadium-wise but there’s a lot to be positive about.
I was gutted when Eddie Howe left the football club as I’m a massive fan of his and thought he did an unbelievable job. I became a friend of his, he’s a great manager and loved being the manager of the football club, he felt it was a huge honour. There’s still loads to be positive about without a shadow of a doubt.
Which manager would you say you learned the most from in your career?
The one who had the biggest impact will always be Kevin in everything he’s done. I’ve been lucky enough to have had some brilliant managers.
I rattle them off, starting with Willie McFaul the man who signed me, Jim Smith who gave me my debut, Ossie Ardiles who gave me my head as a younger player, Kevin, Kenny Dalglish, Peter Reid, Paul Bracewell, Jean Tigana, Chris Coleman, Greame Souness and back full circle with Glenn Roeder who was part of the first team squad when I used to come up as a youngster and train with them in the school holidays. He was the captain of the team back then, so I’ve been really blessed in terms of the managers I’ve played under.
What was the highlight of your time at Newcastle?
Where to start?! My highlights are:
Making my debut for the club.
Winning the championship in 92/93.
Making my Premier League debut.
Our first match back in Europe.
Scoring my last ever goal in January 2006 against Middlesbrough, a last-minute equaliser in a 2-2 draw.
Who was the most gifted player you played with on Tyneside?
Like I’ve said – Peter (Beardsley).
Ginola was unplayable for his first six months at Newcastle. He came in and took us to a new level, nobody could touch him. He was a game changer, a match winner, but if you’re talking over a longer period which I can because I used to watch him play as a fan before being lucky enough to play with him then it’s definitely Peter Beardsley. He wasn’t the most vocal captain but he would lead by example and then speak up if he thought something wasn’t right.
If you had to choose a best XI of your NUFC teammates, who would you pick?
Wow! Obviously in goal I’d have Shay Given.
Centre halves would be Albert and Howey with Beresford on the left . At right back I could have Barry Venison, Robbie Elliot or Steven Carr but I’ll go with my mate Watto, so Steve Watson.
In the centre of midfield I’d have Rob Lee with Ginola on the left and Solano on the right.
Issue 129 – December 1999
Shearer and Ferdinand up front with Beardsly behind them.
There’s a lot of goals in that team, I’ve left some good players out as well, it’s a reflection of how many good teammates I played alongside at Newcastle. Coley (Andy Cole) doesn’t get in! I’m very good friends with Coley, he’ll be raging he hasn’t got in! (laughs)
Would any of Newcastle’s current players get into the above team?
No, but from the team that won the Carabao Cup in 2025, maybe Bruno. I wouldn’t have minded him being a part of our group that’s for sure.
What is your best or funniest Kevin Keegan story?
Oh God, I’m trying to think what I can tell you! (laughs) He was quite sharp in his comments, he had a great sense of humour and this quick wit. He would go up to a player in good form and say “you’re having a bit of a purple patch” they’d thank him but then he’d reply “I once had one of them, it lasted from 1970 to 1977!” (laughs)
What was the proudest moment of your career?
The day I made my debut for NUFC. It’s something that I never, ever thought I could achieve.